Splitgate 2 Director Refuses to Apologize for ‘Make FPS Great Again Hat’, Then Apologizes Anyway

Splitgate 2, 1047 Games’ “Halo with portals”, launched conscionable past week, marked by a celebratory announcement of a conflict royale mode astatine Summer Game Fest. But portion this should person been a triumphant infinitesimal for the workplace and the community, the motorboat has alternatively been marked by not one, not two, but 3 antithetic controversies that person led to mixed Steam reviews, disappointed fans, and a crippled assemblage divided betwixt those who enactment the studio’s actions and those who person been enactment disconnected from playing Splitgate 2 astatine all.

First, astatine the game’s large conflict royale uncover astatine Summer Game Fest, Proulx wore a chapeau that read, “Make FPS Great Again” onstage, which drew disapproval for its notation to U.S. President Donald Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” hats, which travel with important governmental baggage. Then, Proulx called retired Call of Duty successful his code onstage, saying he’s “tired of playing the aforesaid Call of Duty each year,” which drew ire from developers and fans of Call of Duty. And past connected apical of that, arsenic the crippled launched, fans instantly called retired a $145 microtransaction bundle connected the game’s store that seemed to alert successful the look of everything 1047 Games claimed it stood for.

I spoke to crippled manager Ian Proulx successful the aftermath of each this, and recovered him amazingly sanguine for a institution person presently successful the spotlight.

“So, I americium surprised, to beryllium honest, to dive close into it, we didn't expect this to beryllium astir arsenic arguable arsenic it was and we didn't mean for it to be,” helium said. “In presumption of the numbers, determination person been bully numbers, there's been a batch of negativity, but besides positivity to lucifer that radical emotion the game. We conscionable crossed the 2 and a fractional cardinal subordinate threshold, we tripled our subordinate count. So there's bully and bad, I deliberation clip volition archer mixed emotions for sure, but wide feeling good.”

Obviously, I had to commencement by asking him astir the hat. What was that each about?

“I'll commencement by saying, we talked a batch astir this, we did not mean for this to beryllium immoderate benignant of governmental statement,” Proulx replied. “I mean, I deliberation we meant for it to beryllium taken astatine look value, which is, we're not blessed with the authorities of FPS games. I myself, arsenic a gamer, my friends and I, we speech astir however bored we are. We thought this was... It's thing that's been meme'd to death. Even 3 months ago, Hideo Kojima had a chapeau that said, ‘Make TV large again.’ [Author's note: While this photograph was reposted successful March connected Threads, the photograph itself appears to beryllium from 2017.] And his chapeau was reddish and determination was nary contention there, truthful we talked astir it, and we thought, okay, possibly immoderate radical volition instrumentality it the incorrect way, but it's been meme'd to death. It benignant of says what we feel, which is we privation to conscionable marque an awesome crippled and we're not blessed with the authorities of FPS.”

I pointed retired to Proulx that the MAGA chapeau and its connection person go associated for galore with feelings of discomfort and adjacent fearfulness owed to existent governmental events. I besides noted the protests going connected conscionable a fewer miles distant from Summer Game Fest, wherever Los Angelenos were taking to the streets to support their migrant neighbors from ongoing raids by ICE nether President Trump’s orders, and wherever the National Guard is being deployed contempt protests remaining mostly peaceful. What does Proulx accidental to Splitgate fans and assemblage members who felt genuinely emotionally distraught seeing the hat, successful airy of each that?

“I deliberation the champion I tin accidental is we're not trying to nonstop immoderate benignant of governmental connection and we're moving connected from this,” helium replied. “Our intent is, we conscionable privation to marque a large game, we privation to perceive to the fans, we've ever been each astir the community. And that's not conscionable assemblage successful presumption of listening to feedback to marque the crippled better, but it's besides successful presumption of making a assemblage that radical privation to beryllium a portion of wherever the devs are engaging with the players, it's a affirmative assemblage and truthful that's our ambition. Obviously, close now, it doesn't consciousness that mode but we're getting backmost to our absorption and that's what our absorption is. So we're putting this down us, we're moving forward, we're conscionable going to support listening to the assemblage and making a large game.”

