Community manager fired after controversial tweets about embattled NBA owner Donald Sterling

Turtle Rock, creator of the Left 4 Dead franchise and the upcoming Xbox One/PS4/PC game Evolve, has fired its community manager after he tweeted about embattled Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, calling him a "victim."

Josh Olin, who formerly worked at League of Legends developer Riot Games and Call of Duty company Treyarch, tweeted the following message last night.

This afternoon, Turtle Rock apologized for Olin's tweets, saying they don't represent the company's values and calling Olin a "former" community manager for the studio.

"The comments made by our former community manager stand in stark contrast to our values as a game development studio," Turtle Rock said on Twitter. "We sincerely apologize for his remarks and in no way endorse or support those views."

For his part, Olin responded with a statement of his own.

"Anyone who follows me knows my tweets were not in support of Sterling's actions. Rather, they were promoting three core tenets I believe in: 1) The harm sensational media presents to society. 2) The importance and sanctity of your privacy within your own home. And 3) The right to be whatever you want to be as an American, as long as it isn't hurting anyone else. That last point not to be confused with condoning Sterling's actions, which I don't," Olin told Kotaku.

"That said, it's disappointing to see that a select few in Turtle Rock and 2K Games management bought into this hysteria without even having a conversation with me--or even thoroughly reviewing the context of the tweets themselves," he added. "Ironically, it serves as a great example of why I hold tenet #1 above so close to heart. That said, everyone should totally still buy Evolve. The guys and gals making that game know their ***, and are making it good."

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com
Filed under: Video Games

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