Xbox Marketing Head Reveals Behind-The-Scenes Photos And More About The Microsoft-Bethesda Event
Greenberg reveals a series of behind-the-scenes photos about his trip to Maryland and more for the big Xbox-Bethesda showcase.
Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg has shared some behind-the-scenes stories and photos about the recent Microsoft-Bethesda event that demonstrate the great lengths that were required to put on the event. In a Twitter thread, Greenberg said it was not an easy task to film an in-person event during the pandemic in a safe way, and he wanted to share some insight into how it all came together.
1/ Thanks to everyone for the kind words & feedback on the Bethesda Joins Xbox - Roundtable conversation we had on Thursday. Pulling something like this off in a pandemic was not easy & I super appreciate all the planning that went into doing it in a safe way. pic.twitter.com/XkILTmY8NO
— Aaron Greenberg 🙅🏼♂️💚U (@aarongreenberg) March 15, 2021
For the event, Greenberg and Xbox boss Phil Spencer flew to the Bethesda HQ in Maryland, while other higher-ups like Sarah Bond and Matt Booty appeared during the stream remotely from back in Washington. For Greenberg and Spencer, they received COVID-19 tests 48 hours before flying and sent them to the team with the negative results. On the flight itself, Greenberg wore a mask and a face shield for the duration of the flight "to be extra safe."
Once on the ground at Bethesda HQ, Greenberg and Spencer received another COVID-19 test at the building itself. This must have been a rapid test, as Greenberg said this took about 15 minutes.
3/ My first business trip on a plane in over a year. I flew out to Bethesda Headquarters in Maryland with Phil. We were required to get COVID tested 48 hours before flying & submit those to the team. Not pretty, but never took my mask/shield off the entire flight to be extra safe pic.twitter.com/ruit8B1w0C
— Aaron Greenberg 🙅🏼♂️💚U (@aarongreenberg) March 15, 2021
When they got into the building itself, Greenberg and Spencer--along with the rest of the crew involved in producing the event--wore "proximity wristbands." Additionally, there was a COVID compliance officer on site.
Greenberg also shared that he was personally very excited to visit Bethesda's HQ because the offices are "so cool and filled with so many iconic memories from the worlds and characters they have made over the years." Greenberg said he's excited to visit Bethesda's other studios over time.
6/ As a gamer I will admit, I did go into fanboy mode a bit, their offices are so cool and filled with so many iconic memories from the worlds and characters they have made over the years. I cannot wait to see more at their other studio locations! pic.twitter.com/6ZTG6oTvR0
— Aaron Greenberg 🙅🏼♂️💚U (@aarongreenberg) March 15, 2021
For the event itself, Greenberg said it was "completely unscripted" and they did almost no rehearsal, though he acknowledged that there was a basic outline of topics to be discussed. It was an intentional choice to speak more freely to help the executives come across as more natural and authentic, Greenberg said.
"At one point Todd Howard looked at me and smiled as he started to make paper airplanes with the 'notes' which inspired me to launch one that flew right by him as we all laughed and put the notes away," Greenberg said.
7/ As far as the filming went we had basic outline of topics to discuss, but it was completely unscripted and we did very little rehearsal. This was intentional to ideally bring everyone BTS in a natural/authentic way while getting to know more about the Bethesda teams. pic.twitter.com/NGkNM7o6Hh
— Aaron Greenberg 🙅🏼♂️💚U (@aarongreenberg) March 15, 2021
"Moments like this make me really appreciate how fortunate we are to get to work in an industry we love so much. I appreciate all the care the team took to make this a safe & memorable moment for all. I could not be more excited about that future ahead for Bethesda + Xbox!"
Finally, Greenberg shared a photo of Spencer playing Destiny 2 at the airport on a Windows Surface tablet through xCloud. Spencer is a huge fan of Destiny, so this is no surprise, but what's more interesting here is that Spencer appears to be playing Destiny 2 on an unannounced and unreleased xCloud app for Windows, as spotted by The Verge's Tom Warren.
11/ If you ever wonder what Phil does while waiting for his plane, he is always streaming his Xbox games to whatever device he has with him on the go! #XBOSS 💚🙅🏼♂️🎮 pic.twitter.com/6zP2WgAXER
— Aaron Greenberg 🙅🏼♂️💚U (@aarongreenberg) March 15, 2021
The Microsoft-Bethesda event didn't have any major announcements--those are being saved until summer--but Spencer did clarify a key point about exclusives in the future. He said the goal is to release future Bethesda games on every platform that supports Game Pass, which cuts out PlayStation.
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