I pushed 1 much clip connected this topic, noting that successful a tweet Proulx said helium was “not present to apologize”, and present helium seemed to beryllium deliberately avoiding apologizing arsenic well. He confirmed that was the case.

“I don't regret what I said to beryllium candid. I deliberation that I basal by it and my intent is I'm speaking my information and my intent is to marque a large crippled for everybody.”

My interrogation with Proulx, wherever helium committed to not apologizing, took spot connected Sunday. Today, however, Proulx posted different video… apologizing.

“I privation to apologize. And genuinely, you don’t person to judge me. But the information is I americium sorry. And the crushed I americium atrocious is due to the fact that of what this has done to the community. The astir important happening to maine close present is I privation to person an astonishing community… I hatred seeing division. And that’s what I’m seeing now, connected some sides. There’s part successful the community, and for that I americium genuinely sorry. And again, I’ll reiterate, I bash basal by the intent of this, which is, the intent genuinely is, instrumentality it astatine look value. We bash privation to amended this genre. We bash consciousness that the genre is successful a atrocious state. And we privation to marque FPS games arsenic astonishing arsenic possible. But I besides recognize that it’s not conscionable astir intent, it’s astir impact, and the level that we person had has had a antagonistic impact, and for that I’m genuinely sorry.”

No excuses, I'm sorry. pic.twitter.com/4dgOxrSXUJ

Back to our interview, we moved connected to the 2nd portion of the controversy: Proulx’s comments connected the shooter genre and specifically his notation of the Call of Duty franchise. During his code onstage astatine the event, Proulx said, "I grew up playing Halo. And I'm bushed of playing the aforesaid Call of Duty each year, and I privation we could person Titanfall 3." In response, he’s received disapproval from Splitgate fans, Call of Duty fans, and developers some for utilizing his level astatine the amusement to disparage different video games, arsenic good arsenic for calling retired Call of Duty erstwhile Splitgate 2 contains galore of the aforesaid features, including the free-to-play conflict royale mode Proulx revealed onstage.

On this front, Proulx admits his workplace went excessively acold successful a effect connected Twitter to a Call of Duty developer who criticized his remarks. The developer tweeted, “‘make fps large again’ and its splitgate”, prompting the authoritative Splitgate relationship to punctuation tweet it with, “Which Call of Duty does your squad marque again? I can’t archer them apart.” Both tweets person since been deleted, and Proulx said helium was not the idiosyncratic down that peculiar remark.

“Yeah, truthful I volition accidental determination was a tweet that we enactment retired that we person since deleted, and I volition apologize for that one. I mean, everything is connected maine of people arsenic the CEO, that was not my post. My posts are me, right? They're videos of me, I effort to beryllium truly conscionable honorable and off-script and conscionable speech to the fans directly, but there's nary excuse for that 1 and we did instrumentality it down.”

Regardless, Proulx stood by what helium said onstage. He said helium doesn’t person a circumstantial beef with Call of Duty, but misses the “good aged days” of the game. I asked him what that means, and helium said helium misses the “newness and the innovation”, citing Call of Duty 4. “And past Modern Warfare 2 taking it to the adjacent level, whether it was the campaign, the multiplayer, each the skins to grind for, the deficiency of skill-based matchmaking wherever you conscionable felt similar it was precise organic. And it feels similar there's benignant of a deficiency of innovation present that they're putting retired prime and polish, but they're not needfully pushing the barroom forward.”

Finally, there’s the microtransactions. Splitgate 2 is free-to-play with microtransactions, and erstwhile it launched connected June 6, players instantly began expressing their displeasure implicit 1 peculiar microtransaction: a $145 bundle, discounted to $80 for launch. 1047 Games chopped the terms dramatically down to $40 astir immediately, on with the prices of a fig of different items.

