This Custom Xbox-Inside-An-Alligator Console Is Actually One Big Ad For GTA 6
Microsoft has unveiled an unconventional marketing strategy ahead of Grand Theft Auto 6’s launch: a fully functional Xbox Series X console designed to look like a 5-foot-long alligator with the gaming hardware inside its body. Dubbed the “X-BITE,” this one-of-a-kind creation is being given away through a sweepstakes contest.
The custom console features the Xbox Nexus glowing through the alligator’s body, Xbox-green eyes with Nexus-inspired pupils, and a specially designed Xbox Wireless Controller complete with bite marks positioned between the creature’s jaws. Created in partnership with special effects studio John Nolan Studio—known for work on Netflix’s The Witcher, Jurassic World Dominion, and the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series—the X-BITE is designed to resemble lifelike taxidermy rather than a typical gaming device.
Microsoft’s marketing boss Josh Munsee described the console as having “pure Miami vibes,” an obvious reference to GTA 6’s setting of Vice City, a fictionalized version of Miami. This creative effort reflects a constraint Microsoft faces: Sony holds the exclusive marketing rights for Grand Theft Auto 6, limiting Xbox’s promotional opportunities for the highly anticipated title. The X-BITE represents Microsoft’s attempt to celebrate the game’s imminent launch while getting around traditional marketing restrictions.
The console remains fully playable, allowing the sweepstakes winner to use it like a standard Xbox Series X. The novelty of the X-BITE underscores how gaming companies continue to innovate with console marketing through physical experiences and limited-edition hardware designs.