Xbox partners with unlikely companies to show you (almost) everything is an Xbox

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Here's an Xbox, there's an Xbox, everywhere you look, it's an Xbox, at least according to this ad.

An ad showing the green text "This is an Xbox" next to an Xbox, laptop, and TV
(Image credit: Microsoft)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft has launched a new marketing campaign, with a focus on showing all the different devices that can be used an Xbox thanks to Game Pass and Cloud Gaming.
  • The ad is more than a bit tongue-in-cheek, showing everyday objects and items that aren't an Xbox, while labelling any hardware that can be used with Xbox Game Pass and/or Xbox Cloud Gaming as an Xbox.
  • This comes as Microsoft is renewing its push into Cloud and mobile gaming, with the ability for players to play their owned games on Android mobile devices planned to roll out starting later this month.

Your TV? An Xbox. Your phone? An Xbox. Your laptop? Believe it or not, an Xbox!

That's the idea behind Microsoft's new "This is an Xbox" ad campaign that the company officially unveiled (via Xbox Wire) on Thursday. The ad shows that in addition to the expected Xbox Series X|S consoles, there's a wide range of devices such as Amazon Fire TV sticks, Samsung Smart TVs and Meta Quest 3 headsets that can be used as an Xbox via software support like the Xbox PC app, Xbox Game Pass, and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

You can take a look at the live-action ad below:

Xbox - This Is an Xbox - YouTube Xbox - This Is an Xbox - YouTube
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Amusing, but I see the point

I'm sure members of the console-centric Xbox audience may feel inclined to roll their eyes, but I do honestly understand the point this ad campaign is getting across.

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(Image credit: Windows Central)

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Microsoft wants to reach millions upon millions of additional players that simply can't be reached by asking them to buy a console, so the company is trying to reach those players where they already are, on as many devices as possible.

That's only even more true in a world where console exclusivity is making less and less sense in the eyes of platform holders. While Microsoft is firmly and swiftly leading the charge — some of its games, like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and DOOM: The Dark Ages, arrive day one on PlayStation 5 alongside Xbox and PC — Sony is increasingly dipping its toes in the water, taking less and less time to bring its blockbusters like Marvel's Spider-Man 2 to PC and directly publishing LEGO Horizon Adventures day one on Nintendo Switch.

I remain curious to see where this all leads.

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Samuel Tolbert
Samuel Tolbert
Freelance Writer

Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter @SamuelTolbert.

5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • fatpunkslim
    Phil Spencer said that on his last interview: "Xbox ecosystem is xbox console, pc and cloud. "

    Do not confuse historically multiplatform games; they have never been exclusive games. There is no reason for Doom or Black Ops to become exclusive, especially since MS has committed to keeping Call of Duty multiplatform for istance.

    This strategy suits me very well, especially with the democratization of play anywhere possible only within the Xbox ecosystem, ( Xbox consoles, PC, and cloud). For now, it is not sufficiently in place, but it is a real plus to buy a game and have it available 'everywhere,' well, almost everywhere.

    I don't know why writers tend to focus on 'I'm sure members of the console-centric Xbox audience may feel inclined to roll their eyes'? It's a very small minority of people. When you go on forums, Reddit, and others, the majority is much more open than that.

    But, because there is a but, there is still a desire to maintain an Xbox identity, to keep the big franchises within the Xbox ecosystem and not elsewhere. And I am one of those people, not to keep games only for myself and not want to share them, but simply for the long-term health of Xbox. But that's not the subject here. Xbox ecosystem = Xbox console, PC, and cloud !
    Reply
  • Lurking_Lurker_Lurks
    As Xbox continues to expand, I do wish they'd put more love and care into making new platforms feel like an Xbox. Like PC for example. Windows could introduce a Xbox style gaming mode or even just do better at updating the PC app. On mobile I don't know why we can't at least get a link or in app browser for the cloud gaming site. I hate that android now as well, is getting told to just open the web browser and download a separate web app. I get Apple is blocking it, but that shouldn't also extend to them blocking external links within the app (if it does then my god, how have we gotten to this point).

    I love Xbox Play Anywhere. The fact that I can use my legion go without waiting for Xbox's handheld is lovely. If you'd had told kid me he could play games like Yakuza on the cloud with touch on his phone (not a mobile game, but full Yakuza releases) he'd tell you to shut the front door. I'd be really excited if the mobile store brings Xbox Play Anywhere ready versions of Vampire survivors to mobile devices natively. Losing all my progress is what's held me back from downloading it on my phone. But that said they definitely need to expand the teams behind these efforts (and even the console team). The UX and UI has a long way to go still.
    Reply
  • fjtorres5591
    MS has for a couple of years been stressing that an XBOX is anything that can play XBOX games. And their cloud service only streams XBOX console games. This doesn't get enough attention.

