Microsoft – it was “logical” to cancel Inside Xbox

By Stephany Nunneley

Microsoft Europe’s Chris Lewis has said the firm ditched Inside Xbox due to the show no longer being fitting with its plans for Xbox 360.

Speaking with Eurogamer at E3, Lewis said the firm had reached a “logical and natural position,” where it felt it had the area covered without the need for Inside Xbox.

“We’ve got 40 million people on Xbox Live, we know that audience closely follows what we’re up to, so we felt it was logical [to close it],” he said. “Our commitment [is] to keep bringing that kind of content to satisfy the appetite of that audience. “We have no desire to move away from that. In my opinion, we are focussed on it more than ever – understanding how to target that audience, how not to alienate that audience.

“But to be clear, we’ve got more casual gaming experiences we want to bring – we’ve got music, we’ve got entertainment, we want to bring fitness and lifestyle to Xbox 360 like the stuff you saw with Nike, all of which is possible through Kinect. Those things allows us to realise our vision.

“We want to be the entertainment hub in the living room – the box of choice in every respect.”

Since its axing, Inside Xbox vets Dan Maher, Ashley Denton and Gareth Wild have formed a new production company called Explosive Alan Productions, although details on the new venture are scarce at the moment.