Apex Legends developer fired after offensive blogs surface

Apex Legends lead game designer Daniel Klein has been fired from developer Respawn after offensive blog posts written by him were recently surfaced.

Klein has apologised "unreservedly" for the sexist and racist language in the posts, which he says were written in 2007.

"I was recently confronted with some awful statements made on a blog I wrote back in 2007," Klein wrote on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. "I take full ownership for the things I said, and I'm embarrassed, sad, and angry at my younger self for saying this stuff. I hope it is obvious that I don't believe these things anymore."

While the posts date back to over a decade ago, a video by Apex Legends content creator Thordan Smash video claims Klein was aged 27 at that time.

Klein is well-known among the Apex Legends community for his focus on in-game balance issues. He would regularly interact with fans and comment on balance changes, and sometimes clashed with players over alterations to particular characters or abilities.

Last night, Klein confirmed he was now no longer working at Respawn, and had been fired at the end of last week.

"You may or may not have seen the awful, bigoted things I said in 2007," Klein wrote. "I wholeheartedly agree that THAT guy should have been fired. I have poured so much energy into becoming a better person since then, and right now I'm just very depressed because it feels I'll never be able to make up for who I was.

"I said racist and sexist things, not because I deeply believed any of them, but because I knew I could get a reaction out of people. That does not excuse anything I said; the impact of my words was the same regardless of what I believed."

Klein concluded with an apology to other developers at Respawn:

"Lastly, I'm just truly sorry to the Apex team. This is a headache they did not need. I know what their future plans are and I absolutely believe Apex has a bright future. There's so much cool shit coming. I just wished I could have worked on it."

Eurogamer contacted EA and Respawn for comment yesterday but has not had a response.

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