Members of the Insomniac Games development team have been forced to speak out against the online abuse they are receiving over the lack of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 updates. The problem was first brought to light by advanced senior community manager Aaron Jason Espinoza, who tweeted: "Sending violent threats to game developers over game development things is childish and just plain f**king stupid."
Director James Stevenson then picked up the post and added: "Don't do this. We know you want updates and info. We're working to get things to you as fast as we can, given the extraordinary circumstances our team has faced." This would be in reference to the hacking of Insomniac Games that took place late last year.
Insomniac Games last year confirmed it's working on a significant PS5 patch that will include New Game+, the option to change the time of day, a replay missions feature, and tendril colour customisation. The update was delayed to "early 2024" so the developer could conduct "more testing". The statement continued: "In the meantime, we appreciate your patience as our team works to finish our next update for Marvel's Spider-Man 2!" Unfortunately, it seems some fans have lost their patience and immediately resorted to hurtling abuse at those who made the PS5 exclusive possible.
This isn't the first time select members of the Marvel's Spider-Man community have resorted to abusing the game's creators, as Mary-Jane Watson's face model Stephanie Tyler Jones was harassed last month. In a statement addressed to "Spider-Man fans", she said: "Over the weekend, some followers crossed boundaries. One even went to the extent of calling my workplace and leaving multiple voicemails wanting to speak with me and requesting I call back, which is unacceptable and considered stalking.
She added: "I came into work this morning and immediately felt unsafe and uncomfortable hearing those voicemails. Please respect that I am a human being trying to make a living just like you, and I kindly ask for boundaries to not be crossed. Messages will not be answered [and] I will block you if you make me feel uncomfortable."
[source twitter.com]
Comments 83
"When one begins sending threats because of a video game, one should rethink his life."
~ Confucius, 500 BC
The gaming community being horrible what's new here.
People are crazy. If the game works as well as the Spiderman 2, it does not really need updates. These features are bonus content in my opinion and these agressive folks should just shut up.
I long for the day that people start facing consequences for the things they say and do online. There should be a line. Somewhere.
@Blackmagehobbit I think they should spend a few months in jail and rethink their lives.
I guess every game's fanbase must have a toxic minority. Internet denizens + law of averages and all that.
But bloody hell, the more we hear from and about the underdeveloped adult section of the Spidey fanbase the more I... I dunno. Grind my teeth? Give myself a headache? 🤷
@naruball Worse for them might be a few months offline. Who would validate their opinions outside of Twitter and the echo chambers?
Edit: Jail would make martyrs out of them.
Anyone out there threatening game devs or harassing people involved in a game are scum. So much privilege and toxicity seems to have seeped into the gaming community and it’s absolutely disgusting. I’ve loved video games since I was old enough to hold a controller and have many I love and many I hate but the thought of attacking devs because of ***** like updates not coming out quick enough makes me sick.
Yeah it is absolutely our right as consumers to give feedback if we’re unhappy about a product we’ve bought but this isn’t what’s going on here. This is small minded, entitled little ***** who think they’re special enough to harass and make demands of people they’ve not got a fraction of the talent of. Honestly pathetic that people behave like this.
@CharlieChooChoo 🫠Brutal. You have my sympathy.
I had a wisdom tooth pulled out a few months back because of it. Such a foolish foolish habit I started in college.
@Shepherd_Tallon sadly, I'm sure they'd find a way to get online.
@Shepherd_Tallon I wish it was a small minority that is toxic, but just a glimpse onto Twitter, Twitch or playing online with randoms shows gaming has a LARGE percentage of toxic A-holes. Not a majority but large enough to be a big problem.
I can't even begin to think how insane someone must be to have a thought like "I still don't have NG+ in Spider-Man 2! Someone must pay for this. Time to harass some random dev on Twitter!"
Like just play something else in the meantime and wait. It's truly the definition of unhinged behavior.
@CharlieChooChoo yup. That's why they keep getting worse.
So they are angry because they love the game so much they want more of it so they attack the people who made the thing they love?
I don’t understand how under developed their brains must be to be that dumb.
@themightyant I can't argue with that. I've seen it for myself.
A lack of empathy combined with anonymity as mentioned above, plus an unwillingness to make real change on the part of the people who make money from the clicks these A-holes generate, means nothing will change unless laws are introduced.
