Original Xbox Designer Slams Online Abuse In ‘Halo Infinite’

One of the original Xbox developers has come out against online abuse in video games, particularly that aimed at women and minorities. Seamus Blackley commented on a clip of a female Halo player receiving sexist abuse from male players. He retweeted the clip, stating: “This wasn’t the future for Xbox live we envisioned.

The clip, which has been viewed over 400,000 times, shows Grenade Queen playing Halo Infinite’s multiplayer. The streamer receives sexist abuse from two male players on her team, who tell her that the game “isn’t for her” and that she needs to “go play Valorant or something and get two kills.” 

The developer of the original Xbox added: “As a community and with the help of @Microsoft this needs to be highlighted and stopped. It will take teamwork between players, devs, and console manufacturers to change this and it’s time. It’s past time.

change is needed

This is far from an isolated incident. There are countless clips online in which women playing video games receive sexist abuse from other players. Having committed a fair number of questionably sexist acts itself in the past – including a 2016 GDC conference which featured dancing women –  Microsoft has made more of a concerted effort to embrace inclusivity in recent years. 

After posting the clip online, Grenade Queen received an apology from the two gamers: “This is an apology from us, for yesterday. We took it too far, and are very sorry you were hurt by our words. We do feel bad, and best of luck to you life.” It’s very likely both players saw the clip online, and realised the amount of messages and criticism that was about to come their way.

Elsewhere, numerous employees are leaving Ubisoft following a lack of action of last year’s alleged reports of abuse.

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[Featured Image Credit: Microsoft]