Spencer apologises for school girl dancers GDC stunt

Microsoft has apologised for its use of female dancers dressed as school girls at a GDC party last week.

That the platform holder chose to present an event in this way shortly after hosting a Women in Gaming lunch at GDC angered attendees further still.

Now the company has said that the decision did not reflect the core values and beliefs of Xbox”, has said an internal investigation is taking place and vowed that such a stunt will never be repeated.

How we show up as an organization is incredibly important to me,” Xbox boss Phil Spencer said. We want to build and reflect the culture of Team Xbox – internally and externally – a culture that each one of us can represent with pride. An inclusive culture has a direct impact on the products and services we deliver and the perception consumers have of the Xbox brand and our company, as a whole.

It has come to my attention that at Xbox-hosted events at GDC this past week, we represented Xbox and Microsoft in a way that was absolutely not consistent or aligned to our values. That was unequivocally wrong and will not be tolerated.

This matter is being handled internally, but let me be very clear – how we represent ourselves as individuals, who we hire and partner with and how we engage with others is a direct reflection of our brand and what we stand for. When we do the opposite, and create an environment that alienates or offends any group, we justly deserve the criticism.

It’s unfortunate that such events could take place in a week where we worked so hard to engage the many different gaming communities in the exact opposite way. I am personally committed to ensuring that diversity and inclusion is central to our everyday business and our core values as a team – inside and outside the company. We need to hold ourselves to higher standards and we will do better in the future.”

Picture courtesy of The Verge