Microsoft Fire Tester Who Spoke To The Press

Robert Delaware was the only named Microsoft worker (a contract employee) who talked — without permission — to VentureBeat for our story last week on the Xbox 360 defects.

Microsoft had him fired on Wednesday. Delaware worked as a game tester at Microsoft but was employed by the temp agency Excell Data. He reported directly to a Microsoft manager, who told him he was being let go because of the VentureBeat article.

Delaware, a 29-year-old Seattle resident, expects to face civil charges from his former employer VMC (which tests games for Microsoft) and Microsoft as well. He will likely have to hire a lawyer. Microsoft spokesman David Dennis said the company does not talk about personnel issues.

“I don’t regret it,” he said in a phone call on Thursday. “I’ll fight it. If they want to come after me, bring it on.”

Delaware bravely decided to come forward and talk on the record for our story about the many problems associated with the launch of the Xbox 360. He talked to me about how he learned about problems with the hardware while working as a game tester for VMC. He worked there from 2005 to the fall of 2007. He left to join a start-up, Whrrl, and then returned to the game testing job at Excell, working for Microsoft, this summer. During his time at VMC, he saw how Xbox Live updates embedded in retail games could turn working consoles into worthless hulks. I found his remarks to be refreshing and candid.

He later moved to work for Microsoft, testing games for its Bungie studio. Clearly, from a legalistic point of view, Delaware broke company policy and it is the company’s right to fire him (he fully knew the risk he was taking, based on multiple conversations I had with him about using his name).

But this kind of witch hunt mentality is wrong-headed. People like Delaware are more useful hunting down bugs and fixing problems. I think the company really should apply their energy in different directions, like making sure that consumers are treated right. The firing disappoints me, and I wish Delaware well.

Delaware said he got some positive feedback at work about the story. On Friday, he believed a couple of people were arguing about his involvement in our story. But nothing happened until Wednesday, when he talked with his boss and communicated with an HR rep for Excell Data on the phone. The HR rep was the one who told him that he would likely face legal trouble.

When I was thinking about making a difference with our story, this isn’t what I had in mind. But there has been a lot of feedback on my story from angry consumers. Asked if I should write a story about this firing, Delaware said, “Rock and roll. It feels good. It was the moral thing to do.”

Shadow wrote:The moral of the story is - "Don't break your NDA or you'll get strawberry floated in the ass."

TheTurnipKing wrote:Microsoft - "We Are Massive Hippocrites"

Mockmaster wrote:I've nearly broken NDAs several times on this forum. Sometimes it's hard to bite the tongue when you have some tasty news, as I'm sure others can attest, though I am proud of my resilience thus far. Plus I don't want to get fired. Although there's less chance of people knowing about it on here as opposed to GR 1.0.

Delaware wrote:
“I’ll fight it. If they want to come after me, bring it on.”

“Rock and roll. It feels good. It was the moral thing to do.”

Zombitedesade wrote:Perhaps most alarmingly, this story highlights peoples readiness to still use the term 'douchebag' in today's modern culture. I generally thought this phrase died out some time ago, I'll be consulting the modern language police later in the day for possible confirmation.

Maybe a resurgence has occurred in my absence and its possible retro insults are on the increase. So be it, the guys a Gaylord.

Shadow wrote:He will have signed a HUGE NDA