Xbox, a gaming console that took the world by storm in the early 2000s, has fallen on rough times as of late. As a result, Xbox head Phil Spencer addressed the issues of the Xbox One launch and toxic communities earlier this month.

Xbox head acknowledges problems within the gaming community

As gamerant.com has reported, Phil Spencer has “...urged these toxic companies to do more in fixing the toxic environment games, particularly women and minorities, currently play in.” Gamerant also reported that Spencer stated, “We stand for inclusivity, I personally committed to do better.” A statement that could prove to be a breath of fresh air for the gaming community, as 2017 saw several gaming controversies.

These controversies concerned everything from subject matter within certain titles, to shady business practices by publishers that could have legal repercussions.

Spencer had been head of the Xbox brand for four years when he gave his keynote address at the DICE Summit on February 22nd, where he discussed these issues. Spencer also took time to review the failings of Xbox One’s launch, with gamerant quoting him saying, “We hadn’t done our best work with the launch of Xbox One...The team thought the leadership team had gone tone-deaf about what our customers expected from us.” The Xbox One was heavily criticized upon its reveal, with many fans criticizing things like the always online DRM requirement and the fact that there was a great focus on its many features that lay outside the realm of gaming, such as television and online streaming.

The gaming community’s problems go beyond Xbox

While Phil Spencer took the time to acknowledge Xbox’s shortcomings, as well as his own, it is worth noting that Xbox is far from the only culprit when it comes to poor business practices and toxic behavior. As gaming website kotaku.com has pointed out, online PC games like "League of Legends" have become so notorious for their toxicity, that their developer/publisher, Riot Games, has had their lead designer of social systems, Jeffrey Lin, actively investigate the problem.

While results turned out to be not as extreme as one might believe, the point still stands.

While the Xbox still might have to wait until the next console generation to fully redeem itself, Spencer appears to have learned from past mistakes and is bringing the Xbox back for a triumphant return for the next console generation. If Spencer is true to his word, he might even pave the way for more inclusivity and consideration in gaming, something today’s gamers might consider a luxury, rather than status quo.
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