Earlier this week, Diablo III game director Jay Wilson lashed out at
Diablo I and II maker David Brevik after stating his mixed emotions regarding Diablo III.
After countless threads appeared on the forums regarding the drama, Wilson has issued a public statement in response to his out of hand comment.
“As many of you probably know, I recently made a comment on Facebook about Dave Brevik. I want to make it clear that I am very sorry for what I said,” Wilson states.
“I have higher expectations for myself than to express my feelings in such a rash way and disrespect a fellow developer like Dave, someone who deserves to be treated with greater respect.”
Whether the apology is sincere or a typical act of corporate damage control, we'll let you decide.
He goes on to explain:
What I said was expressed out of anger, and in defense of my team and the game. People can say what they want about me, but I don't take lightly when they disparage the commitment and passion of the Diablo III team. Dave is awesome. In Diablo and Diablo II, he made two of the games that have most affected me as a developer. I respect his vision for Diablo, but just like he said in his interview, the Diablo III team must drive a vision for the game that is true to us. We believe in Diablo and have stuck by it through years of hard development to make it a reality. The foundation of the Diablo team was built from the remnants of Blizzard North: Our lead programmer, who built the basis of the Diablo III engine while at Blizzard North; our lead tech artist, who drove much of the combat visuals, FX, and skill direction of our classes and is one of the most avid Diablo II players you can find; our lead concept artist, who helped establish the core look of the game; Wyatt Cheng, our senior technical game designer, who writes many of our blogs and works tirelessly on the live game. All these people and many others made the commitment to Diablo even after Blizzard North shut down. It was hard for me to see their contributions be diminished by someone they worked alongside, and even harder for me not to try to jump to their defense. I only wish I'd done so in a more professional manner.
Within 20 hours of its initial post, the thread has already reached 80 pages of mixed replies, some coming to Jay's defense and others with torches and pitchforks. Even now, most comments agree Wilson has taken Brevik's mild criticisms of the game far too personally, especially since his comments lined up with a majority of the Diablo III community.
Alongside his public apology, Wilson also discusses his personal connection to the franchise and the team's goals for the future of the title. To read the whole statement, head on over to the forum posting here. What are your thoughts on the whole debacle? Has Wilson and his team taken a step in the right direction with the recent 1.0.4 patch?
