Ten years ago, it would have been unthinkable for the Redmond-based tech giant to release an ad like this, but a lot has changed since then.

Microsoft has released a new ad highlighting the fact that you don’t need a dedicated console (or Xbox) to play Xbox games. It was already possible to play games from the cloud on PC, mobile, VR headsets and some smart TVs. Now a new set of hardware has been added, with Xbox now available on Amazon Fire TV Sticks. All you have to do is install the Xbox app on your Fire TV, sign in with your Microsoft account, subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (if you haven’t already), plug in a controller, and you’re ready to play.

The ad is an excellent parody of Scream and can be seen below. Back in 2022, Microsoft partnered with Samsung to enable cloud gaming on some of the South Korean company’s TVs, and at the time, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer hinted that TV streaming sticks could later be paired with Xbox Game Pass to enable bundling. And in 2021, Spencer said the cloud would break down barriers around the world, but acknowledged there was room for consoles and PCs. With the cloud, they can provide a robust gaming experience to anyone with an internet connection, allowing them to play on even the weakest, cheapest devices.

Recently, a trademark from Microsoft surfaced, giving us our first look at their streaming device that they eventually stopped working on. The Xbox project, codenamed Keystone, was designed to stream Xbox games to a TV or monitor without owning a console, but after it became clear that it would be too expensive to produce for the price they had set (it would have cost $100-130), they stopped working on it.

Anyway, the advertising is pretty clever.

Source: VGC