Respawn Entertainment has issued a statement against toxicity and harassment geared towards its developers by Apex Legends players. The studio warned that it will take “appropriate action” against such behavior to ensure employee health and safety. While the studio didn’t specifically name any community, Apex Legends players have become increasingly agitated with various facets of the game, with some taking their criticisms a little too far and crossing the line between criticism and harassment.
Apex Legends players urged to engage in constructive criticism
— Respawn (@Respawn) September 22, 2022
Respawn Entertainment has said that it welcomes constructive criticism and loves to hear feedback from players, but will do whatever it takes to protect developers and “uphold the competitive integrity” of Apex Legends. Several members of the game’s community have suggested that a professional player, who we won’t name on account of this being a mere allegation, is behind Respawn’s latest statement. Said player has been criticizing the game and in a series of tweets, talked about how much they hate EA and expressed how upset they were that Apex Legends developers did not work weekends to resolve the game’s issues.
A number of game studios rallied behind Respawn Entertainment in response to its statement. “Standing against toxicity and harassment takes all of us working together to build healthier communities,” wrote Bungie, who has also been fighting toxicity and harassment. “We are with you in that effort, Respawn.” Bungie has been pretty vocal about negative behavior in online communities, going as far as taking a player to court over threats made towards its employees on multiple occasions.
Standing against toxicity and harassment takes all of us working together to build healthier communities. We are with you in that effort @respawn.
— Bungie (@Bungie) September 22, 2022
What a sad state of affairs. Here’s hoping common sense prevails.
