Look, every once in a while, everybody needs a little self-pleasure, and for that, you either turn to gaming, or you take the more traditional route. Even a Microsoft exec knew that.
You know how we all masturbate, but don't really talk about it, right? That's a fact... right? Well, Xbox creator Seamus Blackley thought as much when he mentioned that many people game, but feel ashamed about it, which prompted him to compare gaming to masturbating, stating that "everybody does it, nobody wants to talk about it."
Controversial? Not really, because, first of all: Facts. And... second of all, if you ask me, he's exactly on the money. If you ask Microsoft, though, well... they didn't like that and the comparison nearly got Blackley fired.
This quote nearly got me fired from Microsoft. https://t.co/d7ZTGKqTbi
— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) January 21, 2022
It was mainly that the quote appeared in the east side journal and some conservative spouses of executives read it and... I was summoned to building 4 shall we say.
— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) January 21, 2022
Obviously, Blackley wasn't sacked (pun intended) for this statement back in the early 2000s, and the console launched as planned. Blackley has since departed from Microsoft, but still works in the gaming industry and tries to put an end to sexual harassment on Xbox Live. Yeah... that's odd given the context of this article. Not really... but somehow...
But let's get back to his original statement, that almost ended his career in gaming: Looking back on 'everybody does it, but nobody wants to talk about it', it's insane to consider how far we've come since. Gaming has literally become one of the world's biggest industries, and now, everybody does it and everybody wants to talk about it (not unlike masturbating, if OnlyFans has anything to say about it).
So, Mr. Blackley, not only was your comparison right on the money – it was prophetic too.