In November, Microsoft got wind that people were mocking its Xbox Series X design, claiming it looked like a fridge. Rather than accept the heat from the peanut gallery, Microsoft leaned into it and released a one-of-a-kind Xbox Series X refrigerator as a contest prize.
And guess what, trolls, that design element is no accident! It turns out that Microsoft was actually influenced by refrigerator ventilation, and used that to design a video game console that could support high-powered gaming without overheating. (So the company says, anyway.)
So, that fridge you all just laughed and laughed about? Well, it’s finally being mass produced as a mini-fridge for gamers to keep their energy drinks cold while they play on the console they tried to clown.
The funniest part is that Microsoft made the announcement at the end of its joint showcase with game studio Bethesda. Bethesda is known for making some of the most popular games of all time, like “Fallout” and the “Elder Scrolls” series. So, when fans hear “wait, there’s one more thing,” they get excited.
But, alas, it was a mini fridge.
What’s also funny is that this is all happening because Xbox won a Twitter contest that ranked branded Twitter accounts.
Xbox’s general manager of marketing, Aaron Greenberg, tweeted in April that if fans boosted Xbox over Skittles, they would start producing the mini fridges.
Ok…here goes. Help @Xbox win this and we’ll put into production this year REAL XBOX SERIES X MINI FRIDGES! Yep, you read that right. Not an April Fools joke. Not clickbait. #Xbox #BestofTweets https://t.co/vm5B0kZht1 pic.twitter.com/A28hWBP3Db
— Aaron Greenberg 🙅🏼♂️💚U (@aarongreenberg) April 2, 2021
They ended up winning, and here we are with the fridges. There’s a very real chance that the mini fridges were already in the works, and that Greenberg used them as a dangling carrot to win the contest. But, who knows? Maybe they really did come to fruition because of Xbox’s win over Skittles.
It doesn’t really matter that much, though, because the fridges will hit stores in time for the holidays this year, making them perfect for any gamer receiving a matching console as a gift.
And it’s really a testament to Microsoft’s design eye, too. It could’ve easily just let the original fridge jokes roll off its back while it continued to make a gajillion dollars from its products. Instead, it acknowledged that the fans were right. It does look like a fridge! So now you have a behind-the-scenes look at the design process of a next-gen video game console and we can all laugh while our drinks cool.
If only the PlayStation 5 looked like anything but a parabola from high school math class.
