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Apex Legends' lead designer Daniel Klein has confirmed he was let go by Respawn for racist and sexist comments he posted online in 2007.
Daniel Klein, the now-former lead designer on Apex Legends, has taken to Twitter to reveal he is no longer working with Respawn. Klein's firing comes after comments he made in 2007 via a blog post resurfaced online. “As of last Friday, I am no longer working at Respawn. I want to be very open here and say that I'm heartbroken and depressed. It's been a very dark few days,” Klein tweeted earlier this week.
The posts made by Klein in 2007 were from a blog that resurfaced last month. Klein acknowledged and apologized for them at the time, and even appeared to have the backing of Respawn's director of communications, Ryan Rigney. However, it appears others at Respawn was not as ready to accept some of the comments made by Klein and the decision was made to fire him last week.
As for the comments themselves, one blog post made by Klein labelled women as having “moron chromosomes”, while another compared African people to animals. Klein claims he never truly believed the things he wrote, but simply put them out into the world to get a reaction. He also added Respawn “were absolutely within their rights to terminate me, much as I may disagree with that decision”.
Klein's firing comes amid what is hopefully a turning point for the video game industry, which was sparked by the ongoing Activision Blizzard lawsuit. The suit was filed by the state of California last month, accusing the studio of embracing a “frat boy culture” in which sexual harassment has become the norm.
The ongoing issues at Activision Blizzard have also sparked some changes in leadership. The studio's chief compliance officer Frances Townsend stepped down as the executive sponsor of Activision Blizzard’s Women’s Network a few days ago. Blizzard president J. Allen Brack has also departed the company.'
Source: VGC