There's talk here in government about holding people to account for threats or incitement to harm and violence posted on social media. Will be interesting to see how it goes.
I'm all for freedom of speech and expression, but publicly threatening someone's safety or calling for others to do violence has to be a line.
@naruball Absolutely.
@CharlieChooChoo Wise indeed, Confucius was ahead of his time
@Shepherd_Tallon I'd honestly welcome that. Having seen what online chat, in games and on social media, has done to kids, and frankly adults.
But there's many related issues here that need to be addressed. There's also a general lack of social self awareness online. People chatting to people they have never met like they are in a room with their closest friends and excusing it as "banter" or "trash talking", when plenty of it is derogatory, that's not OK either. They probably don't even think what they are doing is wrong, it's a lack of awareness that needs to be highlighted so they have a chance to do better.
We need a couple of high profile examples of people being prosecuted for online threats and hopefully that will be enough to quell the lunatics.
@themightyant I fully agree. A lack of empathy and self awareness leads to a lot of otherwise avoidable scenarios the world over.
When you see young children lashing out or behaving like bullies, then hopefully developing a little understanding that there's a person like them at the other end of their outburst, it makes you wonder what happened that so many adults didn't get the chance to learn the same lesson.
Then again, internet anonymity combined with just typing words at other words... You could write a thesis on this. I'm sure many have.
Yet again proving the world was a better place before social media.
I understand the feel to need to react to bad tweeters, but this is usually just fuel to the fire. I'd just ignore all of it. No oxygen, no fire.
Someone needs to come up with a name for gaming Karen’s… I’m going to go with something like Garret (no offence to any actual Garret’s out there 😂)
But in all seriousness, you’ve got to be pretty low to resorting to violent threats and leaving creepy voice messages over a videogame… what a Garret.
@Rob_230 people have always been like this. It's just now they make sure you know it. So kind of
It's a one player experience. It released in November. Even if they weren't making threats their expectations make no sense.
Why are people even feeling entitled to updates on a single player game?
And why are people acting liking children about it?
Its less than 30 hrs with 100% what is New Game+ going to add?
Nerds be nerding
@McBurn completely agree. Just ignore it, this actually encourages these people as they get attention. Not sure how insomniac doesnt understand this. Victim mentality never helps anyone.
Some people are horrible and deserve to get knick the f out.why would you do this.for a update.is that what it really comes to now.word up son
Out of millions of players of course you will get some sad people. If I were a cynical man I would say insomniac went looking for these tweets and used them as a distraction for why they don't yet have the update released
Don't know why people do this. There so many games to play.
Gamers: “We hate the live service business model. Give us everything up front!”
Also Gamers: “Where are our constant updates?!?”
@Enigk sounds like a pipedream.
How would you even begin to prosecute someone over some mean words they said online 😂
@Blaze215 I could see that being cooked up by their pr team 💯
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Would love to say it's a surprise and all...
That's the problem with the internet, whilst it can be a fantastic resource for many things, it's also gives every self entitled f**kwit the ability make people's lives miserable.
Social media and a lack of education on how to behave online has a lot to answer for.
@Cherip-the-Ripper death threats aren't exactly "mean words". Pretty sure we can all agree on that.
@Blaze215 for one thing because death threats all too often become reality. Not only have people died on the hands of their fans, but in other cases, they've been stalked, their families harassed, their other businesses destroyed (by leaving bad reviews, etc). The list goes on. It's not as simple as "ignore it and it will go away".
@Kidfried Ah ok, makes a bit more sense.
Even still, lack of communication aside, anything released after the main game apart from bug fixes should be taken as a plus, not mandatory.
@naruball well that depends, how many have developers have been killed following these death threats? If the answers none then yeah, they're just mean words...
I hate so much when I'm a fan of something or in a fanbase community for something and one person/a few people are being loud, insane idiots. A case of one/a few ruining it for everyone. Like you don't speak for me, stop being a whackjob.
Especially to do this to Insomniac. They're like a shining example of a great dev team. Why do this. Ugh.
@naruball I would have to disagree. Of course there are some instances where death threats are followed up on but I would say far far less than 1% of all these nasty comments on social media ever actually amount to anything. Giving them attention just encourages more
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Ridiculous behaviour, I think these people's mum's & dad's never moderated their internet usage when they was younger. An internet time out feature needs to be implemented 😂, especially on twitter.