    That the xbox cloud only streams console games through ANACONDA server blades is 100% intentional. When MS bought BETHESDA they bought a BETHESDA Project for streaming PC games (equivalent to LUNA) and so far they have chosen not to use that tech. At some point, probably fairly soon, they will use some variation or inhouse equivalent to expand the scope of their cloud gaming to include pc games. Probably when they bring PC compatibility to the console.

    Any company that wants to get its games on the "xcloud" service has to support the console because the two are one and the same.. When MS says they want to get more PC games on the consoles, that is part of the leverage beyond and apart from the console installed base. Once they bring out a cloud only tier of Game Pass--soon after they allow purchased PLAY ANYWHERE games to be played via cloud--that will be a distribution channel and market all its own, complementary to PCs and Consoles. Which is what the new ad is saying.

    It may be time to stop thinking of the hardware as the platform and start thinking in terms of the Market defined by the API SET. What MS wants to focus on is the "X" in XBOX. DirectX and what lies behind it. Windows.

    Making the hardware itself secondary (though not totally irrelevant) is the obvious next step in expanding the reach of XBOX games and thus the revenue each game can bring in. Which brings us back to the whole point of the business: making as much money as possible.

    It may seem there is madness to their method but there is method to their madness. What the ad is saying is they are ready to take cloud gaming to the next level (purchased games) and, probably, ditching the "Beta" label at last.
    Reply
  • fatpunkslim
    @fjtorres5591: Very good analysis ! Do you think the next Xbox console will be able to integrate the Steam library or other PC stores? That would be really awesome! If Yes, how Xbox would make money from games bought on other stores through its console! A commission ?
    Reply
  • fjtorres5591
    fatpunkslim said:
    @fjtorres5591: Very good analysis ! Do you think the next Xbox console will be able to integrate the Steam library or other PC stores? That would be really awesome! If Yes, how Xbox would make money from games bought on other stores through its console! A commission ?
    If the next xbox is Windows compatible it would have to be (almost) as open as a PC. So Steam, etc, would run on it in some form. Either standalone or as a partitioned section of the XBOX store. Either way it would line up with Spencer's line about wanting Steam and other stores onboard.

    The way it would work would most likely be that that Steam pays "rent" in the form of a percentage of total xbox revenue instead of per transaction. Alternately, they could use the Xbox payment system the way apple forces all iPhone apps. (A bit hypocritical if they did since they protest it on iOS. But if it's a voluntary option...)

    It all hinges on what the nextbox actually is.

    Brad Sams suggested it might be a line of PCs farmed out to Dell, Acer, Lenovo, or somebody else (with a custom security module for anticheat and DRM) much like the old signature PCs or the surface line. At that point console xbox software would be PC software with a default configuration for the specific models/markets they choose to address. One would expect three SKUs: entry level, mainstream, and hobbyist at say, $300/600/900. At least the first two would be diskless. All would be slightly subsidized. All would have the same NPU but the CPU would vary. Resolution and max frame rate would be model determined.

    Not hard to figure out, really, once you assume PC compatibility. The iffy part is the entry level; I can't see MS giving up on the low end even if the Series S FUD from lazy developers and fanboys has the series S underperforming so far. The tech might force it, though. One (touchy) solution for the entry level might be to make it a hybrid: back-compat and AA/indie games run local but big AAA games run with cloud assist. A compromise to meet Spencer's goals of growing the ecosystem (no $1000 box) while delivering "biggest leap in performance ever". Interestingly, such a design would have minimal local storage but lots of DRAM, keeping costs contained.

    Unless things change, that would be the last generation of consoles to even barely fit the old hardware driven model. There will still be gaming boxes sold but they will be almost certainly be online always and mostly streamers with local back compatibility. Think of the OneX today.

    The alternative is to give up on local execution of the pixel-pimping "photorealistic" games or local execution at all. The tech simply won't allow ever increasing local power at practical price points. Witness the PS5 Pro. You either follow Nintendo in selling only hardware that profitably fits the price point or go online-assisted or full online. Or both: Series S forever.

    Every tech plateaus sooner or later.
    Reply