By Jon Martindale
Publication Date: 2026-02-24 16:41:00
One of the co-founders of the Xbox platform suspects Microsoft is looking to sunset the Xbox.
In an interview with GamesBeat, Seamus Blackley argues that “Xbox, like a lot of businesses that aren’t the core AI business, is being sunsetted.” He points to the recent departure of longtime Xbox chief Phil Spencer, who is being replaced by Asha Sharma, head of Microsoft’s CoreAI division.
“I expect that [Sharma’s] job is going to be as a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night,” Blackley says.
Blackley joined Microsoft in 1999 and pitched the Xbox concept. He left the company in 2002 and joined the Creative Artists Agency, where he represented video game developers. He’s currently the CEO of Pacific Light & Hologram, a startup that’s still in stealth mode, according to its website.
Blackley shows off an in-development Xbox game with Bill Gates in 2001. (Credit: David McNew via Getty Images)
“Microsoft is a company that is now about enabling…