Xbox CEO Asha Sharma changed the Xbox brand name to XBOX following a vote on Twitter. Sharma took the lead as head of Xbox from Phil Spencer in February 2026 and made several changes to the company, notably to its appearance and branding. In May, the company changed the Xbox logo and updated its current consoles with a matching nostalgic boot screen. The black logo features translucent neon green markings reminiscent of the original Xbox.
Despite holding the role for only three months, Sharma made a number of changes that were well received by fans. In particular, Xbox lowered the price of Game Pass in an effort to return the service to its roots as an affordable option for gamers. While subscribers have to pay monthly for the service, it allows them to choose from a large library of games they wouldn't otherwise have access to. in exchange Call of Duty it will no longer be available on the subscription service at launch, though that trade-off was seen as positive by Xbox gamers, not all of whom play the popular shooter.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is officially down, but there's a catch
Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma announces a price change to the Ultimate Xbox Game Pass level, but at the cost of missing out on the big launch day.
Xbox rebrands to XBOX
Sharma is known for taking feedback from Xbox users, but the latest marketing gimmick has put her gamers firmly in the driver's seat. After posting a poll on Twitter, the CEO asked her followers to vote for Xbox or XBOX. The uppercase version of the Xbox name has often been used on logos and in marketing over the years, but the lowercase version is still used in other forms of writing. Part of Sharma's strategy is to return to the Xbox 360 era, which was one of the company's most successful. This includes removing the “This Is An Xbox” marketing campaign, which claimed various tech items such as phones and computers under the Xbox moniker, and changing the Microsoft Gaming name back to Xbox.
The poll received more than 19,000 votes, with nearly 65% of respondents preferring the name XBOX to Xbox. Xbox's social media pages later changed to an all-caps title, though it still uses the lowercase version in posts and other writing. While the move is likely just a matter of players deciding, it's part of Sharma's broader stance on satisfying Xbox users. She has often claimed to listen to player feedback, such as calls from players to bring back Xbox-exclusive games. While the latest Xbox release, Forza Horizon 6is only a limited-time Microsoft exclusive, Sharma has already acted on other player demands, such as canceling Copilot's development for Xbox.
GameRant Quiz
Start
Easy (15s) Medium (10s) Hard (5s) Permadeath (5s)
Sharma has stepped up within Xbox at a time when it has been falling short of Microsoft's revenue targets for many years. After its latest financial report, it acknowledged that Xbox revenue was down compared to the same quarter last year and that work needed to be done to return Xbox to its best results. With the changes she has already made in the past few months, Sharma seems determined to try a different approach at a company that has suffered thousands of devastating layoffs in the past few years.
Who is that character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Start
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)
Forza Horizon 6 is the first Xbox Studios game launched under her leadership, and was released to great success. Not only did it quickly become the highest-rated game of the year, but it sold over a million copies in its Early Access period alone. It won't be clear until the next financial quarter whether Sharma's approach to gamers has translated into increased revenue for Xbox, but it looks positive given the response from fans.
