"One billion people every day" – Fans stunned by Xbox CEO's statement

After Sony recently faced backlash over the end of physical games, Microsoft is now drawing criticism of its own. A current Reddit thread focuses not only on Xbox’s restructuring and wave of layoffs, but also on a specific statement by Asha Sharma. The Xbox head made the remark in an internal statement about the company’s current restructuring – and it is further fueling the negative mood in the community.

According to Sharma, the stated goal is to make Xbox one of the few brands that entertains “more than a billion people” every day. Users describe the vision as completely unrealistic and accuse Microsoft of chasing ever-larger growth targets instead of focusing on high-quality games and a stable Xbox platform. For comparison: According to PC Gamer, even Steam has so far “only” reached a peak of 41 million concurrent players. To hit Microsoft’s stated goal, Xbox would not only have to break Valve’s record, but exceed it by more than 2,000 percent.

Some users in the Reddit thread, which has more than 2,000 comments, argue that the Xbox chief’s statement should not be taken too literally. In their view, Sharma is simply describing the long-term vision of expanding Xbox beyond consoles to include PC, cloud and mobile devices. Nevertheless, most observers are reacting negatively to the statement. Many fans see it as yet another sign that Microsoft increasingly views Xbox as a platform and services business – and less from the perspective of console players.