Last week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appeared at an internal Q&A session alongside new Xbox boss Asha Sharma, and some quotes from that event appeared online courtesy of Windows Central last night.
A recent photo even showed that he was wearing an Xbox hoodie as part of it:
The main quote thatâs getting all the attention on social media is Nadellaâs pledge to âalways invest in gamingâ, highlighting its importance to Microsoft as a whole. Nevertheless, he also insisted that Xbox needs to be âbest-in-classâ at showing an âexcellence in execution, and creativityâ. Hereâs a bit of what he said:
âPhil [Spencer], heâs always talked to me about how gaming is the largest entertainment category â what is gaming in its most expansive form going forward? This doesnât mean we walk away from people are doing today â when we think about a AAA game on a console. The question is about where else can we go to extend that. For me, weâre long on gaming. Weâll continue to invest, and weâll always do so. Itâs up to this team to show an excellence in execution, and creativity. Software always carries risk, but this is software with lots of creation risk. Itâs way different. But yet, we have to be the best-in-class at it.â
Nadella talked more about gamingâs importance elsewhere in the Q&A, insisting that gaming is one of the âmain identities of what Microsoft has always meant, and will always meanâ, and also mentioning that he jokes with the NVIDIA CEO about how NVIDIA wouldnât even exist if it werenât for gaming.
He later discussed the importance of appealing to Xboxâs existing customers and âwhat they expect us to doâ, as well as how console and PC offer a way to âimmerseâ players away from the passive distractions (like scrolling) of modern life.
Ultimately, Nadella is making it very clear that he and Microsoft are still committed to Xbox going forward, and supposedly âalwaysâ will be. Thatâs great news in our book, and hopefully it eases the pressure on Asha Sharma as well.
