Xbox head Phil Spencer has opened up about the company’s relationship with Activision Blizzard amid the ongoing harassment scandal. While not going into a lot of detail, he noted that Xbox won’t publicly shame other publishers.
Spencer discussed the matter in an interview with The New York Times. Journalist Kara Swisher recalled his quote from the last year about “evaluating all aspects of our relationship with Activision Blizzard and making ongoing proactive adjustments.”
Phil Spencer didn’t specify what exactly Xbox has changed since then, saying that Activision is aware of these changes. “But I also — this isn’t about, for us as Xbox, virtue-shaming other companies. Xbox’s history is not spotless,” he added.
Speaking of Xbox’s history, journalist Jason Schreier wrote on Twitter that Blizard former CTO Ben Kilgore, who was accused of sexual harassment in the DFEH lawsuit, had worked at Xbox for almost 14 years.
Spencer went on to say that it is important to address these issues and give people a platform to share their experiences. However, he “would rather help other companies than try to get into punishing.”
Swisher also noted that more than 40% of gamers now are women, so maybe companies have to think more about it when making decisions and making their games. Here is what Spencer answered: “The industry needs to think about it. The representation on our teams, who the voices that are making decisions, that are leading, is critical to not only our long-term team dynamic but the long-term business dynamic.”
The full conversation between Spencer and Swisher can be read here.