With the departures of Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond, Xbox seems to be heading in a new direction again. New Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma seems to want the brand to move away from its 'this is Xbox' strategy and refocus on a console-first approach, pushing its next-generation console, Project Helix, to the forefront.
But Xbox isn't just moving away from its existing strategy, it's eliminating it. As game developers discovered, posts and marketing materials for the 'This is an Xbox' campaign began disappearing from the internet. Xbox hasn't released yet and hasn't announced any major marketing changes, but it does appear to be dropping remnants of existing campaigns.
This is no longer Xbox.
Searching Xbox Wire for material related to the 'This is Xbox' marketing campaign, game developer Chris Kerr couldn't find anything under the tag. He noted that the only post about the campaign he could find was the September 2025 update for ROG Xbox Ally, but even that is now gone.
Clicking on the original announcement link reveals that the page cannot be found, further evidence that Microsoft has removed 'This is Xbox'. The post has been removed from Xbox Wire, but can still be found on Archive Today.
Xbox's future hangs in the balance following Phil Spencer's retirement.
Microsoft is making big changes to the Xbox brand, but few of them are good.
In addition to fans, even current and former Xbox employees were unhappy with the 'This is Xbox' campaign, which essentially deviated from the core console strategy. Since then, Microsoft has repeatedly emphasized its interest in a console-first approach, even dropping mention of it in its marketing campaign.
Regarding the upcoming Project Helix, Xbox has stated that it will be a premium console that will run both Xbox and PC games. We got a sneak peek at the development kit yesterday, and it was revealed at the GDC panel that developers will only be able to access it in 2027. Considering all this, don't expect the console itself to release before 2028.
Xbox doesn't compete with other consoles because they've already lost.
Instead of going after PlayStation and Nintendo, Xbox is targeting TikTok.
