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:
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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.
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.
