Just a few hours after their “Women In Gaming” luncheon, it seems that Xbox’s GDC 2016 party hired go-go dancers for the sake of it. And, ...
- Xbox Game Developers Conference party hired women dressed as go-go dancers
- The company came under fire for its treatment of women as forms of entertainment in an industry that tries to include them
- Microsoft issued an apology and stated that they will be dealing with the problem internally
Microsoft made a big blunder and are now being tackled for their inconsistency of standing up for their words with actions. On one hand, they have spoken about their inclusion of minorities in the gaming world, including women. On the other, they have hired scantily clad women to dance around on platforms at their parties. Because nothing says Xbox party like a group of girls dressed like schoolgirls in anime.
The incident came under fire after the editor of Tin Man Games, Kamina Vincent, reported on the issue. It has been cited as a disappointing gesture on Microsoft’s part, by creating an event that unnecessarily alienates women after praising their efforts to include them. Perhaps one of the main driving points of the controversy was the fact that the dancers were entirely out of context. While certain games may call for ‘culturally accurate’ outfits or depictions of women, the attires and presence itself of the dancers seemed out of place.
So much for making women feel welcomed in the gaming world.
Microsoft has since issued an apology, but it’s up to question on much weight that will hold. Phil Spencer, who is the head of Xbox, stated that their company was misrepresented by the decision to hire the dancers, as it was “absolutely not consistent or aligned” with their values. He went on to call the incident as “unequivocally wrong” and that it will not be tolerated. However, the problem will also be dealt with “internally”, which places the question if anything would be done at all.
Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft’s executive vice president of human resources, has wrote in an e-mail that it’s “entirely unacceptable of how we treat women and how we represent Microsoft”. Hogan claimed that it went against every attempt of inclusion they have been working on, and it’s appreciated that they will be judged by their deeds and not words.
If the industry is trying to be more inclusive, perhaps it should be considered how to organize their parties where devs and gamers alike can mingle. The best way would be not to send the message that ‘men are welcomed, and women too provided they wear skimpy outfits and dance’. In times when game makers are defending their choices of customizing female outfits in their games to display as much skin as possible, this could be a major setback. In the virtual world, it’s perhaps understandable. They are the game designers, and they can choose what to create or how to do it.
However, this was an incident in the real world, and a chance to show their perception of women in gaming in a way that proved it’s not as raunchy as games make it seem. A party that could double as a pretty risqué club is potentially not the most welcoming place for female gamers, game makers, and devs.
Numerous have expressed their disappointment of treating it with the same old ‘boys club’ mentality when the company is boasting their efforts of being more inclusive of women.
Image source: twitter.com/Spacekatgal
via apex tribune
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