Former Blizzard Entertainment president Mike Ybarra recently criticized Microsoft's “It's an Xbox” campaign, calling it a misstep. Xbox brand. Microsoft's handling of the Xbox has been controversial in recent years, and many fans are skeptical about its future, an opinion echoed by Ybarra's comments.
Microsoft launched its controversial “It's an Xbox” campaign back in November 2024. The advertising campaign compared the Xbox Series X/S consoles to tablets, smartphones, VR headsets and laptops, labeling them as “an Xbox” due to access to Game Pass. The campaign was not well received at the time, as many fans argued that Microsoft was undermining the Xbox brand, especially considering the increasingly popular multiplatform approach.
Mike Ybarra criticizes Microsoft's 'it's an Xbox' strategy
Ybarra recently touched on a controversial marketing campaign when a gamer complained about the recently released ROG Xbox Ally using Windows instead of the Xbox OS. The executive said the decision made sense given the lack of Xbox exclusives. The ex-Blizzard president also claimed that “only an idiot” would continue to make consoles when all games are third-party releases. He also noted that “it's an Xbox” was the “wrong idea” at the “wrong time”. According to Ybarra, if there is no similarity between games consoles and other devices, it does not make sense to call these other platforms Xbox, which can confuse consumers.
Despite Ybarra's criticism, Microsoft appears to be focusing on its current strategy of supporting the Windows OS. A recent rumor also pointed out that Microsoft is working on an official Xbox emulation for Windows. If the rumor is correct, this move could bring classic Xbox games to the ROG Xbox Companion.
It is likely that the multiplatform approach and 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 partnership with AMD, responding to recent rumors that the idea may be scrapped. So, it remains to be seen how successful Xbox's next-gen console will be, and whether Microsoft will continue to launch only its first-party games on PlayStation and similar platforms, or go all-in on 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
- resolve
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720p – 4K UHD
