Xbox president says 'things are forever changing' as Microsoft preps Xbox PC

Xbox president Sarah Bond gives a rare glimpse into how upper management may be thinking about Xbox, especially as Xbox consoles morph into Windows PCs.

Xbox president says 'things are forever changing' as Microsoft preps Xbox PC
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Senior Gaming Editor
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TL;DR: Xbox president Sarah Bond highlights Xbox's transformative shift toward a hybrid PC-console model, breaking exclusivity and expanding Game Pass. Emphasizing risk-taking over inaction, Bond underscores adapting to constant change as key to Xbox's growth, innovation, and maximizing reach in the evolving gaming industry.

Fortune interviews Xbox president Sarah Bond, revealing some interesting potential connections between her words and what's happening with Xbox.

Xbox president says 'things are forever changing' as Microsoft preps Xbox PC 77
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Xbox is changing. First there was Game Pass, then came Play Anywhere, and Xbox has further changed by fully breaking exclusivity to sell its first-party games on rival platforms. The biggest shift, though, is Microsoft's reported move to meld Windows and Xbox together to make an Xbox PC-console hybrid.

In a recent interview with Fortune, Xbox president Sarah Bond gives a candid response that could underline some of the thinking around Xbox and its future. Bond mentions how people in general "spend most of their lives trying to hold on to what's known right now," and that the world itself is constantly changing.

The world of Xbox is certainly changing, especially after acquiring Activision Blizzard. The games industry itself has changed over the years to a more network-driven, service-oriented landscape that prioritizes microtransactions, and these developments were actually only made possible by Microsoft's and Sony's respective efforts with Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network.

Bond also mentions risk vs inaction, saying that sometimes it's riskier not to do anything. Maybe this ties in with Xbox, as it could have been risky not to make such transformational moves as Game Pass, Play Anywhere, exclusivity breaking, and the new Xbox PC--all of which are aimed at maximizing profit, reach, and growth of the Xbox brand.

Here's what Bond said in the interview:

"When you're taking a risk, you never know if it's going to work out. You never know that. The way I think about it is more what happens if you don't take the risk? And that's what made me sound in the decision.

"In the end, everything in life is always changing. We like to think things are permanent, we like to think that the chair you're sitting in is permanent, or that mic you're speaking into is permanent, but it's not really. It's going to change, it's going to degrade over time, it's going to get moved and all of those things.

"We spend a lot of our life trying to hold on to what's known right now. But that's the fallacy. Actually what you want to do is to accept that things are forever changing and then find your place in that world.

"So for me, when I made the bet, I made the bet because I thought 'what am I going to be passionate about? What am I going to be happy to get up and do everyday?' And that's what I'm going to invest my time in, and that's what I'm going to go learn and open up more opportunities for myself in."