Former Blizzard Entertainment president Mike Ybarra has recently criticized Microsoft’s “This is an Xbox” campaign, calling it the wrong move for the Xbox brand. Microsoft’s handling of Xbox has been controversial in recent years, and many fans are skeptical of the future, an opinion echoed by Ybarra’s comments.
Microsoft first started its controversial “This is an Xbox” campaign back in November 2024. The ad campaign compared the Xbox Series X/S consoles to tablets, smartphones, VR headsets, and laptops, labeling them as “an Xbox” due to having access to Game Pass. The campaign was not well-received at the time, as many fans argued that Microsoft was diluting the Xbox brand, especially when considering the increasingly prominent multiplatform approach.
Mike Ybarra Criticizes Microsoft’s ‘This is an Xbox’ Strategy
Ybarra recently touched on the controversial marketing campaign when responding to a gamer complaining about the recently released ROG Xbox Ally using Windows instead of the Xbox OS. The executive explained that the decision makes sense, considering the lack of Xbox exclusives. The ex-Blizzard president also claimed that “only a moron” would continue to make consoles when all games were third-party releases. He also mentioned that “This is an Xbox” was a “wrong idea” at the “wrong time.” According to Ybarra, if games don’t have parity between a console and other devices, it simply does not make sense to call these other platforms an Xbox, which could confuse consumers.
Despite Ybarra’s criticism, Microsoft seems to be focused on its current strategy of supporting the Windows OS. A recent rumor even pointed out that Microsoft is working on official Xbox emulation for Windows. If the rumor is correct, this move could bring classic Xbox games to the ROG Xbox Ally.
It’s likely that the multiplatform approach and having a console will also continue to be part of the Xbox ecosystem. Earlier this week, Microsoft confirmed that the next-gen Xbox is currently in development in a partnership with AMD, responding to recent rumors that the idea could have been scrapped. So, it remains to be seen how successful Xbox’s next-gen console will be, and whether Microsoft will continue to launch only a few of its first-party games on PlayStation and similar platforms, or will go all-in in its multiplatform strategy.
- Brand
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Microsoft
- Original Release Date
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November 10, 2020
- Original MSRP (USD)
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$499
- Operating System
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Proprietary (Windows-based)
- Processor
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Custom AMD 8-core Zen 2 3.8 GHz
- Resolution
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720p – 4K UHD
