Xbox Partner Preview airs Thursday, March 26 at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 5pm UK across YouTube and Twitch. The timing is significant; this is the first major broadcast since Asha Sharma, who came to Microsoft from Instacart in 2024, took over as head of the gaming division.
For the event itself, the latest instalment will include news on upcoming games from partners including Sega, GSC Game World and Owlcat Games, plus brand-new reveals, world premieres and Xbox Game Pass announcements. During the preview, you'll get an in-depth look at Ryu Ga Gotoku's new project, Stranger Than Heaven, an update on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, plus new looks at The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, an action-RPG set in the world of James S.A. Corey's legendary series. Additional first looks and announcements from more great games are planned for Xbox consoles, Xbox on PC, and Game Pass.
What matters more than this week's game reveals is what they signal about Xbox's direction. Revenue in the Xbox business declined nearly 10% in the December quarter, a steeper drop than management had projected. The division faces real challenges, and Sharma inherits them on the back of a remarkably turbulent leadership transition.
Phil Spencer, who has led the Xbox unit since 2014, is leaving the software maker after 38 years. His departure also involved Sarah Bond, president and operating chief of the Xbox unit, leaving Microsoft. According to reporting, Bond had overseen the controversial "This Is An Xbox" marketing campaign, which faced internal backlash before being quietly scrapped.
Sharma's appointment signals a strategic pivot. She previously served as president of product in Microsoft's Core AI business, which has raised questions about where AI fits into her gaming vision. However, she has moved quickly to establish independence from the hype. Sharma says her stance is simple: she has "no tolerance for bad AI." "AI has long been part of gaming and will continue to be," Sharma said, noting that gaming needs new "growth engines," but that "great stories are created by humans".
For her part, Sharma emphasised that "the spirit of 'Return to Xbox' is about returning to the spirit that the team was founded on." "It's that spirit of surprise, it's the spirit of building something nobody else was willing to try — I've heard 'renegade,' 'rebellion,' and 'fun.'" That's what I was thinking about when I wrote that," she explains. This framing suggests she recognises the division needs cultural renewal, not just financial fixes.
The real challenge lies beneath the surface. Xbox is in a bind. Microsoft's gaming revenue fell 9% in the most recent quarter, with hardware revenue down 32%. Meanwhile, the biggest problem has been instability: waves of layoffs and studio closures that left even successful teams uncertain about their future. A 30-minute third-party showcase will not solve these structural problems.
What Sharma can do is stabilise the operation and articulate a coherent strategy. Matt Booty, head of Microsoft's gaming studios, will report to Sharma as executive vice president and chief content officer. "Together, Asha and Matt have the right combination of consumer product leadership and gaming depth to push our platform innovation and content pipeline forward," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote.
The Partner Preview itself is unlikely to move the needle on financial performance. But it is the first real test of whether Sharma can communicate Xbox's value proposition in a way Spencer's later years could not. Whether she'll make an on-camera appearance or simply oversee from the background remains unclear, but either way, the clock is ticking on whether her "Return to Xbox" messaging translates into actual game releases and customer momentum.