Microsoft Marketing Department: Xbox is "as good as PS5", Switch is not a "game console"

CTOnews.com Sept. 19, with the release of new FTC v. Microsoft acquisition documents, more and more inside information has been exposed, including an interesting anecdote about the marketing terms of Xbox.

According to the whistleblower ethangach's post on the X platform, the message came from an email sent by Xbox marketing director Aaron Greenberg to Xbox marketers in 2019, advising marketers to avoid calling Switch a "game console", which is just a "portable gaming device."

▲ source ethangach's post on the X platform Aaron Greenberg stressed, "make players realize that buying Microsoft's Xbox console can play the same level of games as PS5, rather than playing Olympic Day and Dark Forest on Switch." (CTOnews.com note: the marketing director intends to "expel Switch from the game console" and classify Xbox and PS5 as "first-class game consoles" to attract customers).

▲ image source Microsoft FTC exposure document this kind of practice is actually not uncommon as one of the marketing strategies in the industry, and sometimes subtle word distinctions may indeed determine the choice of some users.