After what looked like a years-long strategy when it was announced in 2024, the “This is an Xbox” campaign appears to have been quietly dropped, leaving behind website errors.
Microsoft appears to have removed the marketing campaign from February 2024 that declared “This is an Xbox” on nearly every device, except a cat’s litter box, literally. Fans were quickly angered when the strategy was teased at a town hall meeting that was meant to address rumours circulating online. Those rumours suggested Microsoft would bring platform-exclusive software to competing devices, such as the PlayStation 5. Now, in 2026, Forza Horizon 5, once a platform exclusive, has been available on PS5 for nearly a year.
What hasn’t happened that was also revealed in the same February 2024, is the “This is an Xbox” strategy. In 2026, the marketing has been scrubbed off the internet, according to Game Developer. Microsoft’s blog post announcing “This Is An Xbox” alongside images of laptops and TV screens has been evicted from the former domain, leaving behind an ominous 404 error screen, or a screen that says “Oops! That page cannot be found.”
This internet scrubbing happens two weeks after the new CEO, Asha Sharma, defended her position on social media, claiming her “focus is to make Xbox the best place to play, return to our roots, ship great things, and become stronger for the future.” These statements were made three days after she was appointed CEO; she faced backlash for not having worked in the video game industry and for holding a role as a CoreAI executive before her appointment atop Xbox.
Xbox recently showed off “sneak peek” photos of new work-in-progress hardware at GDC, following confirmation that it was building Project Helix, a next-generation PC-and-Xbox-hybrid console, which may be what Sharma meant by “ship great things” and by Xbox being the best place to play.
“This is an Xbox” does still exist, though. The post remains accessible via Archive Today. Since the campaign was announced, Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond have exited Xbox, with Asha Sharma taking the reins as CEO. With the upcoming Project Helix being shown, and the now-erased domain websites for the platform-centred campaign “This is an Xbox” in the rearview, it appears Microsoft is solely focused on the future.
