Asha Sharma's measures have had minor impact on Xbox – analyst
Translated with AI from the Russian original.
Circana analyst Mat Piscatella sees no payoff yet from Asha Sharma's initiatives: neither the physical-to-digital disc exchange, nor Gears exclusivity, nor the removal of Call of Duty from day-one Game Pass has halted the decline in console sales.
According to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, initiatives by the new head of Xbox, Asha Sharma, have not yet yielded positive results: console sales continue to fall, and market share in the US is shrinking.
Since February 2026, Sharma has announced several initiatives designed to restore the brand's former standing. However, Piscatella views them more as PR stunts than real changes.
Judging by the sales and player engagement data that I track, I see no positive impact whatsoever. The physical disc to digital upgrade program had zero effect on new disc sales. [...] The announcement of Gears exclusivity didn't move the needle on hardware sales either. In fact, things are getting worse. Xbox is losing market share in the US.
According to him, removing Call of Duty from day-one Game Pass Ultimate availability also failed to drive full-price sales. Player engagement for Modern Warfare 4 on Xbox was half that of the previous installment available through the subscription. It seems likely that many users simply chose to skip the purchase.
At the same time, Piscatella allows that the effects of Sharma's strategy may become apparent later on.
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