MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
An apology post penned by Apex Legends’ project lead, Drew McCoy, has sparked a bitter exchange between the battle royale’s developers and its fanbase on the game’s subreddit.
Over the weekend, McCoy posted a blog post after fans expressed their disappointment about Apex Legends’ Iron Crown event collectables, such as Bloodhound’s $170 axe. Acknowledging that the developer “broke [its] promise by making Apex Packs the only way to get what many consider to be the coolest skins we’ve released”, McCoy admitted the latest microtransactions “missed the mark”, but the Reddit thread concerning the post dissolved into an angry exchange in which a number of Respawn devs called posters “asshats,” “freeloaders,” and “dicks” (thanks Game Informer, via GamesRadar+).
Several of the angriest comments have seemingly now been deleted, but a number remain.
“I’ve been in the industry long enough to remember when players weren’t complete ass-hats to developers and it was pretty neat. I forged a bunch of long lasting relationships from back then,” McCoy said in response to one comment. “Would be awesome to get back there, and not engaging with toxic people or asking ‘how high’ when a mob screams ‘jump’ is hopefully a start.”
“So it’s fine for you all to call us liars, full of shit, and other personal attacks when we communicate an apology and update to the event but we’re ‘immature’ when we call people out on it. Got it,” added community manager, Jay Frechette.
The argument has since prompted a frosty open letter to Respawn, calling out the developer for bringing “a new era of hostility and bitterness” that has been upvoted over 15,000 times.
“You committed the ultimate cardinal sin, you got personal,” wrote u/Cooloats on the Apex Legends subreddit. “You, as a team of professionals trying to make money, got personal. You got personal and decided to insult your playbase, calling us ‘ass-hats’ and ‘freeloaders’. Not a wise move.
“We won’t forget this. You’ve set a new tone for the kind of interaction we’ll be having with you. It’s a cold one. One where there aren’t any illusions about the reality of the situation. Previous notions of ‘family’ are dead. We are mere consumers to you, and that is obvious.
You have chosen to bring in a new era of hostility and bitterness. Well done. Great PR move.”
At the time of writing, neither Respawn nor Electronic Arts have responded to requests for comment.
