Microsoft fired the person who created Xbox FanFest. Then decided to keep running Xbox FanFest anyway.
That's the situation as of this week, after Xbox published a blog post confirming the global Xbox FanFest Tour will continue across seven cities following its Los Angeles debut at the Xbox Games Showcase. The tour is framed as a celebration of Xbox's 25th anniversary, described in official messaging as “a global, multi-city run of fan-first events built around connection, local community, and the games we love.”
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The tour schedule Microsoft is committing to
Here's where Xbox FanFest is heading over the next few months:
- Cologne, Germany , August 26, at Gamescom
- Tokyo, Japan , September 17, during Tokyo Game Show
- London , September 26
- Mexico City , October 17
- Sydney, Australia , October 17
- Toronto, Canada , November 6
- Seattle , Date TBA
The LA event already ran alongside Summer Game Fest, where Asha Sharma and Matt Booty, two of Xbox's most prominent leaders, appeared in person. Attendees reportedly walked away with a limited-edition Xbox Series X in original Xbox green, the same console announced during the showcase. That's a generous gift, though it does raise questions about the budget behind an event that Microsoft is still funding while simultaneously cutting 3,200 jobs from the Xbox division.
What FanFest actually is (still unclear)
Here's the thing: the official Xbox FanFest website doesn't tell you much about what attending actually involves. Tickets aren't for sale. Access is distributed through city-specific sweepstakes, none of which are currently open. There's no confirmed lineup of activities, demos, or programming beyond vague anniversary celebrations.
What's confirmed is that the LA event was separate from the hands-on Xbox game demo area at SGF. So don't expect to get time with upcoming titles. The event appears to be more of a fan experience and brand moment than a traditional gaming convention floor.
The creator of this tour was let go in the layoffs
This is where the story gets uncomfortable. Chris Munson, the person who pitched and built Xbox FanFest, was among those cut in Microsoft's recent Xbox restructuring. After 15 and a half years at the company, Munson posted on LinkedIn confirming he was affected by the layoffs. "End of an era," he wrote.
Microsoft then proceeded to announce the continuation of the event he created, without him.
The broader context makes this harder to ignore. The Xbox division recently went through what it called its most significant restructuring in history, cutting 3,200 roles across studios including Double Fine, Compulsion, and Ninja Theory. Sharma and Booty, the two executives who showed up at FanFest LA, are the same leaders who oversaw those cuts and will reportedly face further reductions over the next year.
What this signals about Xbox's current direction
The key here is that Xbox is trying to run two incompatible narratives at the same time. One is a company making hard decisions, trimming costs, and restructuring for long-term health. The other is a company spending money on a global fan tour with free consoles and celebrity appearances across seven international cities.
The Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show stops will likely carry real energy, given those events draw massive audiences already. But the enthusiasm may thin out considerably by the time the tour reaches Mexico City, Sydney, and Toronto, cities where the sweepstakes-only entry model and lack of announced programming will make it harder to generate buzz organically.
For Xbox fans keeping tabs on the platform's trajectory, the Replaced release date and start times guide is a good reminder that there are still genuinely interesting Xbox titles on the horizon, even amid the organizational turbulence.
The FanFest tour is a real commitment, and Microsoft is clearly not walking it back. Whether Sharma and Booty continue to show up in person at each stop, given the current climate around Xbox leadership, is a different question entirely. Keep an eye on the Xbox FanFest website for sweepstakes openings if you're in one of the listed cities, and check our gaming guides for everything else dropping on Xbox this fall.
