Nearly all evidence of Microsoft's "This is an Xbox" campaign has been quietly removed from the internet (via Game Developer). The news post that kicked it all off is now a blank webpage, though the YouTube video unveiling the campaign is still up. The change comes less than a month after Microsoft named Asha Sharma as Xbox's new executive vice president and CEO.
Sharma took on her new role in late February, after former CEO Phil Spencer suddenly retired. Spencer's long-time protege Sarah Bond left her role as Xbox president immediately thereafter. Bond was said to be the driving force behind the "This is an Xbox" campaign, which debuted in November 2024 with the goal of showing consumers that Xbox isn't just a console.
Bond was apparently the driving force behind the campaign, which confused consumers and reportedly offended internal Xbox employees. The campaign debuted shortly after the departure of Xbox executive Kareem Choudhry and chief marketing officer Jerret West, which left Xbox's marketing reporting directly to Bond. According to some Xbox employees, Bond was "tough to work with."
"If you didn't follow the vision or questioned it, you were out," one employee reportedly said of Bond.
Yesterday, Microsoft held a panel at the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, during which Xbox's next-gen VP Jason Ronald shared an update on Project Helix, Xbox's recently announced PC/console platform. Devkits are expected to be delivered to developers sometime in 2027.
GameSpot has reached out to Microsoft for comment on the status of the "This is an Xbox" campaign.
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Sharma took on her new role in late February, after former CEO Phil Spencer suddenly retired. Spencer's long-time protege Sarah Bond left her role as Xbox president immediately thereafter. Bond was said to be the driving force behind the "This is an Xbox" campaign, which debuted in November 2024 with the goal of showing consumers that Xbox isn't just a console.
Bond was apparently the driving force behind the campaign, which confused consumers and reportedly offended internal Xbox employees. The campaign debuted shortly after the departure of Xbox executive Kareem Choudhry and chief marketing officer Jerret West, which left Xbox's marketing reporting directly to Bond. According to some Xbox employees, Bond was "tough to work with."
"If you didn't follow the vision or questioned it, you were out," one employee reportedly said of Bond.
Yesterday, Microsoft held a panel at the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, during which Xbox's next-gen VP Jason Ronald shared an update on Project Helix, Xbox's recently announced PC/console platform. Devkits are expected to be delivered to developers sometime in 2027.
GameSpot has reached out to Microsoft for comment on the status of the "This is an Xbox" campaign.
Source