On July 5, 2018, founder Mike O'Brien announced that two game developers, Jessica Price and Peter Fries, had been fired from the company following a heated Twitter exchange with an ArenaNet community member. The decision to fire the developers led to a mixed reaction from fans and others inside the industry. O'Brien stood by the decision to release the two developers, citing that their actions had occurred when they were representing themselves and their opinions as the opinions of the company, and that alienating customers was unacceptable, thus necessitating termination of their employment, though he considered the firing to be 'regrettable' due to the fact that both had made favorable contributions to the company.