surprising considering the kinds of statements Xbox executives were making before Spencer's promotion.

After fighting through these kinds of corporate culture problems, Spencer said he "personally committed to do better" in building and leading a diverse team where everyone felt trusted and welcome and in building a corporate culture that's set up for everyone to succeed. That's not just a nod to inclusivity for some sort of politically correct image's sake, he said, but a reflection that "study after study after study shows teams with most representation are most creative, most innovative, and most undaunted by problems."

Spencer gave an example of a diverse team's benefits from Microsoft's own Minecraft marketing. While the game's male protagonist, Steve, was often described as an "architect, designer, or archaeologist," the marketers usually saiddisturbing behavior that comes your way.' When toxicity is aimed at any of us, it needs to stop with all of us."

Spencer pointed specifically to Blizzard's renewed efforts to battle toxicity in the Overwatch community , which he said have already reduced player complaints by 20 percent. The whole industry will have to get behind similar efforts, he said, if gaming is to take its rightful place as "one of the great equalizers and unifiers for society."

Gaming, he pointed out, is the only art form where we actually "walk in someone else's shoes and see the world through their eyes" and where players "are on equal footing regardless of age, education, socio-economics, race, religion, politics, gender, orientation, ethnicity, nationality, or ability." That makes games unique in being able