A player has been trying for ages to catch Microsoft’s gaming chief, Phil Spencer, in Fallout 76. Now he has finally succeeded and is receiving huge praise from the community because Microsoft isn’t particularly popular at the moment.
Here’s how Spencer was “defeated”:
- You can build your own camp in Fallout 76, setting up a base somewhere in the wasteland, with a house, decorations, and everything you need.
- You can also drop atomic bombs in Fallout 76 to destroy and irradiate areas. In fact, you do this to summon powerful bosses that drop strong loot.
- However, a player recently hit Phil Spencer’s house, the head of Xbox, with such a bomb – on purpose. The internet is cheering (via X).
That’s why the timing is perfect: Xbox and Microsoft recently closed 4 studios, including Arkane Austin. Arkane Austin was responsible for Dishonored and, most recently, the not-so-successful Redfall.
The reason for the closure, according to an email, is a reorientation. They want to focus on “impressive” titles and place more value on Bethesda’s blockbusters.
The sheer number of employees who lost their jobs as a result is causing quite a bit of dissatisfaction and anger in the gaming community. The fact that Phil Spencer has now taken an atomic bomb adds to the – admittedly somewhat decayed – joy.
The player responsible for this claims, however, that he did not act out of malice. He has been trying to match up with Spencer for weeks. It just happened to occur right now.
“I have no beef with Phil”
In an interview with Kotaku, the player real1090jake, who claims responsibility for the bombing, explains the background of his attack. He says: “Defeating him has been a personal goal of mine since I finished the main quest […]. To me, he was the final boss.”
He just enjoys being the bad guy in a role-playing game and has been trying to catch Spencer for weeks. Whenever he saw him in the game, he wanted to duel him, but it never happened.
Spencer is always surrounded by people wanting to do something with him; he is never alone. Whenever he saw him, the chief was diligently handing out hearts and other emotes.
Now real1090jake has succeeded in hitting the Xbox chief’s camp with an atomic bomb. Not by chance, but targeted: The camp is right in the center of the detonation. In a short clip on X, you can see the irradiated land and the destroyed house.
real1090jake says: “I made jokes about how he hurt our feelings, but that has been my mission for weeks […] this was not a planned attack, lol, I have no beef with Phil. Phil is cool, Fallout 76 is cool.”
Although the player did not act out of anger, the community is now demanding more such actions. Some say they want to keep going until morale improves. It’s something personal. Others think that if this continues, Spencer will next close the studio behind Fallout 76. Spencer, who is generally considered a popular gamer and chief, is currently struggling with his image as many positions were already cut back in January: Microsoft lays off 1,900 employees in the gaming sector: “Painful decision”
