You may have noticed less communication from Destiny 2 developer Bungie across social media platforms and websites like Reddit lately and there’s a reason why. Citing an increase in harassment and “real threats towards our people and our studio” Bungie will begin to do what it can to protect its staff.
Dylan Gafner, the community manager for Destiny, took some time to respond to a disheartened fan on a Reddit thread who started a subreddit about how they “miss seeing so many ‘Bungie Replied’ threads” on Reddit. “The harassment we’ve spoken to isn’t just rude replies on Twitter or vague comments,” said Gafner (Reddit u/dmg04). “There have been real threats towards our people and our studio. We’re taking them seriously, which is leading to an amount of reduced communications as the team plans future protections/strategies to help avoid these sorts of things.” Gafner also explained that he and his family have experienced “serious harassment” in recent months.
Gafner is currently taking time off from the studio, partially due to the harassment. Gafner did go on to say that well-behaved fans shouldn’t see this as a punishment and that the studio is working to ensure the safety of its workers. The team is planning new ways to communicate with players in the future. Gafner assured fans that the developers at Bungie are still reading and reacting to feedback on forums and the subreddit — they’re just not openly responding to it online.
Recently, Bungie filed a lawsuit against a streamer that threatened to burn down Bungie’s headquarters after receiving multiple bans for cheating.
At Boss Rush, our hopes and wishes go out to not just Bungie, but to all developers and studios that make the wonderful games we love. Having to endure extreme and dangerous harassment from people across the internet should not be a part of their jobs.
Are you a member of the Destiny community that interacts with the developers online? What are your thoughts on this situation surrounding Bungie? Have you witnessed toxic, harassing, or dangerous behavior directed to developers and publishers online?
(Feature Image: Destiny 2 courtesy and © Bungie, Inc.)
Source: Polygon
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