After a weekend of backlash to its timed exclusivity deal with Epic, the two-person studio behind Ooblets has publicly addressed the harassment it received in an official statement. While Glumberland acknowledged some of the backlash was prompted by misunderstanding the tone of the original blog post, the studio also highlighted problems with toxicity within game communities, and reaffirmed its decision to partner with Epic.
Be advised the Glumberland statement contains examples of the graphic language sent to the developers.
Written by Ben Wasser (also known as “Perplamps”), the statement explains the severity of the backlash was partly caused by a sudden change in audience which was unused to the team’s communication style. “For the past three years, I’ve been interacting with an audience that has always been understanding, friendly, and appreciative of our very open and transparent style,” Wasser wrote. “That’s why we were totally unprepared for the attention we got from the broader gaming/internet community, which was fueled by a deep misunderstanding of the tongue-in-cheek tone as condescending and patronising.”
That being said, Wasser accepts he somewhat misjudged the situation, explaining he “naively thought what we were saying might get them to see the whole EGS debate as lightheartedly as we did”.
“By engaging directly with that crowd, I mistakenly thought I could have some impact on their opinions and emotions and defuse the situation with some lighthearted criticism of the main things that drove them to attack people,” Wasser wrote. “You can see how well that went. It was a stupid miscalculation on my part.”