Since the launch of the original Xbox in 2001, there have been two voices in the spelling of the brand: the official logo uses "XBOX" in all capital letters, but in daily writing, most media and players are accustomed to writing "Xbox". Now, the new head of Xbox officially asks players: How to fight?
New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma recently launched a poll on social media, asking players whether they think the brand name should be spelled "Xbox" or "XBOX." As of press time, about 63% of the approximately 12,000 players who participated in the vote chose "XBOX" in all capital letters, leading by a clear advantage.
The voting will remain open until May 14th. Sharma's move coincides with the 25th anniversary of the birth of the Xbox brand - in 2001, Microsoft officially launched the first-generation Xbox console.
While discussing the spelling issue, some players also called on Sharma and his team to review Microsoft's current multi-platform publishing strategy. This strategy has brought many original Xbox exclusives to PlayStation 5 and Switch platforms.
Despite the controversy, revenue from Xbox games on PS5 has reportedly brought in sizable numbers for Microsoft. Sharma also admitted in April that Xbox's hardware, content and services experienced significant declines in the last quarter, and promised that "there is still a lot of work to be done in the future to win the trust of every player."
Recently, Sharma has introduced a number of veterans in the AI field to the leadership team and also reduced the subscription price of Game Pass Ultimate. On the other hand, Xbox has announced that new games in the "Call of Duty" series will no longer be included in Game Pass on the first day of release. This is seen as a signal that more 3A masterpieces may gradually withdraw from the first-day lineup in the future.
As for whether the brand spelling will eventually be unified from "Xbox" to "XBOX", there is no conclusion yet.