{"id":1791947,"date":"2026-02-25T11:59:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:59:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1791947"},"modified":"2026-02-25T11:59:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:59:33","slug":"despite-likening-new-xbox-heads-job-to-a-palliative-care-doctor-original-co-creator-doesnt-actually-think-xbox-is-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1791947","title":{"rendered":"Despite likening new Xbox head&#8217;s job to a &#8220;palliative care doctor&#8221;, original co-creator doesn&#8217;t actually think Xbox is dead"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Despite likening new Xbox head&#8217;s job to a &#8220;palliative care doctor&#8221;, original co-creator doesn&#8217;t actually think Xbox is dead<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">&#8220;The distress it&#8217;s in kills me, haunts me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Master-Chief-in-Halo-Infinite-art.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Master Chief in Halo Infinite art\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"Master-Chief-in-Halo-Infinite-art.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Xbox<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Victoria Phillips Kennedy avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1644925423.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Victoria Phillips Kennedy avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1644925423.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/victoria-kennedy\">Victoria Phillips Kennedy<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      News Reporter<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-02-25T11:59:33+00:00\">Feb. 25, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/despite-likening-new-xbox-heads-job-to-a-palliative-care-doctor-original-co-creator-doesnt-actually-think-xbox-is-dead?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          1 comment<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Seamus Blackley, one of the co-creators of the original Xbox, has assured the community he doesn&#8217;t actually think Xbox is &#8220;dead&#8221;, despite just yesterday likening the recent appointment of Asha Sharma to &#8220;a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Following his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/seamus-blackley-microsoft-reshuffle-all-about-ai\">comments earlier this week about the recent leadership shakeup at Microsoft<\/a>, Blackley revealed he has been asked 59 times whether or not he truly believes Xbox is dead. &#8220;No,&#8221; he has now stated.<\/p>\n<p><!-- code from Primis - Eurogamer.net - eurogamer.net --><\/p>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- code from Primis --><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I love Xbox as my own flesh and blood,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/seamus.bsky.social\">Blackley wrote on his social media feed<\/a>. &#8220;It&#8217;s the most wonderful thing to me,&#8221; he said, before adding: &#8220;The distress it&#8217;s in kills me, haunts me.&#8221; However, the Xbox co-creator said &#8220;progress requires introspection and realism&#8221; remarking that &#8220;learning is pain&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>In an exchange with another Bluesky user, Blackley stated Xbox is &#8220;literally something I nearly died to bring into existence,&#8221; so of course &#8220;seeing it struggle and being unable to act is hard&#8221;. He added he loves Xbox &#8220;more than literally anyone&#8221; else.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is killing me,&#8221; he wrote, &#8220;but I know a lot about organisations and business now, and I was being honest, not a PR asshole.&#8221; Blackley also called Xbox &#8220;family&#8221;, complete with a little green heart.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/article-45824\">Blackley left Microsoft back in 2002<\/a>, to pursue other opportunities.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Seamus Blackley\" height=\"1630\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Seamus-Blackley.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.2269938650306749\" width=\"2000\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Seamus Blackley\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"Seamus-Blackley.jpg\" height=\"1630\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.2269938650306749\" width=\"2000\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>via Seamus Blackley\/Bluesky<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As for the here and now at Microsoft, Sharma was announced to be taking over from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/personas\/phil-spencer\">Phil Spencer<\/a> following news that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/today-marks-an-exciting-new-chapter-xbox-boss-phil-spencer-retiring-amid-major-leadership-shakeup-that-sees-microsofts-coreai-president-taking-over-roll\">Xbox head would be retiring after nearly 40 years with the company<\/a>. Sarah Bond, who many had presumed would eventually succeed Spencer, also announced she would be leaving Xbox at this same time.<\/p>\n<p>For more on the current situation at Microsoft, be sure to check out our Chris&#8217; feature: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/future-of-xbox-vague-contradictory-phil-spencer-sarah-bond-asha-sharma-matt-booty\">The future of Xbox is vague and contradictory, with just a glimmer of hope<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Seamus Blackley, one of the co-creators of the original Xbox, has assured the community he doesn&#8217;t actually think Xbox is &#8220;dead&#8221;, despite just yesterday likening the recent appointment of Asha Sharma to &#8220;a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Following his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/seamus-blackley-microsoft-reshuffle-all-about-ai\">comments earlier this week about the recent leadership shakeup at Microsoft<\/a>, Blackley revealed he has been asked 59 times whether or not he truly believes Xbox is dead. &#8220;No,&#8221; he has now stated.<\/p>\n<p><!-- code from Primis - Eurogamer.net - eurogamer.net --><\/p>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- code from Primis --><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I love Xbox as my own flesh and blood,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/seamus.bsky.social\">Blackley wrote on his social media feed<\/a>. &#8220;It&#8217;s the most wonderful thing to me,&#8221; he said, before adding: &#8220;The distress it&#8217;s in kills me, haunts me.&#8221; However, the Xbox co-creator said &#8220;progress requires introspection and realism&#8221; remarking that &#8220;learning is pain&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>In an exchange with another Bluesky user, Blackley stated Xbox is &#8220;literally something I nearly died to bring into existence,&#8221; so of course &#8220;seeing it struggle and being unable to act is hard&#8221;. He added he loves Xbox &#8220;more than literally anyone&#8221; else.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is killing me,&#8221; he wrote, &#8220;but I know a lot about organisations and business now, and I was being honest, not a PR asshole.&#8221; Blackley also called Xbox &#8220;family&#8221;, complete with a little green heart.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/article-45824\">Blackley left Microsoft back in 2002<\/a>, to pursue other opportunities.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Seamus Blackley\" height=\"1630\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Seamus-Blackley.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.2269938650306749\" width=\"2000\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Seamus Blackley\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"Seamus-Blackley.jpg\" height=\"1630\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.2269938650306749\" width=\"2000\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>via Seamus Blackley\/Bluesky<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As for the here and now at Microsoft, Sharma was announced to be taking over from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/personas\/phil-spencer\">Phil Spencer<\/a> following news that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/today-marks-an-exciting-new-chapter-xbox-boss-phil-spencer-retiring-amid-major-leadership-shakeup-that-sees-microsofts-coreai-president-taking-over-roll\">Xbox head would be retiring after nearly 40 years with the company<\/a>. Sarah Bond, who many had presumed would eventually succeed Spencer, also announced she would be leaving Xbox at this same time.<\/p>\n<p>For more on the current situation at Microsoft, be sure to check out our Chris&#8217; feature: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/future-of-xbox-vague-contradictory-phil-spencer-sarah-bond-asha-sharma-matt-booty\">The future of Xbox is vague and contradictory, with just a glimmer of hope<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Despite likening new Xbox head&#8217;s job to a &#8220;palliative care doctor&#8221;, original co-creator doesn&#8217;t actually think Xbox is dead &#8220;The distress it&#8217;s in kills me, haunts me.&#8221; Image credit: Xbox News by Victoria Phillips Kennedy News Reporter Published on Feb. 25, 2026 1 comment Seamus Blackley, one of the co-creators of the original [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1791947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1791947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1791947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1791947\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1791947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1791947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1791947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}