Toxicity in the gaming community seems to be at an all-time high, with trolls, cheaters and all-out hatemongers ruining the good times of several players. And it appears that Xbox executive vice president of gaming Phil Spencer recognizes this.
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Spencer hosted the opening talk at the DICE Summit, which takes place in Las Vegas over the next few days, and immediately dug into the problems surrounding said toxicity, saying that it’s up to the game industry to bring it to an end.
Per this report from Polygon, Spencer made note that Microsoft was hard at work on creating a more inclusive environment for gamers, as well as some mistakes that were made during that journey.
“In order for us to do our best work, we need our work environment to work well,” he said. “If that is broken, everything stumbles.”
He talked about his own experience, and what Microsoft learned along the way. “The team was in a world of pain,” he explained. “We hadn’t done our best work with the launch of Xbox One. Market share was taking a nose dive. It was painful to read all the headlines. The team thought the leadership team had gone tone-deaf about what our customers expected from us.”
He continued, “We needed a reboot. Morale was at a low. We kept missing big trends. Infighting and fiefdoms were so famous, people made fun of it. It would have been funny if it hasn’t been so true. So we hit refresh on everything, a comprehensive rethinking and rebuilding of our culture.
“It is incredibly slow and painful to get everyone on board and to admit your own biases. It’s about making a commitment to keep listening and learning. We must keep at this transformation because we know it enables our best work. That means all genders, all abilities and all ethnicities in all geographies. This is our quest.”
He also made note that game companies were making strides when it came to creating worlds and keeping up good energy in certain franchises, but there are some that don’t really embrace all types of gamers like they should.
But Spencer was also quick to note mistakes, such as an infamous Game Developers Conference party hosted by Microsoft in 2016, which featured several scantily clad women. “The backlash was justifiable and furious,” he noted. “The internal backlash was almost harder. The easy thing would have been for us to sidestep responsibility. Instead we bet on who we were and what we stood for. We don’t stand for any employee or partner who offends others. We communicated that we stand for inclusivity. I personally committed to do better. It’s the leader’s job to take personal accountability and to be clear about our culture, who we are and what we stand for.”
He continued, “When we make mistakes, the easy way is to retreat or maybe even deny there’s a problem. Instead, I think we have to be active learners, educate ourselves, read, understand other people’s views. If we are informed, we can lead with purpose. We must listen first instead of jumping in with the supposed answers. We need to ask the quietest person in the room what they are thinking.”
But he also held companies responsible for fixing their habits and creating more worthwhile online spaces. “Toxic behavior doesn’t just hurt the individual, it hurts our entire industry,” Spencer explained. “We have to ask ourselves, ‘Am I building worlds where all of us can thrive and achieve more?’ Culture can be the tool that enables us to realize the true potential and power of gaming. The time to get our culture right is right now. It’s our increasing responsibility to make gaming for everyone. Representation isn’t just good common sense; it’s good business sense.”
Hopefully, this discussion will make a difference to some game companies. You can catch the live stream from DICE here.
