Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Microsoft still hemming and hawing over gay gamertags on Xbox Live

Are the folks at Microsoft going to allow a game with "gay" in its title to appear on the Xbox 360 before they allow players to use the same word in their Xbox Live gamertags? It sure seems like it.

Earlier this year, Stephen Toulouse, the company's program manager for policy and enforcement on Xbox Live, told The Advocate, “We have heard clearly that customers want the ability to self-identify [and] it's our job to provide this in a way that cannot be misused.”

During the recent E3 Expo, however, one of Toulouse's colleagues, Corporate Vice President of Xbox Live Software and Services John Schappert, told Kotaku's Stephen Totilo, "We continue to look for ways for people to personally express themselves and you can look for more features coming to Xbox Live, but [we have] nothing to announce right now."

When asked if Microsoft would have the issue ironed out by the time Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony is released this fall, Schappert replied, "I can say that we are working on [the] issue."

3 comments:

Queers United said...

i cant understand why the worlds biggest game manufacturer is struggling with this
http://queersunited.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it pissed me off when I first read about a woman being harassed by other players just because she was a lesbian. Even now I don't buy or play XBox games.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thanks for commenting you two. I appreciate it! I also agree with you completely - I can't understand why the folks at Microsoft have been dragging their feet when it comes to this issue. Holding their feet to the fire on the Internet and in magazines like The Advocate may help, though. Fingers crossed!