The game hardware developer Xbox unveiled a new controller for their latest series of consoles in celebration of Pride Month. When online naysayers of their new initiative decided to voice their opinions, the company was quick to respond.
The controller’s design includes the 34 different flags of the LGBTQIA+ communities.
Smashing all those colours together makes for a visually overwhelming result that could end up being more of a distraction during an intense gaming session. However, this initiative is a strong move by the company to show its support towards those who are often overlooked within the industry.
Our Pride controller features 34 flags representing the many LGBTQIA+ communities! 🏳️🏳️🌈
Meet some of the amazing people who inspired the design and learn what each flag means here: https://t.co/s3c6bp9ZhL pic.twitter.com/xQ99z5WpKg
— Xbox (@Xbox) June 8, 2022
There were some people who didn’t seem to agree with Xbox’s decision to release their new controller at this particular time and expressed their discontent in a not-so-subtle way.
But the Xbox Twitter account came down hard on them, responding in a way that left no room for doubt in regards to their commitment towards supporting all LGBTQIA+ people.
More specifically, when one user commented “L controller” -with the “L” being an obvious reference to the word “loser”-, Xbox replied “It’s actually LGBTQIA+.”
When another posted “no one asked for this”, the games developer really hammered down on them by responding “And no one asked for you to reply, yet here we are.”
It’s actually LGBTQIA+.
— Xbox (@Xbox) June 8, 2022
And no one asked for you to reply, but here we are.
— Xbox (@Xbox) June 8, 2022
It’s worth pointing out that while there were many others who showed their grievance to this new controller in the comments section, Xbox’s replies towards them gained a big amount of support, with each response by the company to these critical tweets having over 5,000 likes.
The controller, which was made for the Xbox Series X and S consoles, was designed by members of the various communities who work in the gaming industry. The Microsoft-owned games developer hopes to shed a little light into the lives of these people via this initiative.
