TheQuartering [8/13/2021]
Oops. He got cancelled. A shame.
Respawn has fired a lead Apex Legends developer after some of his past remarks have surfaced.
Daniel Z. Klein, who worked as a lead game designer at Apex Legends developer Respawn, has been let go after blog posts he wrote in 2007 were discovered. The posts had Klein calling women “irrational” for their “moron chromosomes,” and in another likening his African neighbours to animals.
Screenshots of the blog posts made the rounds last month, prompting Klein to admit that he wrote them and apologise at the time.
“I take full ownership for the things I said, and I’m embarrassed, sad, and angry at my younger self for saying this stuff. I hope it is obvious that I don’t believe these things anymore,” Klein wrote on Twitter.
When the posts came to light, EA told Fanbyte that its HR department is investigating. A few days later, Klein was fired.
The game designer announced the news in a lengthy Twitter thread. “I have poured so much energy into becoming a better person since then, and right now I’m just very depressed because it feels I’ll never be able to make up for who I was,” he said.
“To be clear, I’m not saying EA or Respawn did anything untoward. They were absolutely within their rights to terminate me, much as I may disagree with that decision.”