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Social media has allowed gamers to connect with developers in ways that were unthinkable just a decade or two ago. Unfortunately, many have taken advantage of this opportunity to harass others instead, including Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment. issued a statement promising to take “appropriate action” against those who harass it. The rapper and longtime gamer, T-Pain, has blasted people who attacked Respawn staff and has spoken out about the harassment on his Twitter account.
“Brother, calm down. It’s a damn game, my buddy. If you don’t like it that much, play something else. If you get too addicted to the game and feel the need to intimidate the people who work so hard to make it, stay away from your PC/console. T-Pain wrote on Twitter:
Video games give gamers a lot of passion, but it’s important to remember that the games we love are created by real people. Video game development is a difficult and time-consuming process, and employee burnout is a very real risk. Online harassment makes these employees less willing to engage with their fan community. Hopefully, T-Pain’s comments provide much-needed perspective to those who abuse developers and their staff online.
Ultimately, people who work in video games are in business because they are passionate about the medium and want to make games that people love. Employee harassment only drives people away from the video game industry or persuades them not to get involved in development at all.