Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has once again decried console wars, urging the gaming community to respect creators who are often caught in the crossfire. Spencer made his comments while speaking to IGN after accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award at DICE 2022 last week, where he was praised for his contributions to the video games industry during a career spanning 30 years. The executive, who joined Microsoft as an intern in 1988, also addressed toxicity in the games industry and urged his peers to do better to combat such behavior.
What Phil Spencer had to say about console wars
“I think it’s very often that creations can be kind of weaponized and used in battles between platforms and other things,” Spencer remarked. “I look at everybody who is brave enough to create something, put it out…have their peers, the industry, players, play and analyze and talk about what they do. And let’s just celebrate the fact that so many great games are coming out from so many creators, and realize that’s such a foundation for where this industry is going to go.”
Elsewhere in his speech, Spencer said that video game companies have the responsibility to ensure individuals are treated with dignity and respect. Spencer finds himself in a peculiar position after Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which has come under fire for what many see as offering CEO Bobby Kotick a golden parachute to escape harrowing allegations of misconduct.
Opinion: Toxicity warrants decisive action
Zarmena writes… A lot of games industry leaders have been speaking out against toxicity but fail to lead by example. Companies have often addressed toxicity among gamers while failing to address, and sometimes willfully ignoring, similar behavior among their peers. How Microsoft treats Activision Blizzard employees and their grievances going forward matters and Spencer’s words will certainly hold more weight if he sets an example to follow.
In other news, PS Store’s Essential Picks promotion has returned, and we’ve compiled a handy dandy list of March 2022 PS5 and PS4 releases for our readers.
[Source: IGN]
