The Xbox boss is not interested in Activision “Virtue Shaming”.

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Photo: Kevork Djansezian (Getty Images)

In November, Xbox chief Phil Spencer told staff he was evaluating all aspects of Microsoft’s gaming divisions relationship with Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard following a Wall Street Journal bombshell report on the villain. workplace conduct and cover-ups at the huge publisher. Pushed to explain what exactly that meant in a new interview with The New York Times today, Spencer said he wasn’t interested in putting another company to shame.

Spencer wrote in a November email to Xbox teams that he was troubled and deeply troubled by the horrific events and actions recently unearthed in the Wall Street Journals report, a sentiment he reiterated today in an interview with the reporter. Kara Swisher on her Sway podcast.

I always feel for people who work on any team, on my teams, on other teams, Spencer said when asked about Activision Blizzard’s ongoing showdown with reports of widespread sexual harassment and discrimination. I think people should feel safe and included in any workplace they are in. I’ve been in this industry long enough to perhaps feel more belonging to what goes on in the video game space. And I am saddened and disgusted when I hear about work environments causing such distress and destruction for individuals and teams.

When Swisher asked in a follow-up how reports on Activision Blizzard had changed Microsoft’s long-standing partnership with the giant video game publisher, Spencer said he couldn’t talk about it publicly.

We’ve changed the way we do certain things with them, and they’re aware of that, he said. But it’s not even, for us as Xbox, about putting other companies to shame. The history of the Xbox is not immaculate.

As an example of Xbox’s troubled past, Spencer referred to an infamous 2016 GDC party hosted by Microsoft that included women in schoolgirl dresses dancing across platforms. Spencer apologized for this at the time, and did so again in an interview with Axios last November. Two former senior Xbox employees have been mentioned in Activision Blizzard misconduct reports in recent years, but so far Microsoft has declined to comment on them.

Spencer has been asked multiple times by Swisher about how Xbox would punish Activision Blizzard for past incidents at the company, but remained vague:

Swisher: I don’t mean to be rude, but what’s wrong with punishing them for it? For example, we don’t want to do business with you unless you have cleaned up. Now, again, these issues were back several years ago too, but under the same leadership, Bobby Kotick, who is the longtime Activision CEO.

Spencer: I think in terms of interactions with other companies, the things we choose to do with our brand and platform, whether in coordination with other companies or not, is the path we need to make an impact on. I would argue that in terms of individuals holding leadership positions in other companies, it is obviously not our position to judge who the CEOs are. For example, CEOs are chosen by shareholders and boards of directors. At Xbox, I know who I’m responsible for here in terms of business and operations. They are my teams here, my management chain. And that’s the thing we keep focusing on, it’s trying to grow. And if we share, once again, the experiences we have with other partners, if we can help them on their journey or in the things that happen in our teams.

Following the Wall Street Journal investigation last November, thousands of Activision Blizzard employees have called for the resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick. A group of workers called the ABK Workers Alliance announced shortly after that it was handing out union cards to members, while a smaller group of developers officially went on strike following the announcement of layoffs at Call of Duty: Warzone’s Raven Software studio.

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