Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene and Twitch streamer Dr DisRespect have seemingly made up following a public Twitter spat, which led to Greene becoming a divisive figure in his own game’s community.
Greene, the creator of the extraordinarily popular PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, temporarily banned Dr DisRespect as a result of video footage of the streamer team killing. Dr DisRespect, who has made a name for himself on Twitch for his over-the-top personality and dedication to the testosterone-filled, wig-wearing character he portrays, responded to the ban on Twitter, writing: “If I could do the splits I’d roundhouse kick you in the neck. But since I can’t, I’ll just front kick you in the chest instead. Lightning.”
Though many saw the funny side in Dr DisRespect’s tweet, Greene disagreed with his use of violent language. “Suggesting violence is the best way to solve a disagreement is just wrong, even if you are playing a character,” he replied, promptly leading to a wave of criticisms from the streamer’s fans.
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In response to this controversy, Greene later expanded upon his thoughts, revealing that he was once involved in a violent confrontation in college that led to him being thrown through a plate glass door and hospitalized. Greene added that people should “consider their words,” adding: “Given my experience in college, and the fact that The Doc’s threat, even as a joke, synced up closely to a bad experience I endured, it could have brought up bad memories, triggered a panic attack or had other consequences The Doc might not have intended when composing the tweet.”
However, it now appears that Greene and Dr DisRespect have cleared the air following their spat, with the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds creator meeting up with the streamer at PAX West 2017. Greene posted the two following photos on Twitter, adding that he was basking in the “magnificence” of the popular Twitch streamer:
Though Greene’s initial response to Dr DisRespect may seem fairly innocuous, in reality it kicked off a chain of events that has seen the developer falling out of favor with the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds community ever since. Following the controversy, players of the game once again turned on Greene as a result of his reaction to stream snipers, with him issuing bans to those flagged by streamers. As a result, players instead began to take part in “stream honking,” which saw them following Twitch streamers around the map while honking the horn of their vehicle in order to distract them.
While Greene’s development studio Bluehole doesn’t have a booth at PAX West 2017, he is likely there to promote PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds‘ upcoming release on the Xbox One, along with the new map that was first unveiled during Gamescom 2017.
