Xbox wears their greatest shame upon their backs

Imagine failing so hard that it got the whole world laughing, and got a project you worked on delayed into development hell. Now, imagine if the company wanted to commemorate this collective pants-shitting humiliation with a shirt. Then, picture them continuing to be tone deaf by leaning into their shame.

In an interview with Gamespot, Spencer is asked if the former Xbox Series X launch title Halo Infinite could release with a reversible cover that has Craig the brute on the other side, referencing a meme from earlier in the year. Spencer's response might surprise you, as it's evidence that 343 Industries and Microsoft are having some fun with the quite brute-al meme.

"We actually have these t-shirts, I didn't wear it today, which is Craig's face. I love that the team embraced that, it was just so funny. Yeah. I think Craig will be around for many, many decades in the Halo lore. You'll find his pictures all over the place. Yeah. Probably in games somewhere," Spencer says, laughing.

https://www.gamesradar.com/halo-infinite-craig-meme-is-now-a-t-shirt-worn-by-microsoft-employees/

MS realizes we're not laughing WITH them, right? You can't go from, "We're gonna win E3 with this!", a [paraphrased] actual statement they made, to "That was a really funny joke there, eh lads?". Craig shouldn't be a thing to be constantly reminded of in the ACTUAL GAMES, it should be tossed in the trash, where it can never do any harm again. But, this trillion dollar company chooses to go all in on this meme like they weren't shamed into changing the release date into a TBD.

Umm, yes we do. Fanboys like you taking things like this seriously, spending time making threads about this on a forum called System Wars? Those we laugh at.

So to be clear, your critisism is that instead of having a sense of humour, agreeing that there is a problem, and then commiting to getting the game right even if it means delaying a huge launch title, they are supposed to be acting more butthurt in public interviews?

You realize you don't HAVE to make a post, right? You can wait until something good comes to mind before posting.

Trying too hard.

If it was that funny, how come they showed it off to the world anyway? I doubt they were laughing then. Also, it's disrespectful to the people who worked on it. Yeah, they did a shitty job, and they're getting dragged for it on shirts around the office instead of just noting the mistake and changing it. Just admit this is a sad "How do you do, fellow kids?" moment in some lame attempt to save face.

WE'RE supposed to be the ones laughing, not the management.

@BenjaminBanklin: Huh? They showed it off to the world thinking it was going to be great. The world made it's collective voices heard that they expected more. The team saw the humour in the situation and rolled with it. It says right in the quote that YOU posted that the team embraced it, so I'm not sure why you would think it's disrespectful to....the team. Perhaps look up the word "embrace"?

I get what you are saying, but you are just nitpicking. I feel like you are just a little bit unhappy that the devs aren't incredibly upset about the situation so that you can come on here and make fun of them for being butthurt. So you are just trying to find a way to complain anyways. It's system wars. I get it. As a gamer, they listened to the community and commited to fixing the problem, and they enjoyed the process along the way. I'm not sure how I could possibly critisize them for that.

HEY MICROSOFT, I COMMAND YOU TO BE MAD!

@BenjaminBanklin: You didn't laugh with them, because you get personally triggered by a console. Ms embracing Craig is brilliant...as is Sony embracing the wooden people in Spiderman.

Another day, another cow having a meltdown.

See folks, this what happens when you spend all your time claiming to be a PC gamer but is really a Sony fanny. 😂 I guess OP chose loyalty over games. 🤣

You're not laughing with them, other people are

They're laughing at themselves for some reason. Considering how development's going, you'd think it would be a lot less chuckles going on over there.

"Remember how we made this thing that was supposed to be awesome, but everyone laughed at it, so I guess it's funny now."

It just sounds like MS is drowning themselves in copium over their faux pas. It's weird.

Craig is great and they're smart to embrace it. No idea why OP is frothing at the gash about it.

@BenjaminBanklin: If that's how you choose to view it, that's fine. I can't argue with how you personally choose to view the situation.

I'm not sure that even they take it as seriously as you do. At the end of the day, it's video games. If they can't laugh at themselves a little bit, establish and maintain some connection with the gaming community, and deliver a product that they believe in then what's it all for? It's unfortunate that you were expecting a more somber answer from them that revealed their extreme embarassment, but I'm thrilled with the way they handled the situation.

To edit your quote, I think this is more accurate: "Remember how we made this thing that was supposed to be awesome, but everyone laughed at it, so I guess it's funny now. But now lets listen to the gaming community, push the date back a little bit and make sure that we get this game right."

I guess you can't please everyone.Especially those who are looking for reasons to complain on a Sunday morning.

MS destroyed cow fannyboy memes from the off and they mad

mad cows disease..it eats you away emotionally inside

hah

This is how dating a plastic console looks like ?

Funny, but maybe they should focus on making quality games instead of quality meme. Or at least do both.

@BenjaminBanklin:

So basically, you didn't get the memo like back in late July? Talk about backfired thread lol.

Anyway, I'm actually hoping they add a Craig skin or Craig logo for your armor in a future battle pass in Halo Infinite.

