The Verge journalist Tom Warren reported the news that Microsoft reportedly muted social networks of the company in the context of the massive layoffs underway in the Xbox division. The reason? Avoid gaffes like the one that happened during the May layoffs, linked to the infamous slogan “Feel the burn”.
If you recall, the day it was announced that several development studios were closing, including Tango Gameworks (later saved by Krafton) and Arkane Austin, the Xbox Fire Vapor Special Edition controller was also announced. The problem wasn’t the announcement itself, but the slogan that accompanied it: “Feel the Burn Today with the Fire Vapor Special Edition Controller”, which we can translate to “feel the burn today with the Fire Vapor Special Edition Controller”.
Of course, many found it in very bad taste and inappropriate for such a day, so much so that it caused a huge controversy. The story ended with Microsoft apologizing and replacing the slogan with a more sober and generic one. Of course, it was a random and very unfortunate event, but behind the scenes it caused a lot of discontent, with many employees who complained about it on the company’s internal noticeboard. The Redmond company has therefore learned from the mistake and today has acted in such a way as to avoid any risk, preventing its social channels from publishing anything.
This certainly does not make the layoffs any less dramatic, as they remain for almost 700 people, but at least there was no mockery of appearing too cynical because of a slogan.
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