Xbox to focus on "efficiency and affordability alongside performance" for next-gen console amid rising hardware costs and innovations in AI

"[We] need take into consideration what's happening in the world and build the best experience for our players," says Asha Sharma

Xbox is prioritising "efficiency and affordability alongside performance" for its next-generation console in the face of rising hardware costs and innovations in AI.

"All of the industry needs to start to innovate on affordability and efficiency," Xbox boss Asha Sharma told the BBC. "That is something that we have not had to do [previously]."

"But with the crisis that's currently happening in hardware and components, it is absolutely something all of us need to be thinking about and innovating on and giving people more choice in terms of how they play their console and how they purchase their console."

While Sharma declined to comment on whether the next-generation Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, will include a disc drive, she addressed Xbox's new disc-to-digital feature that lets players unlock digital versions of physical games they own. "I know players love physical media, and I know there's a lot of benefits in digital media, and I want to make sure people have a choice," she said. "We've long pioneered backwards compatibility, and so you'll continue to see that as we go forward in the generations."

Sharma also addressed the ongoing discussion about AI, noting it is "fundamentally changing a lot of things."

As former president of CoreAI at Microsoft, she said the platform will "take into consideration what's happening in the world and build the best experience for our players."

For Project Helix, this means considering "hardware efficiency in terms of how you use storage and memory, the kind of price per unit, the components, things like that." Sharma previously said Xbox has "no tolerance for bad AI" and that the company would "not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop."

"Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us."

Sharma and Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty also said the platform is facing "no pressure from Microsoft" to use AI.

"Our teams are free to use any technologies that might be beneficial, whether it's helping write code or check for bugs – things more in the production pipeline," said Booty. "At the end of the day, as Asha said, we're committed to art made by people. Technology is only in support of that."

Sharma also briefly discussed the company's ongoing restructuring, which included laying off 3,200 employees, representing 20% of the Xbox organisation, and divesting five internal studios.

Sharma explained the restructuring was implemented "to ensure we are here for the next 25 years and we're continuing to serve our purpose."

"We're in the middle of a new generation that wants to play in a different way, and new technology as well. Within Xbox, we haven't been healthy."