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I really don't understand what is wrong with people and why they think this behavior is okay.
Isolation?
Lack of good parenting?
Poor communication skills?
Mental illness?
Lack of understanding that "I'm going to kill you if you don't do [X]" is neither funny nor a proper way to express frustration?
Low IQ?
All of the above?
Seriously people, video games are a great source of escapism, but they aren't life.
At this point I think we should just ditch social media.
I don't condone the abuse like at all but the game is missing features the prior games had at launch and its been two months since the update was actually due. I will never send hate or abuse but i can't say i'm thrilled with them being ghost silent unless its to call out abuse.
@Cherip-the-Ripper I am sure some legal experts could figure out how to prosecute someone for online threats. We can but hope. Or maybe the police can just come round and have stern words with their parents.
When it started Social media was a way to connect with each other, and yes socialise. I recent years it makes people less social to each other. It also doesn't help that certain world leaders and other persons in power it as a weapon to get people worked up.
It's a shame it became this toxic among gamers. I have gaming as a hobby because I enjoy it, to do alone, with friends or with strangers around the world because it is supposed to be a relaxing fun experience. I'm glad I experienced gaming in the 90's and early 00's, such a simpler time. You were just happy with the games that came out. Developers weren't herassed 24/7 because you didn't like s feature or wanted more.
I haven't even played the game yet, people losing their minds over no info updates is so human species in 2024. We deserve to be doomed.
@naruball Wow, the people coming after you defending death threats as long as they aren't carried out is... something. This is why I stopped trying to explain things to people, especially what I usually assume are white male people who don't think privilege is a thing. Props and good luck.
It could maybe not be that these people feel entitled, or that they're doing it because they "love" the game. It could just be malicious, knowing that sending abusive messages or creepy voicemails gets attention and ruins someone's day.
Personally, if I were a dev I'd stay off of social media. If fans want to contact me, they'd have to go to the company website and send an email. There would be a filter setup to delete any email containing abusive language and block the email address. If the offending sender's email address is registered to an in-game account, that account gets terminated.
Don't give these delinquents attention. Mute them.
@Mortal I think social media needs to just go away. When has it ever really improved someone's life? As for Insomniac (and every other developer that has faced this), I hope they can block out the noise and anyone who has harassed and/or threatened them, faces the full consequences of their actions.
Good God there are some real weirdos out there. This is as pathetic as reading last month that a kicker from an NFL team was getting death threats for missing a kick that cost there team a playoff game. Smh 🤦♂️
Ridiculous that people resort to this kind of thing over a video game update.
It's good to be excited about things releasing. I'm waiting for a few new anime seasons that I hope will happen. When a topic comes up I will state it just like that. So what causes a person to take that sentiment and dial it up 11 with harassment and threats? It's nuts.
@theSpectre the amusing thing is that forums have existed for millennia as a way to express opinions, except as far back as ancient times, it was always a representative that took the feedback of their people to those in power, same as we have today in constituents and politicians. It was always this way because there has always been people who resort to violence, threats, intimidation and vulgar acts if given the freedom to. Social media just removed the barrier, bypassing the representative, allowing people to truly show what they think without their representative editing the feedback to make it civil.
Gamers can be such scum. They need to grow up!
Imagine having such a meaningless and insignificant life that you have the time and energy to even get mad that a video game doesn't have enough updates, let alone to follow through and send threats to the developers over it...
@Kienda Right? Like, do these people not remember the MASSIVE hack? I love Spider-Man 2, but I'm willing to be patient. These people think they're above everyone and make demands on a whim. It's sad.
Report the IP and posts to authority at once. Some knocks on the door by people in suits would do them some good
Sending those threats is just godawful behaviour and I condemn it to hell.
However, two months on from the update being due, we are still waiting on news and that isn't okay. It'd almost like the Devs went looking for this trouble so they'd be able to draw attention away from their lack of engagement with the community. This game rehashed the same "best friend is villain" plot from the prior two games but did It in a short ***** show of a game with terrible pacing. They rid us of Black Cat, the character designs were awful (No not just Mary Jane Tyson's Jaw, I mean 15 year old looking Peter too) and a whole host of other bs. Add in we heard nothing on Ng+ or updates, etc. is just dumb.
