Their Own Reality: Xbox Aims for 500 Million Daily Players by 2030

Microsoft leadership has tasked Asha Sharma with putting Xbox back on a growth trajectory next year.

Following the publication of Microsoft's financial report for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, in which the Xbox gaming division once again recorded a quarterly decline in performance, new strategic plans for the company have been revealed. According to the report, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has challenged Xbox to return to growth in the next fiscal year.

Subsequently, Xbox head Asha Sharma sent an internal memo to employees. The document was not intended for public distribution, but its contents became available to journalists.

In the memo, Sharma outlined four key areas for Xbox's development:

• CORE — strengthening the platform, with gaming consoles remaining the main element
• CONTENT — developing game projects into global franchises
• CREATION — transforming Minecraft into the largest platform for user-generated content
• CONNECTION — expanding game universes that have already won over audiences

In addition to general development principles, Sharma presented a three-stage growth plan for Xbox:

• Fiscal Year 2027 — fulfilling Satya Nadella's directive and returning the business to sustainable growth
• Fiscal Years 2028–2029 — transforming the outlined directions into projects that provide tangible revenue growth and value for players
• By 2030 — reaching 500 million daily active users through double-digit audience and engagement growth rates

According to Sharma, the Xbox ecosystem currently has over 100 million daily active users, more than 500 million monthly, and almost 1 billion annual users. Thus, by the end of the decade, the company expects to increase its daily audience by approximately five times, effectively bringing it closer to the current level of monthly activity.