Phil Fish Locks Twitter Account, Fez II "Cancelled"

After years of saying things that have gotten him in heat, Fish has locked his twitter account. But not before sharing one last tweet.

"Fez II is canceled."

[GraveLord]

And not a single **** was given.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Really? You didn't enjoy Fez?

Marcus Beer's video was - in every sense of the term - an entitled b**** fit.

"Hey indie devs, please comment on this rumor from another site. Please please please"

And then Fish actually gave his opinion (we have the article up on N4G already) and yet the video still gets made? Jonathan Blow also got panned for simply saying "hey journalists. Be journalists. Follow up on leads and dig for details instead of emailing indie devs to do your job for you".

Not saying Fish is a saint (he isn't) but game journalism needs to die in a fire if they think it's professional to ask an indie dev (not Sony? not Santa Monica? not Yoshida on his own twitter?) about a hardware rumor.

[iamnsuperman]

What Marcus did was wrong and he should be criticised for it (the immature way not the message) but it doesn't mean comments like "kill yourself" are needed or acceptable. Those developers, equally, need to go

On the Marcus comment things: He had a point though. It was rude what Fish said when journalists asked about the RAM thing. A simple no comment would have done (like every other developer did).Big companies do not answer these types of questions and being a developer in the industry with the fame you create yourself gets you the consequence of being famous. It is part of being a developer. Now you can be a developer who doesn't speak to anyone (don't have social media pages then/have restricted ones)

[matgrowcott]

"Not saying Fish is a saint (he isn't) but game journalism needs to die in a fire if they think it's professional to ask an indie dev (not Sony? not Santa Monica? not Yoshida on his own twitter?) about a hardware rumor."

You have no idea how games journalism works or, I suspect, journalism as a whole.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Please mattgrowcott, enlighten us. What is journalism? Is true journalism trawling Twitter for quotes? How about publicly humiliating two indie devs simply because those devs correctly called out the lazy and amateur practices of most game blogg...ers, "journalists"?

Since you're the one who submitted and wrote the article, I'm sure you feel personally offended when I say Fish and Blow were right in what they said? And - just like Fish - you have to personally insult me instead of making a valid retort? How silly.

[matgrowcott]

@Dedicated

"Is true journalism trawling Twitter for quotes?"

If that's where the stories are. Journalism is and always will be about stories that interest people. I'll tell you one thing for nothing: you won't get those stories from Microsoft or Sony.

But don't worry, most major publications are far trashier than games journalists. I could show you things that would make you never buy a paper again.

"How about publicly humiliating two indie devs simply because those devs correctly called out the lazy and amateur practices of most game blogg...ers, "journalists"?"

I'm not defending the guy that called them out. But hey, if you're going to be outspoken on a subject, expect people to ask for your opinion when new developments happen within that subject.

Don't want to become a spokesperson for an anti-Microsoft movement? Shut your mouth.

"Since you're the one who submitted and wrote the article, I'm sure you feel personally offended when I say Fish and Blow were right in what they said?"

Not at all. You're welcome to your opinion.

But your opinion is based on massive presumptions to do with a subject you know nothing about. I didn't feel the need to go into detail, either in my last post or in this, because you're the sort of person that would rather complain about "blogg...journalists& quot ; than actually understand that we write for an audience.

And since you're here, commenting on my Phil Fish news piece, and not on my 2500 word analysis of the history behind Assassin's Creed IV, I'm guessing you're part of that audience that just loves the trashy stories.

---

And because we journalists love to trick decent people like yourself onto our dens of horror - where we bully indie developers into doing terrible, terrible things - I'll even link my Assassin's Creed story.

http://www.gamesreviews.com...

Fun times.

[Jockamo]

jesus phil fish, get a fkin pr manager will ya

[nukeitall]

@dedicatedtogamers:

Ironically, journalist were following up on leads and finding creative ways to ask for information. Don't have it, or don't want to give it, then just shut the f*** up!

Don't need to be an @sshat about it!

It's like you asking nicely if you have some information, and have the guy snap at you and tell you to do your job!

Is that polite or even nice?

Is it a co-incidence that these two @sshats are both starred in that Indie Game: The Movie. They are definitely giving indies a bad reputation!

