Respawn Entertainment‘s Senior Game Designer, Daniel Klein, has said that a lot of developers are becoming increasingly reluctant to interact with fans on social media due to toxic behavior.
In a lengthy post on the Apex Legends subreddit, Klein gave some harrowing examples of the kind of abuse he and his family have personally suffered over the years, and suggested that it’s “wrong” of companies to require employees to engage with their community on social media.
“My spouse has had nearly daily emails sent to their (entirely non-gaming) employer yelling that they should be fired, they’re a pedophile or whatever,” wrote Klein. “My spouse’s parents were doxed and a swatting was attempted, I’ve had people send me photoshopped images of execution victims with my face swapped in… it’s rough.”
Klein added that he once received death threats that were credible enough that a former studio cancelled all his tours. He also said that developers are expected to have a thick skin but the constant abuse can get tiresome.
“Even if it’s not as bad as the stuff I quoted, the constant barrage of negativity and people telling you you suck at your job, asking for you to be fired, calling you names, etc. – it will wear you down,” Klein continued. “People sometimes have serious psychological trauma when they feel pressured to expose themselves to this negativity even when they don’t feel up to it.”
Klein’s post came in response to a Reddit user who suggested that developers should appear online to answer players’ questions directly. He’s of the view that such a demand is unreasonable considering the toxicity prevalent online.
