Asha Sharma Killed “This Is An Xbox” Campaign Because “It Didn’t Feel Like Xbox”

Microsoft unceremoniously killed off the “This is an Xbox” marketing campaign in mid-March, shortly after the new CEO, Asha Sharma, took office, with all but a few traces of the campaign disappearing from the world-wide web in the blink of an eye. Now, in response to Windows Central, Xbox CEO, Asha Sharma, has explained why she decided to retire the unfortunate branding so soon after it was launched. The response issued by Microsoft, which is rather short, explained that “Asha retired ‘This is an Xbox’ because it didn’t feel like Xbox,” with the representative going on to say that Asha is “personally leading a reset of how we show up as a brand.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen mention of a reset from Asha or Xbox representatives under Asha’s leadership. Since it was announced that Asha would be taking over from Phil Spencer, she has been pushing her messaging of a “return to Xbox,” although her efforts have sometimes been more successful than others. In addition to the new messaging, Sharma recently confirmed the future of Xbox hardware with the announcement of Project Helix, which Sharma confirmed will be able to play both Xbox and PC games when it launches. It would not be surprising to learn that Sharma was also behind the simplification of other branding, like the switch from “Full Screen Experience” to “Xbox Mode” that was also recently revealed.