[Gamer1982]

Not surprised Fez II is cancelled MS nearly bankrupted the guy charging so much for updating the game. He openly came out and said so. So nearly every penny he made from the game was put back into it just to fix game breaking bugs.

One of the many reasons MS destroys video games.

I am aware they changed it now but too little too late the damage has been done.

[TekoIie]

@dedicatedtogamers

"Not saying Fish is a saint (he isn't) but game journalism needs to die in a fire if they think it's professional to ask an indie dev (not Sony? not Santa Monica? not Yoshida on his own twitter?) about a hardware rumor."

I actually want to ask for your opinion on Adam Orth now. I dont think you'll be able to give one that doesnt scream irony.

[dedicatedtogamers]

@ matgrowcott

"you're making massive presumptions"
and then one line later
"you know nothing about journalism"

Do you see the irony there? I've freelanced for several sites for the past three years now, including taking over a now-defunct site called Dedicated to Gamers (you can check my submission list to verify).

But yeah. Go ahead and get personally offended. Sorry that I commented on your article.

@ Pekolie

Adam Orth was a saint. Incredibly rude, but a saint nonetheless. If it wasn't for him spilling the beans and getting the rage-wagon started a few months early, the Xbox One might still have DRM and 24-hour check-ins.

[matgrowcott]

Apparently you don't know anything about irony either. Those statements aren't mutually exclusive. Everything you've said proves you know nothing about journalism. That's not even a presumption, let alone a massive one.

I don't really see how your running a site, or even writing for a few sites - voluntarily I'm guessing, but that's just a presumption ;) - makes you feel you "know" the industry, or even the small chunk dedicated to gaming.

[dedicatedtogamers]

@ matgrowcott

So what you're saying is "I'm allowed to make presumptions and rash generalizations, but you aren't, and when you call me out on it, I'm going to keep repeating that you don't know anything about game journalism. That'll win the argument"

Please. Stop.

[matgrowcott]

Not at all.

You said something that openly displays a lack of knowledge about journalism. I'm not the only person that called you out on it.

The burden of proof isn't on me. You've said "I KNOW ALL ABOUT JOURNALISM" and have so far done nothing but prove the opposite. Instead, you just repeat "you're presuming, you're presuming."

No. I'm acting on the information you've given me. Want to prove my "presumptions" wrong? Go ahead. You have the floor, sir.

[dedicatedtogamers]

@matgrowcott

Wow. still won't let it go?

Okay, in my original statement I said "if games journalism thinks it's professional to ask an indie dev about a hardware rumor, it needs to go die in a fire".

To which you replied "You have no idea how games journalism works or, I suspect, journalism as a whole."

No explanation. Just an arrogant blanket statement.

Next, I say "okay, what is proper journalism? Maybe you should explain instead of personally insulting me"

Your reply?

"But your opinion is based on massive presumptions to do with a subject you know nothing about."

A snooty comment from your high horse. Oh, YOU wouldn't understand what WE journalists have to put up with.

To which I reply "hey man, I'm making massive presumptions? Look in the mirror. I've played this game before and have written for the last three years", which is simple proof that this subject that "I know nothing about" is actually something I do know something about.

Your reply?

"W-well then you don't REALLY know about journalism. Everything you've said proves it"

Proves what? You still haven't shown anything I've said that 'proves' I know absolutely nothing about journalism, and in the meanwhile your accusation that I know nothing was quietly debunked when I told you that I have, in fact, worked in game journalism. Is your reply really "b-b-but that's not REAL journalism, because...I say so"? C'mon man. If you really think you know what you're talking about, take the first opportunity to actually, you know, "enlighten us" about true journalism like I asked you over 4 hours ago.

Lastly, you 'prove' that you 'know nothing' about logical debate. The burden of proof is not on me in the least. I stated an opinion, you said 'you're wrong'. I asked for explanations. You said 'LOL obviously you know nothing about journalism'. I've already demonstrated that I have worked in game journalism before. You have demonstrated that you're fond of high-school level debate terms like 'burden of proof' when you have 'proven yourself' to not understand them. In this argument you have asserted yourself as the authority on what is journalism without going into any detail whatsoever. I believe, friend, that the burden of proof is on you.

[matgrowcott]

I explained second comment why you know nothing about journalism.

