Developers of Apex Legends tried on Reddit to apologize for and explain a snafu involving cosmetic items in the game’s current Iron Crown event. It did not go well. At all.

The thread devolved into an eye-popping series of insults and grievances — from Respawn Entertainment developers — that magnified players’ bad will toward the studio and the game. The result is an outraged Apex Legends subreddit this morning reposting screenshots of the most inflammatory comments and boiling with resentment at those who wrote them.

To recap what kicked this off, the Iron Crown event introduced new skins when it launched earlier this week, but players could only get them by grinding against a difficult and expensive loot box mechanism. Fans immediately pushed back, feeling that Respawn had gone too far in its monetization of the free-to-play game this time.

Late Friday, Respawn announced changes to Iron Crown cosmetics, making them available for direct purchase with the game’s in-world currency (which also can be bought for real money). The official blog post announcing the changes made an apology, saying the studio “need[s] to be better at letting our players know what to expect,” and that the situation “has been a huge learning experience for us.” A post made to the Apex Legends subreddit on Friday night attempted to say the same thing.

It got ugly, and even uglier when fed-up Respawn developers hauled off on angry players. Many of the developers’ comments, particularly those from one by the handle dk05, have been deleted. This seems to be the one making everyone the angriest:

That was followed by:

Another:

Still another, where players are called “freeloaders.”

The community manager even got into it:

This morning, posts about the flame war dominate the subreddit’s front page, led by an open letter to Respawn from the community. In it, redditor cooloats says the studio “committed the ultimate cardinal sin, you got personal.

“We won’t forget this,” they wrote. “You’ve set a new tone for the kind of interaction we’ll be having with you. It’s a cold one.”

We’ve reached out to representatives of Respawn and Electronic Arts to ask for additional comment on this mess, but being a Sunday morning, that may not be coming until more senior types can get in, triage this situation, and try to explain it.

Update (Aug 20): Respawn CEO Vince Zampella has apologized on behalf of Respawn, stating that the developer wants to have an “open, healthy relationship with our community.”