Then, successful a video published conscionable earlier our interrogation took place, Proulx apologized for the pricing situation, saying helium lone learned astir the bundle pricing soon aft helium got offstage astatine Summer Game Fest. He attested that 1047 Games’ erstwhile caput of monetization, who “happened to travel from Call of Duty”, had been “very assertive connected the pricing,” and that prices had been adjacent higher before. After his departure from the company, Proulx claimed 1047 enactment did a reevaluation of the pricing and lowered astir prices, but “things slipped done the cracks.”

Why we went from $80 to $40. pic.twitter.com/8VC7Ku1qHQ

I asked him however he, arsenic caput of the company, was unaware of the pricing of bundles for the crippled helium was launching. Proulx reiterated that helium took work for what happened, saying helium had been “very focused connected getting done the beta.”

“We got done beta, we had different fires to be to truthful I was focused connected servers and conscionable trying to get america done that. I was not reasoning astatine each astir monetization due to the fact that I was conscionable like, we're not going to marque immoderate money, it doesn't adjacent substance if radical can't play the game. And truthful that was wherever my caput was astatine for the past 2 weeks was like, we got to conscionable marque definite this crippled is great, hole the servers, support the lights on, hole the issues. Okay, we've made it barely, present we've got to spell motorboat this game. And past it was a benignant of, what the fuck moment, similar however did we not drawback this?”

I pointed to Proulx’s remark successful the video that the idiosyncratic helium alleges is liable had antecedently worked connected Call of Duty, which seemed to acceptable with accusations that helium was taking shots astatine the game. Proulx replied that it was “a comic coincidence, but a 100 percent the truth.”

We talked a spot much astir what happened, with Proulx reiterating that 1047 Games ne'er intends to bash thing similar that costly bundle ever again, and that they’re refunding players who already purchased it.

“Whether you similar my archetypal connection oregon not, that is what I americium trying to execute here, and I don't request to speech astir the connection anymore,” helium says. “What I'm trying to execute present is I privation to physique a brand, and a community, and a merchandise that radical privation to enactment wherever we are listening, that's the champion mode to bash it. That's not however it's done anymore, and that is however I privation to bash it. You archer america your feedback, we're going to instrumentality that to heart, we're going to iterate, and we're going to really instrumentality enactment quickly. We're not going to beryllium astir and hold for the due PR statement. That's wherefore a batch of times erstwhile we speech to the players, I don't person a script, I conscionable crook my telephone connected and we conscionable find retired what comes retired of my rima and that's what we spell with.”

To wrapper it up, I asked Proulx if he’s learned thing from this trifecta of incidents. He’s made it wide 1047 Games doesn’t mean to connection costly bundles successful the future, but what astir the Call of Duty comments and the Make FPS Great Again hat? Will this incidental pass however helium presents himself successful the future?

“Yes,” Proulx said. “So I'd accidental the biggest lesson, conscionable benignant of realizing the level that we have, it's got a batch much value than we realized and besides conscionable the seriousness of everything successful this time and age. We intended to enactment retired a meme, we intended to enactment retired thing that summarized however we feel, truly, but besides it was a joke. It's a gag that's been done to decease and has virtually been done by Hideo Kojima, and we thought, well, this is simply a bully information constituent for however a akin absorption volition occur. We besides specifically chose to bash a achromatic chapeau alternatively of a reddish one, not that that, I don't cognize if that makes a difference. So I deliberation I've conscionable benignant of learned conscionable the interaction that small things similar this tin person connected radical and truthful we're trying to beryllium precise thoughtful astir it going forward. And we're trying to get backmost to focusing, there's each this worldly successful the aerial I conscionable privation to determination on, I privation to marque a amusive game. That's what we're going to do.”

Despite each the criticism, Proulx doesn’t consciousness that immoderate of the issues implicit the past week person impacted Splitgate 2 arsenic a game. “I deliberation there's truthful galore games that person done good implicit clip that person had controversies, immoderate it is. I deliberation it did get america a batch of attention, whether bully oregon atrocious and present it's connected america arsenic developers to amended and really enactment connected feedback. And truthful if we bash that, I deliberation we're going to succeed. And if we don't, I don't deliberation immoderate of this would've mattered.”

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].