Microsoft is hiring two financial experts to help transform Xbox finances

All this occurs while Xbox faces internal pressure to improve its profitability after the purchase of Activision Blizzard for $68 billion.

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The current Xbox landscape is marked by a mix of uncertainty and pressure. As players and analysts point out issues such as price increases on consoles, adjustments in Game Pass pricing and often confusing communication, internally

Microsoft faces an even greater challenge: transforming the finances of its gaming division to meet increasingly demanding profitability metrics. The $68 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, although strategic, has left Xbox in an uncomfortable position, where the board of directors, investors, and top executives demand a clear return on that investment. Although Xbox revenues reached $23 billion in the fiscal year 2025, profits do not seem to be following the same pace, leading the company to seek urgent solutions.

In this context, the Redmond company has published job offers that reveal their intentions: hiring financial experts to drive a “transformation with urgency”. One of the vacancies, aimed at a Gaming Finance Transformation Lead, seeks someone capable of aligning financial processes and systems across all studios under its umbrella, from Activision to ZeniMax.

The goal is clear: optimize operational efficiency and ensure that each division contributes to business objectives in a consistent manner. But measures are not limited to internal restructuring. It is rumored that Xbox is about to introduce ads in its cloud games, offering free streaming with ads, a move that would leverage the advertising technology of King, acquired along with Activision Blizzard, and the Xandr platform, purchased in 2021. This strategy could mark a before and after in how cloud games are monetized, although it also raises questions about how it will affect the user experience.

A next-generation console and radical changes

Meanwhile, Xbox is preparing the ground for its next console, a system that, according to rumors, could run Windows and allow playing PC titles from stores like Steam. If confirmed, this approach would represent a bold move, as it would integrate the world’s largest PC gaming ecosystem into its platform, although it could also undermine game sales in Microsoft’s store, where prices tend to be higher than on Steam.

To make this strategy work, Xbox will need to redefine its business model, possibly accelerating the use of tools like MUSE, its generative AI system capable of rendering games without the need for traditional development. This, in theory, would reduce costs and times, but it would also require a profound reorganization of its operations.

Job offer details

The hiring of a finance leader for studios and game content reinforces this idea. This position, which will work directly with the financial directors of each division (including Activision, Blizzard, King, and ZeniMax), will seek to unify Xbox’s financial vision, identifying challenges and promoting solutions that maximize revenue and profit margins. This is the official description, which caught my attention:

We are looking for a financial leader for studios and game content to strategically unify and lead the financial vision of our own game studios and content (GC&S), which includes ABK (Activision, Blizzard, King), Zenimax, and other independent studios.

This position will provide a holistic perspective across all game studios, driving the consolidation of financial processes and systems in global organizations.

You will collaborate with business owners and financial directors of game studios to identify and resolve challenges, as well as support the president of GC&S in executive reviews.

By promoting integration and alignment, this leader will facilitate operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, and transformation across our diverse portfolio of games.

Candidate role

• Develop and defend a comprehensive financial strategy for multi-million dollar game franchises, driving execution and accountability.
• Be the central financial leader to understand the revenue forecast of our own game studios and content, and provide insights and recommendations to help the organization exceed its revenue and margin objectives.
• Partner with the financial directors of the studios (Activision, Blizzard, King, Zenimax, Xbox Game Studios) to optimize financial processes, identify issues, and foster solutions across studios.
• Support executive reviews by providing clear, data-driven information and process clarity.

The job description makes it clear that the goal is not only to align processes but also to drive a transformation that will allow Xbox to compete in an increasingly demanding market. With such bold moves on the horizon, it remains to be seen whether these strategies will stabilize the division or generate more tension at a time when player trust is already in question.