"I didn't feel the need to go into detail, either in my last post or in this, because you're the sort of person that would rather complain about "blogg...journalists& quot ; than actually understand that we write for an audience.

"And since you're here, commenting on my Phil Fish news piece, and not on my 2500 word analysis of the history behind Assassin's Creed IV, I'm guessing you're part of that audience that just loves the trashy stories."

That you think members of the press shouldn't contact people who speak and speak often on a topic tells me you know nothing about journalism. This is especially funny considering the constant interest in their opinions on the Xbox One up until this point.

That you think Sony, Santa Monica or Yoshida would reply to something like this tells me you know nothing about journalism.

That you think games journalists can just "follow leads," like a 1950s private dick film, tells me you have very little experience actually writing news. That says a lot about your freelance work, but as an attempt not to turn this into a complete slinging match, we'll leave it at that.

That you are happy to support developers who openly abuse the press, only to run it down when it doesn't work their way, tells me you know nothing about journalism.

That you would focus on games journalism with something like this, when there's not a single area of the press that isn't ten times worse than the gaming press, tells me you don't know much about journalism.

This, by the way, is all from your first post.

More than that, I openly asked you why you felt running a site - a site that had a whole 63 likes on Facebook; great job there - gave you the feeling you could talk as somebody with experience of games journalism, and you ignored the question.

Now I'm out of bubbles, so no doubt you'll jump in to have the last word. Have fun with that.

[Qrphe]

Video game journalism is hardly journalism. Journalism is pretty pathetic in this industry.

[SonyWarrior]

i dont support any indie games. Its full of a bunch of people like him who are tring to get rich quick scheme. Low quality simple games. Most of these "indie" games used to be free untill this whole "indie" sene opened up now every body even kids with there first game try to make a buck off it and release it as a "indie"...

[admiralvic]

@ DedicatedtoGames

I never liked the term "Game Journalists", since there is very little "journalism" involved (it's pretty much an offshoot of marketing mixed in with very light research). However, a lot of people do sketchy / unethical things to get a scoop or will try to find crafty ways to get the information they're looking for. No matter how you feel about this or any of the matters surrounding this, Phil Fish had the right now to answer or decline to comment, yet he instead choose this. This are the type of stories that people are interested in (look at the sources, degrees, comments, and follow ups...), thus their mission was accomplished.

@ Qrphe

Like I said, it's basically game marketing. You can do all the research in the world and most articles are just marketing.

@ SonyWarrior

That's a terrible mentality. A lot of these companies have fine / decent people that love games and are trying to make a living off of it. Of course there are going to be some bad apples, but some companies like The Behemoth should be respected.

[Bimkoblerutso]

Neither party handled this situation with any amount of civility or grace, whether it was the journalist that was just "doing his job" in the scummiest way possible, or Fish acting like social media has the power to force him to say things.

There's no need for gamers to choose a side in this instance. It's just a sad turn of events altogether.

@Matgrowcott

It would be nice if you did not confuse the way things ARE in journalism with the way things SHOULD be done. That's straight up Richard Nixon stuff, right there. If succeeding in journalism these days constitutes beating and battering developers into divulging otherwise unreleased information, then I would have to say, that alone goes a long way in validating what Dedicatedtogamers was alluding to. It may be the way things are done, but that does not make it anymore ethical or right.

[nukeitall]

I just can't stop laughing at the response.

How old is blowfish? Is he 15, because he sure acts like one.

blowfish thinks: "I'm upset, so I'm gonna take away this game and you will be in a world of hurt! Yeah, I'm that important. take that!"

reality: "nobody gives two sh!ts and there are plenty other indie games to play then Fez 2"

ROFL!

[nukeitall]

@GEO9875:

Oh, I'm sorry. I was being insensitive to the 15 year old crowd. Not every 15 year old is immature, like blowfish!

:D

Seriously, no insult intended toward teenagers.

[cyguration]

You should have lowered the age threshold to 12... that seems to be the average age of full-retard on Call of Duty. Fish would fit right in.

[GameCents]

Well, looks like Fez II won't make it to Xbox One after all.

