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.
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...
