Xbox players concerned after newly discovered ad ditches Xbox name

Xbox players have discovered some worrying adverts that seemingly confirm the company’s pivot to third-party gaming.

If you’re primarily an Xbox user you’ll have undoubtedly heard the rumours about the company going third-party and ditching hardware in the years to come. This includes its extensive library of exclusive games, like Starfield, Gears Of War and the Halo series, the next game of which is said to be releasing for Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 for the first time in the franchise’s history.

The news also implies upcoming Xbox exclusives like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle could also end up on multiple platforms

At the time of writing nothing has been outright confirmed, though the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer has teased an update on the situation in the weeks to come.

However it doesn’t seem like fans will have to wait that long, as mysterious ads have been found that rename the Xbox Game Pass subscription service to Microsoft Game Pass. Fans are adamant this confirms the company’s plans to pivot to third-party, and it seemingly implies the Xbox brand will be scrapped entirely later down the line.

As you can imagine this has divided the fanbase, as some are welcoming the idea of more Xbox games being available on other platforms, whereas others are outraged, believing there’s no point to owning an Xbox console anymore and selling them out of protest.

Discussing the ads on a Reddit post, fans believe their appearance is just too convenient to dismiss following recent news, and that it’s a clear sign the writing is on the wall for Xbox.

“If this was at any other time I’d think nothing of it. But it’s never been referred to as this and the event next week might have something to do with this.”

“I guess MS corporate wants more direct control over the gaming division.”

“A couple years ago they renamed "Microsoft Game Studios" to "Xbox Game Studios". It would be funny if they renamed it again.”

All that’s left to do now is wait for an official announcement, which will come from Phil Spencer sometime next week.