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Ori Dev Thomas Mahler Calls Changes At XBOX “Heartbreaking,” But A Long Time Coming

June 16, 2026 by Ryan Parreno

Sobering thoughts from a former Xbox partner.

Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler has chimed in on the XBOX Reset.

Last week, Asha Sharma shared a letter about XBOX’s Reset, revealing the division has only been making a 3 % ‘accountability’ margin. In the past 24 hours, rumors have spread that multiple Xbox Game Studios are closing.

Mahler has a unique perspective, because XBOX published Moon Studios’ Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps. On Twitter, he said this:

It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening at Xbox right now.

A lot of great people are being affected, and I don’t want to minimize that. But if we’re being honest, this has felt like a long time coming and I’m not sure this is the end of it. It may just be the beginning of a much larger reset across the industry.

Mahler believes Xbox’s main struggle is finding the right lead developers and teams for consistent and enduring success. He pitched that they make Ori the next Xbox mascot to fill that role.

Ultimately, Mahler believes Xbox needs this reset. He argues Asha needs to follow Steve Jobs’ playbook on Apple in 1997 to recreate that successful comeback.

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Category: UpdatesTag: Moon Studios, Nintendo Switch, Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, PC, PS5, Thomas Mahler, Xbox, Xbox Series X/S

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