Microsoft quietly phases out its ‘This is an Xbox’ campaign.

In November 2024, Microsoft kicked off its “This is an Xbox” marketing initiative, aiming to redefine its gaming division as a software ecosystem that doesn’t rely on specific hardware. The campaign was certainly eye-catching, though perhaps not in the best way. Just weeks after Xbox head Phil Spencer announced his retirement and his successor Sarah Bond stepped down, Microsoft has seemingly scrubbed all mentions of “This is an Xbox” from its internal news platform.

The news was first highlighted by an outlet, which pointed out that the original announcement for the campaign now leads to a 404 error page. Additionally, a quiz associated with the campaign has also been taken down.

“This is an Xbox” was a key part of Bond’s strategy to broaden the brand’s appeal beyond traditional console gaming. However, recent reports suggest that the campaign had “offended many Xbox employees internally.” With hardware sales on the decline, the aim was to engage players outside of consoles, promoting Xbox games on laptops, handheld gaming devices, smart TVs, and mobile phones. For a time, the ads were everywhere, plastered across the internet, billboards, and buses, featuring bold text and a striking green and black color scheme.

At one point, the company even offered a line of “This is an Xbox” merchandise, including phone cases, T-shirts, and hoodies. Reactions to the merch were mixed, with one commentator calling it “easily their worst Xbox marketing campaign ever,” while another expressed embarrassment despite being a dedicated Xbox user. (It’s worth noting that the Xbox Gear Shop, which sells branded merchandise, is currently undergoing a revamp.)

The campaign was originally tied to the anticipated launch of a dedicated Xbox digital storefront to compete with platforms like Apple’s App Store and Steam. However, that launch has been delayed, and the mobile game store remains absent.

The decision to eliminate “This is an Xbox” comes shortly after new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma unveiled the next-gen Xbox hardware, currently referred to as Project Helix. In her announcement, she emphasized the team’s “commitment to the return of Xbox,” seemingly acknowledging that some long-time fans were dissatisfied with the previous leadership’s focus on multiplatform and software strategies.

Despite its removal from most platforms, remnants of the “This is an Xbox” campaign still exist in a few YouTube videos on the Xbox channel. It will be interesting to see how quickly that changes as we approach the launch of Project Helix.