Diablo 3 director apologizes for Facebook comment, issues statement to fans

Diablo 3 director Jay Wilson has apologized for a harsh comment he made about Blizzard North co-founder David Brevik on Facebook earlier this week.

The whole ordeal occurred earlier this week when Brevik told IncGamers that he had "mixed emotions" towards Diablo 3 and that he was sad that it hasn't quite yet lived up to fan expectations. Wilson who saw the comments, lashed out on Facebook, commenting "F**k that loser."

Upon reflecting on his comments, Wilson has taken to Battle.net, issuing an apology towards Brevik and Diablo fans.

"As many of you probably know, I recently made a comment on Facebook about Dave Brevik," Wilson began. "I want to make it clear that I am very sorry for what I said. 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."

"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 3 team," he explained. "Dave is awesome. In Diablo and Diablo 2, 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 3 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," he added.

Wilson then shifted the focus towards Diablo 3 and the upcoming changes Blizzard has planned for it.

"Regardless of how I've done, my team has been more than good enough, and I'm proud of the game we made together. We believe it's a great game. But Diablo 3 has flaws," Wilson admitted. "It is not perfect. Sales mean nothing if the game doesn’t live on in all of our hearts, and standing by our games is what Blizzard does. Patch 1.0.4 is a step in the right direction, but we have no illusions that our work is done."

In the post, which can be viewed here, Wilson also opened up about about the reasoning behind some of the original decisions and spoke candidly about some of the more difficult issues, most notably the game difficulty, end-game item hunt, and Auction House.

"We made Diablo 3 because we believe in the Diablo games. We think the gameplay is awesome, the world is compelling, and it's the game we all wanted to play. Because we believe in it, we'll continue to stand by it and make it better," he said. "We are committed to making Diablo 3 the best Diablo game to date, and we hope you'll continue to help us do just that."

"Saying that, I'd like to apologize to all of you, the players in our community. You deserve better than my reaction to Dave's comments. You deserve more honest communication about the game and what we're doing to make it a more awesome experience for us all," Wilson concluded. "We care about Diablo very much, and appreciate your passion for it. Without you, we wouldn't be able to do this, and for that I can't thank you enough."

The Diablo 3 fans, in general, seemed very receptive to the apology as they should be. The focus should be on the future of Diablo 3 and how Wilson and the team can make it better.

In all honesty, what was said on Facebook was between Jay and his friends/co-workers. It was meant to be private. While I'm not condoning what he said, it's clear his response was out of passion for the game and his team's work. He just let his emotions get the best of him and made a mistake that happened to go public. That just goes to show you, be careful what you say on the Internet.