[SilentNegotiator]

Riiiiight. No one cares about Fez or seeing it get a sequel. /s

[Kingdom Come]

Well said, as I stated in another article, he can only blame himself. He seeks attention, complains when he receives it, criticises and belittles Marcus Beer for critiquing his complaints and then tells him to kill himself.

Phil Fish is pathetic. A troll and an embarrassment to the gaming industry, and, even in departing he bows out melodramatically. He'll be back, but for the meantime, good riddance. I don't condone Marcus' language in "Invisible Walls", but he was correct.

The Indie Market will survive Phil's departure, afterall, there's plenty more Fish in the sea...

[MEsoJD]

I never played Fez because Phil Fish is a douche. I have no fucks about him the sequel being cancelled.

[caseh]

Shouldn't rule out a game just because you think a dev is a douche. Imagine if one of the devs at Naughty Dog had an attitude on them, you would end up missing out on games like Uncharted and The Last Of Us.

Fez was a fun game, you're only punishing yourself really. :)

[MEsoJD]

@caseh

We all have our standards.

[PopRocks359]

Shame. The man gets a lot more heat than he deserves, I feel. I think he's just really poorly spoken. Too awkward to make his messages clear, you know?

Hopefully he can buckle down and get a grip on things. It would be a shame if he really never finishes his next game.

@matgrowcott

I get what you mean, but Fish is nothing like Blezinski. He's not the jock type with the job to end all jobs and an ego to match. Phil Fish is, for all accounts and purposes (as well as with all due respect), a nerd. A nerd who clearly has his views on things but doesn't quite know how to properly convey them. He's a great video game designer because he possesses incredible skill in that field, but he seemingly lacks people skills.

A lot of people flipped out when he told a Japanese man "your games suck" because they thought he was being prejudice against the Japanese. I don't think that's what he wanted to say at all; I think he wanted to say what other Japanese developers like Keiji Inafune have said, how Japanese game development has dwindled in recent years and how western development has seemingly overtaken the market.

[matgrowcott]

I think he's pulling a bit of an early-gen Cliffie B.

It's awesome to be angry and outspoken when everybody is laughing along and agreeing, but you take it too far and suddenly "the media misquote me and gamers just don't understand!!"

@Pop

I agree that it's a different persona, but it's still comes to the same thing.

They know they can say what they want, and that they've created enough of a character around themselves that people care.

Nobody is rushing to ask FuturLab or Mediatonic their opinion on the X1 turnaround. They go to people that have previously trashed the console and say "now things have changed, what do you think?"

Both Blow and Fish have put themselves in that position.

[majiebeast]

Blowfish has some serious diva syndrome.

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

If things pissed him off so much then why not just log off for a while and go outside? The internet isn't the be all and end all.

[majiebeast]

Meltdowns on twitter have become pretty daily dose at this point.

Either be like @yosp(Shuhei Yoshida) calm and collected even if you get asked the stupidest questions, or be like so many other developers/industry folk and not have twitter at all, to prevent these crazy meltdowns. I bet Adam Orth wishes he never used Twitter.

Twitter ruining carreer's since 2006.

[Godmars290]

At least you can't say there aren't any passionate artist still around.

Or douchebags. Either one.

[Redgehammer]

I think this is the first time I have ever agreed with you.

[Godmars290]

I'll attempt to avoid such a mistake in the future?

[Redgehammer]

LOL
Please by all means. N4G seems to thrive on the adversarial dialogue amongst its users. And who are we to interrupt such a "beautiful" arrangement. That being noted, I apologize for the agree?

[GameCents]

Aww. Get a room you guys. Hehehe.
Reminds me of me and my stalker Hicken. Think he's the one tracking me. He's so adorable.

[OhMyGandhi]

This guy has to stop acting like an angsty pre-teen.

[coolasj]

When you have a guy who's easily provoked, or provoked constantly, you don't keep doing it. Whoever it is, they break.

[jimmywolf]

when you base your career in a public industry, were you get questioned a lot an told things with good, bad, stupid, smart, insulting, attitude. their will be times you need too take it an smile. not only when your having a good day

[coolasj]

I do think he could have easily avoided the attention. But, I also think you severely underestimate just how much crap he probably shifts through. It would break good.

[aviator189]

I honestly dug fez and I do hope he gets to make whatever game he wants, but he just needs to funnel his feelings to the public in a more...controlled manner.

