Ooblets Developers Receive Thousands of Threats and Attacks Following Epic Deal

If you recall, last week, the creators of the cute new indie game Ooblets announced that they were taking the Epic Games deal, and were going to offer their game exclusively over the much-maligned Epic Games Storefront. The announcement was sincere but also rather snarky, and while their logic was understandable and even reasonable, the tone they took in the post was equal parts condescending and snide.

That said, it did not warrant the backlash that it has now sparked.

In an update posted on the Ooblets Patreon page, the two developers discussed the recent goings-on with the hate pouring in over them:

"We really misjudged how angry so many people would be…this whole thing has just devastated us. We've been getting thousands if not tens of thousands of hateful, threatening messages across every possible platform nonstop. It's especially hurtful since we've had such a positive, supportive relationship with our audience throughout development… I have been crying nonstop for the last two days and feeling like the world has collapsed around me."

And it’s not just hate, people have been taking the harassment to dangerous extremes, such as doctoring images to make it look as if Ben Wasser said that “Gamers would be better off in gas chambers,” and even creating a fake video of the event.

It’s frankly insane. So insane, that Epic itself decided to step in and say a few words.

The announcement of Ooblets highlighted a disturbing trend which is growing and undermining healthy public discourse, and that’s the coordinated and deliberate creation and promotion of false information, including fake screenshots, videos, and technical analysis, accompanied by harassment of partners, promotion of hateful themes, and intimidation of those with opposing views.

Look, I wasn’t a fan of how the Ooblets people made their announcement either – and some of their follow-up comments were pretty childish as well – but it absolutely doesn’t warrant this level of abuse.

The hell is wrong with people.