Apex Legends has been on a bad streak lately. Fans first got angry with their overpriced cosmetics. Next thing they knew, developers had a few choice words for them.

The controversy began with Apex Legends’ Iron Crown event, which essentially made getting cosmetic packs near-impossible without paying for them. On this note, things were fine – Respawn Entertainment addressed the issue and promised to take action.

While Respawn developers initially went to Reddit to address the issue, the conversation soon went haywire. With insults and distasteful remarks strewn across the forum, the situation only got worse.

Several conspiracy theories came out to slander the battle royale creators, stating that they ‘planned’ this controversy to gain more press coverage. This prompted a whole load of awful comments, as well as some from the Respawn employees themselves. In what appeared to be fits of rage, employees attacked back, calling one player a “dick” and referring to others as “asshats” and “toxic”.

Respawn CEO Vince Zampella has since apologized to fans on Twitter.

“Things got to a pretty bad place,” Zampella said. He acknowledges that members of his team received “toxic and nasty comments”. There was malice left and right- personal circumstances were brought in and even death threats were on the table. On that front, he defends his employees’ rights to defend themselves. Still, Zampella agrees that the way they went about it “crossed a line.”

While Respawn developers went hard with their initial responses, they nonetheless apologized to those they offended.

“Having an open, healthy relationship with our community is incredibly important to all of us at Respawn,” Zampella wrote. “We shouldn’t contribute to [toxic and nasty comments]. We need to lead by example.”

The exact tweet is posted below:

A messy situation on all fronts

It should be noted that the developers were provoked – they only directed malicious comments towards those who brought their own harshness to the mix. Given this nuance, the developers deserve some sympathy.

Additionally, the developers have also expressed their financial concerns. As the makers of a free-to-play game, they have openly talked about how difficult it’s been to monetize Apex Legends. Furthermore, they have shown humility in acknowledging their lack of experience in this field.

Without this context, however, it is easy to antagonize the developers. The developer’s comments quickly enraged both players and onlookers alike- with the latter ironically being especially angry. They claimed that game developers ought to have more respect for their fans.

While the whole issue was quite recent, developers have already shown some form of growth. They claim this was “a learning experience” for both them and their fans alike.

What do you think of the situation? Leave your thoughts down in the comments below!