Yay, they were hacked, info was leaked. But did the hackers delete all their games updates files? Is that what happened? Cuz otherwise why are they taking this long? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
And my sympathies to the Devs for the horrible behaviour of the people.
Are there no other games they can play while they wait? Would it kill them to be decent people? I am so sick of these crapsack idiots harassing others.
Hoo boy these people have actual mental issues.
Wow, how saddening this is to read.
Giving death threats because you haven't heard about had any updates to a game you've bought.
This is unbelievable behaviour, what's wrong with these people. Are they festering this daily rage until suddenly they effectively burst and have to send a vile message??!!
Poor devs, they produce a wonderful game and this is the thanks they get.
I just don't understand.
Anytime I see Sony devs being harassed like this the first thing that comes to mind is: Greenberg bribbed some bots with GamePass.
The people doing this should be found and banned from owning a game console for the rest of their (miserable) life.
Social media has empowered the worst traits of humanity, and hyper-polorised people to the point where theres little real communication happening. Im now very happy I didnt have kids as I can only see a dark future and its not retrievable at this stage. With only 20 to 30 years left and no investment beyond that, I can at least live my time without the concern about humanities ultimate fate...
Wow, thats dark for games site, but the subject under discussion here is just one facet of how we are destroying ourselves..
Give the developers some time. You’ll get your updates. Resulting to violence is never the answer. This is one of the reasons why people want to ban social media. People say whatever they want and there’s no consequences.
Is just me or do these Spiderman video games get more abuse from weirdo fan boys than average? Or does that the fact it's such a bit IP make it feel that way?
@Ryu_Niiyama Steam alone has hundreds of great games that could run on a potato. I don't get why these people are so obsessed over one game
Irony being the kinda people who are sending such messages are usually hermits who wouldn't say boo to a ghost in the real world
ok..i didn’t see this article until now so i see where @johnnyshoulder is coming from …. but, i ain’t sending no one any death threats or contacting insomniac workers personally.
this is a bad look for us that want more content for the game but are sane individuals 😒
A lot of uninformed people in these comments just regurgitating the same shlock ignorant people say. The reason people do this is pure sadism, the majority of people are sadistic and I don't understand how people still act like all internet trolls are a certain way, you guys act like you can't be a person sending death threats or a serial killer unless you live in a cave or something, nah most of the time it's someone you don't expect.
It's because of harassing a-holes like these that Sony also decided to refrain from making game announcements until very very close to actual launch dates (talking here about their own PS studios IP's)...
Again, the lack of proper legislation and punishment when it comes to abusive and violent online behavior weirs it's ugly head. I wonder how many years (decades?) it will take for things to evolve in this area, and mofos that behave like this can actually be brought to justice.
@Deityjester i agree, but in my defense im only speaking for myself personally. im only sadistic when im angry, this predicament aint something worth being sadistic over.
@theSpectre
That would be nice but it will never happen. Too much money to be made my brother.
Seriously, what the hell is going on? Do people do nothing but play video games to elicit such vitriol? I don't get it. Especially considering how passionate and prolific this studio is
@Kidfried yeah but they didn't know they were going to be hacked
i'm sorry but if you send threats directly to a game developer over a video game, then that's pretty pathetic. its one thing saying things over comments to random people here ( don't do that either though). but some people need to leave their house , a lot more and not be on the internet.
@Shepherd_Tallon jail would also keep them offline.
Any of the ones actually leaving threatening comments and such really just needs their ass beaten and thrown in jail for awhile. These are the type of people where their parents never said no. Their parents never spanked their ass. These people feel entitled just because they were raised that way. This can mean any generation too. Parents in my gen “I’m 48” let their kids do whatever too. I know one who got everything he wanted. Did stupid ***** all time and parents never stopped him. He is in prison for murder as I type. Has been since 1998.
The threats made online you never know who is crazy enough to do what they say. Why I say toss them in jail and beat the ***** out of them few times
I don't think rewarding the behaviour with public acknowledgement is the way to go.
The company's legal department should bring this to the attention of the police.
Though really... just get off twitter or have a private only account. Cmon now... you are putting yourself out there like you are a celebrity. You can protect yourself as well.
@SgtTruth There is a gaming community your are there at the moment and yes they are toxic and annoying.
And if you are getting death threats then yes you have a right to be mad and a dress it.
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