Steph Kreske

Currently working in AI prev: @EsportsEng @Apple

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@JeremyStuD AHHHH im so happy and proud of you my friend. So deserved! You put so much time and effort into truly being the best caster you can be and it’s such a joy to see you do.

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@B23COD @gupisix I just finished mine since I wasn’t grinding it and was just playing some ranked games. I got 67162.

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@kelilalaurel ….thats like incredibly hard to do when you aren’t anywhere near the stage normally because you’re saying hi to your friends or sitting with them higher up in the stands. 🙄😂

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@Josh_Mechanic @free_thewave @H3CZ @Methodz @BoZe 😃

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@FenixSRS I also feel like with champs it’s different. It’s not like a regular online match where you have plenty of VOD review time before the next match. Champs is do or die and if my teammate waited until after champs when it no longer mattered I would be pissed.

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

Toronto Pearson has to be the least efficient airport I have ever been to, my word are they slow at everything.

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@ma_fe79 The more I see and hear out of Checo the more I respect him. He’s always first to mention other drivers and people within a team who do really well even if the same isn’t given to him.

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

I am absolutely gutted for my friends impacted by this. There is nothing really that can be said to relieve the hurt I’m sure they are feeling. I am however impressed by transparency here. The bullshit minimization that normally exists in statements like this helps no one.

[ASHA @asha_shar]

This is an important email I sent today to all employees at XBOX:

Team,

We are beginning the most significant restructure in XBOX history. After careful consideration, I've made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27. This will include approximately 1,600 role eliminations today, and in addition, four studios will leave XBOX to new management. I recognize that a year-long restructuring creates additional challenges. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make all the necessary changes in a single day, and I wanted to be direct about the scale.

I know this is painful. These changes will directly affect people who have poured their creativity into building XBOX. Many joined us through acquisitions, while others were recruited here, or sought us out because they loved this industry and loved XBOX. Today's decisions do not reflect their talent or dedication.

Our business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins that are 3–10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected. As that happened, our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history. We must reset XBOX.

First, we will reset our content portfolio.

Since 2018, we have aggressively expanded our studio portfolio while the number of games created each month across the industry now outpaces the last ten years combined. We now find ourselves competing not only with the largest publishers, but also with smaller independent studios. It is neither possible nor desirable to own every great independent studio. We have also learned that we are not the best home for every type of studio; in a typical year, we lost 64 cents for every dollar we invested. As we reset XBOX, we will help independent creators succeed by providing open development tools and audiences to realize their vision.

Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will return to management and transition to independent studios with their IP, catalog, and runway for their next games. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have entered terms to join new ownership with funding to complete and grow Senua and State of Decay 3. In France, Arkane’s management is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options.

We are also making reductions across other units, and in some cases, shifting investment to focus on higher priority projects. These changes vary in size across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, and XBOX Game Studios. None of our first party publicly announced games or projects are being cancelled as part of these reductions.

In addition, Mojang and King will now report directly to me. These two studios have increasingly become platforms and are our largest by monthly active players. They bring critical geographic, demographic, and differentiation to XBOX.

Second, we will reset our platform.

We know that great technology gets better when it gets simpler, not bigger. Today, in some parts of the company, work passes through as many as 14 layers of management. Our platform teams are 40% larger than they were at the start of this generation, even as our player base and playtime have declined. That complexity has slowed decisions, blurred accountability, and made it harder to deliver for players. As we reset XBOX, we will simplify.

We will reduce management layers to no more than 5, and where possible, 3. We will deliver success through a flatter organization that is built around makers (individual contributors focused on building), player-coaches (leaders who remain deeply involved in the work while developing their teams), and directly responsible individuals (DRIs) who own key decisions and outcomes. And we will streamline how we work across our tools, with a cleaner code base, shared services, and 50% reduced vendor spend.

Third, we are resetting how we operate.

As XBOX grew our headcount, we became more fragmented. Teams, studios, and functions often operate independently, and it became harder to work towards a shared goal, make the right tradeoffs, and get things done.

For the first time, we are establishing a Chief Operating Officer with end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services. Helen Chiang has been promoted to this role and will report directly to me. Over nearly two decades at XBOX, Helen has helped build some of our most important businesses, from XBOX Live to leading Mojang and the Minecraft franchise. She will bring our businesses together under one operating model, making sure we make clear investment decisions, learn from our successes and failures, and hold ourselves accountable for results.

Thank you, Dave McCarthy, who is retiring after 17 years with XBOX. Dave has played a defining role in building the platform that millions of players rely on every day and has been a trusted partner through many of the biggest moments in XBOX's history. We wish him all the best.

These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one. The next decade of gaming will be larger, more global, and more creative than anything we've seen before. This year, we'll invest as much in XBOX as we ever have, but we'll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making XBOX where the world plays and creates.

I want XBOX to be one of the few companies that entertains more than a billion people each day and gives everyone the opportunity to create and connect. I know we can achieve this goal. XBOX has many of the most beloved franchises in entertainment history, talented studios around the world, and we will return to growth in 2027.

History is full of companies that mistake longevity for inevitability. We will not be one of them.

Asha

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@Pizza12365886 @CDCIntel @ZooMaa @StallionsCOD @AidenIconZ @MillyTheGunny Wasn’t Nium on stallions for the end of last title season? And huntsmen on this title?

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@EmiliaRxse This is the danger of the Balogun situation. Now they have to do it for all or should at least unless it was just totally egregious, which I don’t think tonight’s was.

[Danny Hernández 🦴 @danny8002]

“No puedes estar triste por la eliminación de una selección que conociste hace un mes”.

Yo después de la eliminación de Cabo Verde:

[Formula 1 @F1]

LEWIS HAMILTON TAKES #F1SPRINT POLE AT SILVERSTONE!! 👊

#F1 #BritishGP

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@brittney_pulice @AnkurMessi_ He was, it wouldn’t have counted even if he made it.

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@ColeRolland @KSherwoodOPS @malukah @Treyarch Let’s gooo @ColeRolland this is sick

[Cole Rolland @ColeRolland]

Honored to have written and performed the guitar solo on “Evencry” for the official Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Zombies soundtrack alongside @KSherwoodOPS & @malukah

See you in the Dark Aether. 🔮🔥

Listen Here 🎧
https://t.co/kY51WFMNa8

#CallOfDuty #BlackOps7 #Zombies

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@CallofSandy I lowkey feel like Optic love it. They never get to play the villain because everywhere I like optics home turf. If anything I think it’ll fuel them. Like the dope of that insane Dashy snipe last event. Optic like it loud doesn’t matter if it’s boos or cheers

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@Veohhz That’s a trophy worth fighting for

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@kelilalaurel @elisemaxo Come see me in San Francisco. I got a spare room and miss you friend

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@InControlGG @OMNiA_GGs @Darksived @cWadz_ @DerekTheGoat_ @KozyVeil Give em hell gentlemen

[Steph Kreske @StephKreske]

@Darksived @BeastIyy @KBisTwisted No no we root for Colombia always 😂