Image Via Respawn Entertainment

Users of the Apex Legends subreddit were left shocked and outraged last night as two Respawn developers called gamers “dicks”, suggested they were “ass-hats” and described them as “freeloaders” in unfiltered public comments.

Responding to overwhelming criticism to an official apology and step-back from the game’s recent controversial microtransaction changes in the Iron Crown event two Respawn developers, dk05 (a Respawn Project Lead) and Jayfresh_Respawn (the Respawn Community Manager), fired back with insults, sarcastic comments and attacks on the gaming community.

In one public comment responding to a reddit user, dk05 wrote: “Hey everyone – found the dick I was talking about.”

This response was downvoted over 2400 times.

Comment By Respawn Project Lead dk05

dk05 wrote in a separate comment: “I’ve been in the industry long enough to remember when players weren’t complete ass-hats to developers and it was pretty neat.”

Comment By Respawn Project Lead dk05

In another reply, the same developer suggested most Apex Legend players are ‘freeloaders’, a derogatory term implying ‘a person who takes advantage of others’ generosity without giving anything in return,’ according to the Oxford Dictionary.

He wrote: “The amount of people who spend is crazy low, most of y’all are freeloaders.”

This comment was downvoted over 600 times.

Comment By Respawn Project Lead dk05

Respawn Community Manager Jayfresh_Respawn fired back at one Reddit user writing: “You should work on your reading comprehension.”

Comment by Respawn Community Manager Jayfresh_Respawn

He responded to another: “So it’s fine for you all to call us liars, full of shit, and other personal attacks when we communicate an apology and update to the event but we’re “immature” when we call people out on it. Got it.”

Comment by Respawn Community Manager Jayfresh_Respawn

When one user tried to clarify DK05’s statement calling gamers “dicks”, the developer wrote: “I think technically I was calling gamers dicks? I dunno. I had a spicy lunch, feelin’ it.”

Comment by Respawn Project Lead dk05

The Iron Crown event drew masses of criticism across social media and within the subreddit with users ridiculing Respawn and Electronic Arts, the game’s publisher, for “over-monetising” and “prioritising money” by exploiting players with overpriced in-game items. An in-game item for the event, the Heirloom Axe, costs over £130 in microtransactions according to Metro.

Backlash across Reddit and other social media platforms saw various developers and employees targeted with abusive and negative messages, and some have defended their response in the wake of these attacks.

Memes were quickly created and circulated taking aim at Respawn and EA, while threads discussing outrage at the update reached tens of thousands of upvotes.

Respawn issued an apology yesterday while defending their position, saying a mistake was made, that they broke their promise to fans, and that cosmetic items released during the update would soon be available to directly purchase through the in-game store – however even this drew more public backlash due to the high cost to buy them.

EA suffered a similar issue following the release of Star Wars Battlefront 2, with their “sense of pride and accomplishment” comment becoming the most downvoted response in Reddit history.

With a slowing growth in the player base as gamers gravitate towards alternate battle royales such as Fortnite, PUBG, Call of Duty’s Blackout and Battlefield’s Firestorm, it’s difficult to understand the benefit behind the Apex Legends developer’s divisive comments.

Respawn Entertainment have been approached for comment.

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