Marvel’s Avengers Lead Designer Dropped as Studio Spokesman Over Controversial Tweets

Marvel’s Avengers game lead designer Brian Waggoner has been dropped as Crystal Dynamics spokesman and has been barred from communicating about studio projects after a number of controversial tweets surfaced over the weekend. Although the tweets in question were written prior to Waggoner’s appointment at Crystal Dynamics, some Twitter users have noted that his recent exchanges have also been pretty unsavory. Nevertheless, Crystal Dynamics has not terminated Waggoner’s employment.

Marvel’s Avengers game lead issues apology

The tweets in question were written between 2010 and 2017, a collection of which is available on ResetEra. Waggoner made distasteful jokes about the Special Olympics, claimed he’s not racist because “he owns a colored TV,” and decried “leftist bigots,” among an assortment of other things. As soon as the tweets made rounds, Waggoner issued the following apology:

“It’s incredibly disappointing to see language & views from employees that don’t align with our studio values,” Crystal Dynamics said in its own statement. “We apologize to our community & coworkers who are rightfully upset by the content.” The studio added that Waggoner will no longer be a spokesperson and will not be communicating about any projects.

In other words, Waggoner won’t be in the public eye.