Xbox apologizes for go-go dancers at Game Developers Conference party
It's one step forward, two steps back for inclusiveness in the games industry.
Xbox head Phil Spencer had to apologize Friday after attendees of a Microsoft-sponsored party at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco were greeted with dancers dressed as school girls.
"It was unequivocally wrong and will not be tolerated," said Spencer in a statement. "I know we disappointed many people and I’m personally committed to holding ourselves to higher standards."
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Several Twitter users captured video and photos of the dancers at the Xbox developer-focused party Thursday night.
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Along with Spencer's full statement below, Microsoft Marketing Director Aaron Greenberg also condemned the party on Twitter.
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At Xbox-hosted events at GDC this past week, we represented Xbox and Microsoft in a way that was not consistent or aligned to our values. It was unequivocally wrong and will not be tolerated. I know we disappointed many people and I’m personally committed to holding ourselves to higher standards. We must ensure that diversity and inclusion are central to our everyday business and core values. We will do better in the future.
– Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox
Xbox hosted an Women in Games brunch the same day at GDC. Additionally members of its indie-development focused ID@Xbox team shared the stage with Girls Make Games Wednesday night, a non-profit that runs classes in game development for girls.
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Chelsea Stark was the Games Editor for Mashable, where she covered everything from AAA titles, mainstream consoles, indie gems, mobile games and gaming culture. She handled news, feature stories and reviews. Before that, Chelsea was Mashable's Multimedia Producer, where she helped develop visual storytelling aids, whether they were photos of video. She came to New York in 2010 to pursue her master's degree in journalism at NYU's Studio 20 program, which focused on innovation as journalism is changed by new technology. Before coming to New York, Chelsea lived in Austin, where she did online journalism and social media for the local CBS affiliate. She loves good beer, classic Nintendo games, and all things geeky, and spends her time attempting to find anything close to good Tex-Mex in Brooklyn.
