BioWare veteran calls out the 'cruelty' of fans celebrating layoffs: 'You are crossing a line, and you're probably attacking the wrong person anyway'

pcgamer.com:

Mark Darrah is a true BioWare veteran, having worked at the studio for 24 years before returning in a consultancy role to shepherd Dragon Age: The Veilguard over the finish line. Darrah is now freelance once more, and has been using some of his time to post YouTube videos about both the company's history and future in what he calls "an unprecedented time for BioWare."

Darrah's latest video, however, has another subject: The more toxic elements of videogame fandom, which are much more of an issue for developers than some players might think. In a 2023 GDC survey of game developers, 91% of respondents said abuse from players was a problem and, if we're being honest, we've all seen some people go way OTT at developers online. The problem feels even more pronounced at the bigger-budget end of the industry, where certain folk seem to feel that, if they've paid their money, that entitles them to open season on the people who made it.

The video's called «Your $70 Doesn't Buy You Cruelty» (thanks, GR+) and sees Darrah address issues as diverse as players celebrating layoffs to the kind of persistent personal harassment and threats that can result in the courts having to get involved. The former producer makes clear he's not talking about folk criticising a game they've paid good money for or telling others they don't like it, which feels like it doesn't really need saying but I guess you have to be explicit about this stuff on the Internet.

Darrah's issue is fans feeling they have the right to target random developers who work at the studio behind a given title, even when «you don't know the circumstances that resulted in the thing that you're mad at.»

If you're mad at a Ubisoft game, says Darrah, «be mad at Ubisoft. Express your anger to Ubisoft or the studio that made the game. But you cross a line when you start being cruel about it, [you] don't need to go out of your way to cause harm to other people because of a videogame.»

There's also the fact that, whatever someone