Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and his camp in Fallout 76 appear to have been the victims of a targeted in-game nuclear bombing.
Fallout 76’s radioactive wasteland is full of mutated monsters, but the biggest threat players can face comes from nuclear bombs, which other players can cheekily launch and destroy your camp if you’re in the game. Launching nukes on others requires going through fairly complex steps to collect mine code pieces and then fighting your way through those mines, MMO raid style.
But that’s apparently what at least one Fallout 76 player did to blow up an Xbox executive’s camp, according to a screenshot Sam\_Snydes posted on Twitter. The image below shows a nuclear explosion surrounding Camp P3, as Phil Spencer plays on Xbox.
Many speculated that the targeted nuke was a response to the news that Microsoft had closed four studios, rather than an attempt by anyone to force mining to appear in the area where Spencer had accidentally set up camp.
Hi-Fi Rush and The Evil Within studio Tango Gameworks, creators of Prey and Redfall Arkane Austin, and mobile-focused Alpha Dog have been shuttered as part of what the company called a “re-evaluation of project priorities and resources.” Roundhouse Studios had not yet released the game, but was still included in ZeniMax Online.
Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty discussed the closures in a company letter and in an all-hands meeting, where he puzzlingly noted that the publisher needed “smaller games that give us prestige.” Phil Spencer remains silent.