@SolidGame_basic: If they did, would you acknowledge it? I have my doubts.

The only thing that got destroyed is Halo Infinite's release date. But I'm sure the game was looking Perfectly Fine™ to you. 🤣🤣🤣

@BenjaminBanklin: You are so bloody sad!

I think it’s awesome to see Microsoft and Phil having fun with this stuff. Kudos to them for doing so. I’m really hoping that we’ll also see some funny Easter egg for “Craig” in-game for Halo: Infinite as well. 😅

It's stupid regardless. Phil Spencer is "totally embracing" the meme that led to Xbox Series X having a trash launch lineup. That sounds totally sane. Halo Infinite remains in the wind to this day. Like I say, sounds like he's got his crying mask on.

They didn't stop developing the game to focus on the meme. Stop being special.

Phil is like a dumb kid who pooped in his pants in the classroom, was laughed at by everyone, then he decides to show off his dirty pants for more laugh.

This is desperate. It's video games, it's not that deep. Outside of fanboys, no one gives a shit. And MS don't care about fanboys.

@BenjaminBanklin:

craig level of reply

hah

Halo fans are pissed because the game looks like shit. Microsoft should be hard at work trying to salvage the game. Instead they're making t-shirts to celebrate the death of their biggest IP.

So, MS employees have a sense of humour, listened to feedback and did the right thing by delaying the game to improve it. How is this a bad thing?

TC Fail

Cows are gonna taste delicious this gen.

We won’t need HP, A1, or Worcestershire. Blue rare will do.

The best part is how salty this is making some people. “You’re not suppose to be having fun with this Microsoft! ARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!” 😅

@NathanDrakeSwag: ‘Halo fans are pissed because the game looks like shit.’

Have you ever talked to one? No? Well you are now. Some may feel this way because it looked more current gen than next, but on average, Halo purists are more concerned about the grappling hook and sprint than the graphics. But they’re buying it because it’ll still be the best exclusive shooter franchise of the generation. Don’t be too upset though, if you’re lucky Sony’ll announce another lolKillzone.

Your side is much more graphics oriented because gameplay has never been Sony’s strong suit.

What's wrong with a T-shirt? At leas they can recognize the criticism, take it and hopefully correct before the game launches next year

It think it's a hopeful sign. I can see Phil proudly wearing it on stage when they show a more polished and worthy game.

This. Those dudes who knit pick, make up lies, basically live as a System Warrior irl are pathetic fools who deserve all the ridicule we can throw at them. What a bunch of losers.

@BenjaminBanklin: Well it wouldn't be SW if there was no benji thread crying over the love of his life Phil Spencer.

Phil if by some chance your reading this, lock your doors of a night and close the curtains as benji is more than likely staring at your house as we speak :(

Insulting your father figure causes you serious pain, I know. You will have... to cope. Write your dad on Twitter and tell him you need a hug. 🤣🤣🤣

Totally agree. Everyone is laughing because the game didn't look very good, and they're playing along acting like they're in on the joke. There's nothing funny about that if you're a developer and everyone is making memes because your product looks bad. I understand that they're trying to play along because if they get defensive, social media will gang up on them, but it just seems so ridiculous for them to play along.

How many times do you need to be told that Phil is a happily married man, surely there's a PS exec you can get a crush over?

Again Phil is married...time to Frozen dude & let it go lol

What do you expect Spencer to say? He's a PR guy. You know he's raging at the delay of Infinite but it's his job to put a positive spin on this kind of thing when interacting with the media, and that's exactly what he's doing.

Thread backfired and backfired real hard.

@Pedro said:

Thread backfired and backfired real hard.

We already know you got a Craig shirt. 🤣

Lets see, you stalk Phil Spencer, you talk about him all the time, you actively track Xbox news, you talk about Xbox all the time. My guess (and its a safe guess to) you had Craig shirts for months. 😂🤣

You got your Craig shirt in a 6x long. 🤣

Phil felt so ashamed he blew 7,5 billion on Bethesda just to save face.

I mean, I don’t really mind them trying to make the best of the situation. But every time I see Craig I just get reminded of the most epic reveal fiasco I think I have ever seen. I still can’t believe it happened.

@BenjaminBanklin: You are scrapping the bottom of the barrel. I like 😂

I used to think the dude was alright. Seemed pretty chill and would joke around with people. Not lately though. Just as bad as the worst of the bunch here and that's sad.

You haven't seen the worst of it. He actually believes that if are a fan of either PS or XBox ,and you play games on the competing system it is supporting the enemy. 😐 If you look at his history, his says some of the most troubled shit on the forum. Its not even just fanboy drivel, its you need help type of drivel.

You thought he was alright, he has always been a toxic cow lol.

It reminds me of the Sonic movie. That was trashed when it was first shown because of the trashy Sonic design. The studio went back to the drawing board, delayed the movie, fixed up Sonic, and poked fun at themselves over the initial movie Sonic design. And Sonic ended up becoming a blockbuster. Maybe Microsoft is taking a page from the same book?