Seamus Blackley, one of the co-creators of the original Xbox, has assured the community he doesn't actually think Xbox is "dead", despite just yesterday likening the recent appointment of Asha Sharma to "a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night".

Following his comments earlier this week about the recent leadership shakeup at Microsoft, Blackley revealed he has been asked 59 times whether or not he truly believes Xbox is dead. "No," he has now stated.

"I love Xbox as my own flesh and blood," Blackley wrote on his social media feed. "It's the most wonderful thing to me," he said, before adding: "The distress it's in kills me, haunts me." However, the Xbox co-creator said "progress requires introspection and realism" remarking that "learning is pain".

In an exchange with another Bluesky user, Blackley stated Xbox is "literally something I nearly died to bring into existence," so of course "seeing it struggle and being unable to act is hard". He added he loves Xbox "more than literally anyone" else.

"This is killing me," he wrote, "but I know a lot about organisations and business now, and I was being honest, not a PR asshole." Blackley also called Xbox "family", complete with a little green heart.

Blackley left Microsoft back in 2002, to pursue other opportunities.

As for the here and now at Microsoft, Sharma was announced to be taking over from Phil Spencer following news that the Xbox head would be retiring after nearly 40 years with the company. Sarah Bond, who many had presumed would eventually succeed Spencer, also announced she would be leaving Xbox at this same time.

For more on the current situation at Microsoft, be sure to check out our Chris' feature: The future of Xbox is vague and contradictory, with just a glimmer of hope.