There is a fine line between player protection and corporate policy. He convinced himself of this Spitz. Community Manager Helldivers 2 was very popular among the players of this cooperative shooter. But he no longer holds this position. Apparently, he was fired from Arrowhead Game Studios after he called on players to protest.
It all started shortly after the developers announced that Helldivers 2 on Steam will require linking to a PlayStation Network account. This this caused a lot of criticism, especially since PSN is not available in 177 countries around the world. Spitz primarily as a real community manager he defended his superiors’ decisions and essentially argued that linking people to PSN accounts shouldn’t do things like that. However, in the next sentence he began to call on the players to protest.
“This isn’t the first or even the fourteenth popular game to require a third-party account that takes a few minutes to set up, but if you have a problem spending 120 seconds of your day entering your email address and password and then forgetting about it, change your review on Steam and voice your dissatisfaction on the platform where it matters.” Spitz wrote on Discord.
Then he added: “Players who express their dissatisfaction through reviews, refunds, etc. give us more weight in negotiations with Sony. They don’t read our Discord. It pains us to see how the popularity of the game is falling in the ratings, but discussions continue, and our team is on the side of the players in this fight.”
Another thing is interesting. Spitz later confessed. According to him, he did not know that in many countries it is impossible to legally create a PSN account. He also apologized to the players for this.
Spitz recently announced on the same Discord that he no longer works at Arrowhead Game Studios. “I learned today that it’s generally not a good idea to tell people to ask for refunds and leave negative reviews when you’re a community manager.” he wrote and thanked for the support. They also appreciate that everyone can now play Helldivers 2 again without restrictions.
“I knew I was taking a risk by writing about refunds and review changes. I take responsibility and do not deny it. My job was to represent the community and I did that.” – Spitz said. He also added that his behavior did not mean creating problems for people he respects, such as the entire Arrowhead team.
There is not a word about resignation in Spitze’s comments. Instead, he thanked Arrowhead Games Studios for the opportunity to work with a team he greatly respects. However, he made it clear that the departure was not of his own free will.
To be clear, the players won and Sony retreated. You won’t need a PSN account to play Helldivers 2 on PC. By the way, the players wrote a few days later more than 200 thousand negative reviews. They slowly but surely become positive.
Source :Indian TV
