Dear Tim Sweeney, You Could Learn A Thing Or Two From The Xbox Exec Who Posted So Bad That He Had To Delete His Account

In the relatively short time since we launched Aftermath, we’ve watched the world change markedly as generative AI and authoritarianism have reshaped a landscape that was already full of fissures. Through it all, we have held firm in one core value: Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney should log off.

See for yourself:

I bring this up because now we’ve even found him a potential role model: Xbox senior business strategy manager Brandon Stirrup. We’re talking about a man molded in Sweeney’s own image—at least, as far as posting goes—but with one crucial distinction: Stirrup ultimately logged off.

He began his posting spree over the weekend, boasting that he’d "vibe coded a bad but improvable game" and that “anyone can build a game.” This gave way to multiple diatribes about how generative AI is the de facto future of game development.

"Look if I'm fired tomorrow it will be because I told you the truth that nobody wants you to know,” he wrote on Sunday. “You can make a game with a simple prompt and yes you can make custom, tailored games. Everything you want in a game is right there for the taking, for better or worse. … I’m happy to take the hit if it means hundreds at Xbox can stop pretending that they’re not using AI. It’s time to accept and move forward.”

Never mind that it is extremely well known that some developers who work at Microsoft-owned studios are using AI. Going into Monday, Stirrup still had more golden wisdom to share. He tweeted:

"If you're a game developer refusing to believe that AI has a place in your future, you should not be in the business of being a business."

"Gaming is the only industry pretending not to use AI."

"Gaming is the only industry slow-walking the transition because users have negative sentiment. Everyone else accepts reality."

"Gaming is the only industry where leaders are afraid to talk about AI. Users want the truth. We're using AI."

"I love Xbox and Microsoft and I have spent 10+ years proving this. My goal is to get this over with so we can move on as a company, despite the fact that some will persecute me for this: we use AI, just as all companies do in 2026."

Then, yesterday evening, something resembling common sense stirred up in Stirrup, and he deleted his Twitter account. An Xbox source told PC Gamer he did so because of “the volume of replies he was receiving.”

This, to me, is the platonic ideal of a Bad Poster, the example all others should follow. You say some dumb bullshit, dig your heels in for a while, get absolutely obliterated in the replies, and then delete your account. Stirrup even did us a favor by speedrunning the whole process. Fantastic. No notes.

Tim Sweeney, I’m begging you: learn from this. You’re never gonna beat Stirrup’s time, but you can still log off whenever you want. I guarantee it’ll be better than the elaborate series of humiliation rituals that has become your life.