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Code Avarice developer Mike Maulbeck has resigned following death threats he made over Twitter against Valve boss Gabe Newell.
Earlier this week the indie posted a series of angry tweets after Valve listed Paranautical Activity as available in Early Access during a store promotion, when it had been given a full release. In one of those statements, he said “I’m going to kill Gabe Newell. He is going to die”.
Maulbeck has now posted an apology on the developer’s website, branding his comments “completely unacceptable” and accepting full responsibility for his actions.
As well as resigning, Maulbeck has sold his half of the company and given up all his rights to its IP.
You can read his full statement below.
“Yesterday, Paranautical Activity released out of steam Early Access, and following some confusion about the state of the game I became frustrated with Steam, and tweeted a series of angry tweets that ended in me sarcastically saying I was going to kill Gabe Newell. A statement I obviously didn’t mean but was regardless completely unacceptable.
“As a result of my actions, Paranautical Activity, a game made by four or five people depending on who you count as team members, was removed from Steam. I feel is it my responsibility to step down from Code Avarice completely so that Steam has no reason to harbour any more ill will towards the company, and maybe even if we can’t see Paranautical Activity restored, at least future Code Avarice games may be allowed onto the platform.
“I’m really, deeply sorry that my short sighted, hot tempered actions resulted in not only my own dreams and aspirations being destroyed, but those of the entire team I worked with. I’m sorry that my statements made Valve and/or Gabe uncomfortable and upset (rightfully so).
“My temper and tendency to use Twitter to vent has been a consistent problem since I entered the games industry, and I just can’t do it. I don’t have the willpower necessary to be the “face” of a company. If I do continue to work in games it’ll be as an anonymous 1 of 1000 at some shitty corporation, not the most public figure of a single digit sized team.
“I’ve sold my half of Code Avarice to Travis. Given up all my rights to CA as a company, and all it’s intellectual properties. I won’t receive any money from the sale of Paranautical Activity or any future games CA develops, I won’t be consulted on business decisions, and I won’t have any hand in development.
“I’m out.”
