Former Microsoft exec slams Xbox lead's "social network envy," says gaming's biggest rival isn't TikTok – it's time

Mike Ybarra, former president of Blizzard Entertainment and Xbox corporate vice president at Microsoft, says that the video game industry isn't in competition with short-form video like Instagram Reels, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts – but rather with time itself.

The former Blizzard and Microsoft executive reveals as much in a new online post – one that he's seemingly made in response to a recent interview between The New York Times and Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty. If you're not familiar with it yourself, Booty states on behalf of Xbox that, "Our biggest competition isn't another console. We are competing more and more with everything from TikTok to movies."

Ybarra, evidently, disagrees. In his own thread, he explains why. "Gaming doesn't compete with short-form video. It competes with 'time.' It's different. Video games are multi-hour, premium experiences. They are so good you forget the sense of time, you escape reality and the challenges and stresses of today (of reality). Short-form video is what you do when you have a few minutes multiple times throughout your day."

He concludes with some handy numbers to prove his point: "FYI, the average core gamer spends 3+ hours in the games they love on a daily basis. Some 5+ hours." I mean, he's not exactly wrong… I personally do spend hours playing the games I enjoy – daily, even – but that doesn't mean Booty's words don't check out. I think it's safe to say a hefty chunk of the population spends way too long on apps like TikTok (doom scrolling, we've all been there).

Ybarra is well aware of that, however, and doubles down on his opinion in response to a fan brave enough to say he might "severely underestimate" the amount of time folks spend on such apps. "It's a lot, but gaming doesn't compete with that," replies Ybarra. "I think it does with movies and TV series – but not social networks. It's just way different – the audience doesn't totally overlap, etc." He continues.

"It is well known that people do the most social networking (Insta, TikTok, etc.) at work and at school. Yes, not working and not studying – but sitting on social networks hours every day. It's the time when you get home after work and after school that video games take. So competing with movies/TV – sure, but not social networks. I just don't believe it. Maybe I'm wrong, but either way, the messaging is way off."

Elsewhere in the comments, Ybarra seemingly references Booty directly: "I think if he said competes with Movies and TV shows, it would have made a ton more sense. He wanted to buy TikTok – now he just has social network envy. Gaming is not an answer to that in any way, shape, or form."

It's easy to see the argument on both sides, but I suppose there's no real right answer here. We each pick our poison, so to speak, whether through film, gaming, or TikTok.

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