Apparently, the Xbox guru’s statement did not go down well with Bill Gates and other senior Microsoft executives. Blackley says he was almost fired for the quote.

Back in 2001, Seamus Blackley, one of the original Xbox’s leading creators, compared gaming to masturbation. Let’s just say it was not an unqualified success. Recently on Twitter, someone pointed out a quote from Bloomberg journalist Dina Bass, which went like this: “Gaming is like masturbation. Everybody does it, nobody wants to talk about it.” She responded to the man on Twitter, explaining that she had to give credit to Seamus Blackey, often called the father of Microsoft console, who initially said the quote back in 2001. Blackley explained that he was almost fired for this quote in response to this tweet.

Blackley gave an interview in 2001, a few weeks before the Xbox was released. And in the interview, he said the infamous quote:

“Gaming is like masturbation. Everybody does it, nobody wants to talk about it.”

Blackley explained that he got into so much trouble in the first place because the quote ended up in the East Side Journal. “Some conservative spouses of [Microsoft] executives read it,” Blackley said, “And I was summoned to building 4 shall we say.”

As Gamespot spotted, this isn’t the first time Blackley has joked about the infamous quote. In 2019, he explained why he said it.

“It was an argument for multiplayer [gaming] online, which Xbox was a pioneer in,” Blackley said. But the context didn’t matter. Apparently, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer were “VERY upset” by the quote.

Of course, Blackley was not fired and helped Microsoft successfully launch the original console, and although that initial console did not perform nearly as well as the PS2, later machines were much more successful. By now, Microsoft’s connected division has grown so large that it is smoothly buying up Bethesda and even, as we saw recently, Activision-sized companies to fuel its hugely popular Netflix-like service, Game Pass.

Source: News.Spain-24

To give credit where credit is due, that was me quoting something @SeamusBlackley said to me in the fall of 2001 a few weeks ahead of the original Xbox launch. The point I was trying to make is that gaming is now mainstream where it as a bit more hidden back then.

— Dina Bass (@dinabass) January 20, 2022

This quote nearly got me fired from Microsoft. https://t.co/d7ZTGKqTbi

— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) January 21, 2022

You know, I got in a LOT OF TROUBLE for saying that. It was n argument for multiplayer gaining online, which Xbox was a pioneer in. Steve Ballmer and @BillGates were VERY upset at me about those comments. Thanks for bringing it up 😂❤️👊

— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) October 11, 2019