Respawn Entertainment stood behind its developers after employees faced harassment from Apex Legends players in recent months.The company posted a message to its official Twitter account regarding the issue. It begins by saying, "Recently, we have seen increased harassment towards members of our development team," and notes that, while the company welcomes input from the community, the line between constructive feedback and harassment "cannot be crossed." The Apex Legends developer then goes on to remind players that Respawn has a "zero tolerance policy for threats" and harassment towards its team and started it will take "appropriate action to ensure the health and safety" of its team.
The statement concludes by stating, "We love hearing feedback and will continue to work alongside our community to foster a respectful, collaborative environment, and uphold the integrity of our game." Although the statement did not mention one community in particular, most recognized that the message likely pointed to Apex Legends players, who expressed frustration over different facets of the game in recent months. In some cases, these players went over the line from criticism to open harassment toward developers at Respawn. Apex Legends players took to the replies to express their disappointment with their community members, with the majority agreeing with the statement. A small minority claimed the harassment only happened because of a lack of response from Respawn, defending their actions toward developers.
Bungie, best known for developing the Halo and Destiny game series', showed their solidarity in a reply that reads: "Standing against toxicity and harassment takes all of us working together to build healthier communities. We are with you in that effort @respawn." The developer previously encountered a similar issue surrounding harassment in July 2022, resulting in Bungie cutting back its online interactions. The harassment and threats made towards the company went so far that the community manager for Destiny 2, Dylan Gafner, sued a streamer who orchestrated an extensive campaign of hate toward him.
Jason West and Vince Zampella, who co-founded Infinity Ward and created the Call of Duty franchise, established Respawn Entertainment in April 2010. Besides Apex Legends, it is also known for the Titanfall series, with the first game released in 2014 for Windows and both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Respawn also developed the massive hit Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which came out in 2019. A sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, is expected to arrive sometime in 2023.
Apex Legends is available now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Source: Twitter