Microsoft Fires Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death Whistleblower

According to a follow up article on VentureBeat, Microsoft fired Robert Delaware a game test contractor who talked to Dean Takahashi about the Xbox 360 "Red Ring of Death" issue. In a recent article, Dean Takahashi of VentureBeat wrote about the chronological series of events that led to the hardware failures faced by the Xbox 360. Often called the “Red Ring of Death”, it is a condition that describes when three flashing red lights light up the front of an Xbox 360 indicating hardware failure.

Delaware spoke with Takahashi without permission and Microsoft fired him 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 specifically because of the VentureBeat article.