Anytime a company has to start a tweet with “We can’t believe we have to say this,” you just know you’re in for some real 2020-level nonsense. Microsoft’s Xbox division did just that on Wednesday in response to viral videos that show smoke coming out of the top of its newly released Xbox Series X.
The tech giant waded into a meme-filled mess apparently started by internet trolls who hoped to make it look like Microsoft’s next-generation gaming console was catching fire. In actuality, it seems like users are blowing vape smoke into the $500 console and recording the effect as smoke billows from the top of the black tower above the device’s internal fan.
At least one video on Twitter has attracted millions of views — and a whole host of replies ranging from hilarious to horrible.
“Please do not blow vape smoke into your Xbox Series X,” Microsoft tweeted at the masses.
https://twitter.com/Arek_Adamowicz/status/1326453105941241856
https://twitter.com/Xbox/status/1326662743827468288
Another video walks viewers through how the hoax could be pulled off and shows vape smoke being blown near the bottom of the console that makes its way out of the top.
https://twitter.com/XboxStudio/status/1326517572167233537
Beyond its tweet, a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to Geekwire, “We take all product safety reports seriously and our products meet or exceed industry standards. Findings from our initial investigations do not align with some of the claims being broadly reported, however we are in the process of investigating further.”
Microsoft says its engineering teams have not seen the scenario depicted in the videos either in development or in testing processes, including thousands of consoles that the company has been testing for over a year.
The entire ordeal comes at a time when trusting what we see on the internet is a major, ongoing concern. But other tech giant’s are dealing with real issues around devices actually catching fire. Amazon-owned Ring, for example, announced this week that it is recalling 350,000 of its video doorbells after reports that the security devices could pose a fire hazard when installed improperly.
While we wait for the smoke to clear on this apparent non-issue for Xbox, check out some more of the reaction:
https://twitter.com/TheBlackNerd/status/1326695626395054081
https://twitter.com/stevenspohn/status/1326676885015830528
https://twitter.com/jeehaisse/status/1326474040245178370
https://twitter.com/MrZoro55r/status/1326474393481080834