It was just a matter of time before the apology came out – we all know how this script goes.
Yesterday we covered the weekend blow-up between Reddit and Apex Legends staff, as Respawn executive producer Drew McCoy responded to an expletive-laden player insult with a pointed clapback for its writer, all set against a backdrop of problematic monetization for the EA battle royale and exchanges that involved copious amounts of abuse for developers, some of whom called players “freeloaders” for objecting to the company’s business model.
By last night, Respawn CEO Vince Zampella posted an apology, suggesting that even though players were lobbing “toxic and nasty comments” including death threats, he didn’t want Respawn to contribute to the toxicity.
— Vince Zampella (@VinceZampella) August 19, 2019
It doesn’t sound as if the Reddit mob still calling for the employees to be fired will be sated this summer; in fact the Twitter responses are in general supportive of the developers involved – and they’d like to get back to the real discussion about monetization now, thanks.