But I am curious as to whether it was financial problems or public reactions from his messages (or a mix of both) that made him cancel plans for fez 2. However, his expression that he's 'done' makes it seem that the latter had more to do with it.

[OhMyGandhi]

I never would have expected such a troubled person, as Fez is a colorful, adorable little puzzle platformer. It's like if Shigeru Miyamoto turned out to be an arrogant, irritable wifebeater who publicly berates anyone who gives him even the slightest indication of "the stink eye".

I expect the hostility from someone like David Firth, creator of Salad Fingers, or David Jaffe with his mature titles, but Fish has some issues.

He needs to get off twitter, let someone else handle the marketing and announcements, and make the games without spouting off nonsense.

And yes, it would be smart for someone to take the high road, and ignore the comments from those trying to get a rise of you, but Fish simply has to have the last word, no matter what, and that's precisely what has gotten him into so much trouble.

[Game4life]

but when david jeffe is hostile, he's more funny hostile than anything. he's just the kinda person to cuse alot

[4logpc]

Probably for the best.

It seems like this guy is so unstable mentally.

He gives a lot of indies a bad image.

[Faztkiller]

I don't understand why people give him such a hard time. I like that he says what he thinks I hate when people hold stuff back.

[OhMyGandhi]

So, him saying for someone to "kill themselves", that they are "leeches", and that he is far more successful then "they will ever be"...is a comment that you find commendable?

[Yodagamer]

The hypocritical thing about his statement about being better than others is he often talked crap about those far more successful than him.

[Faztkiller]

I just think this stuff gets blown out of proportions.

[gamertk421]

Haha, when you spew bile, no one likes it. Kind of reminds me of the pseudo-cyborg from Grandma's Boy.

He just took his toys and went home.

[frostyhat123]

After watching Indie Game the movie, I thought he was a pretentious moron. He just keeps proving that notion.

[Tewi-Inaba]

That idiot can't even spell cancelled right

[aviator189]

I don't much prefer listening to fish on the topics he touches, but you can actually use 'canceled' and 'cancelled' almost interchangeably as different countries and regions prefer one or the other and the term 'canceled' is actually gaining more traction in recent years.

[iXenon]

It can go both ways.

[kewlkat007]

Who was this guy?

[lastofgen]

the guy who developed fez who has issues in communications and anger.

[Lionalliance]

He really has some anger issues.

[V0LT]

Good! Don't let the door hit you on the way out! It saddens me people actually purchased Fez knowing the history of this guy.

[Trago1337]

Wow, this is crazy.

[Ksar]

Finally !

[Novistador]

Someone make a Twitter account CryBabyPhilFish. Also yeah Fez was good, but SOMEHOW i think the world of gaming will survive without Fez 2.

[lizard81288]

it would have taken him 10 years to finish Fez II anyways.

[NYC_Gamer]

I can't support any developer who acts this extreme/throw childish fits on social networks

[MajorLazer]

Twitter will be the death of society

[killswitchmad]

As much as I enjoyed Fez I have to admit the Phil Fish is a complete t**t!

He overreacts to every bit if criticism thrown at him and just cannot handle the stress this industry throws at people, you would think that after everything he's been through he would have hardened to a degree.

And cancelling Fez II is nothing but damage to himself, the world won't come to a stand still just because he has cancelled it, even so the game buying public shouldn't have to suffer because if his emotional state...

It's the simple principle of not bringing your emotions to work...

[GentlemenRUs]

I lol'd.

Childish much?

[windblowsagain]

Don't know the game.

Sounds like an idiot.

[rextraordinaire]

That's a bad timing, not enough hype was built around FEZ 2 for it's cancellation to have any impact...

Seriously, who cares that FEZ 2 is cancelled? Did Fish even release one screenshot of that hypothetical sequel to FEZ 1?

That comes off as highly immature.

[pop-voxuli]

Awww DAMN, a game I wasn't gonna buy got canceled!!

[turgore]

This guy needs to get laid.

[Benjammin25]

What a little baby. Throws a massive hissy fit, and now he's like "Now none of you get to play my game." Um...am I supposed to give a shit. I never thought FEZ needed a sequel anyway. He's bluffing anyways. There's no way after all the money he's put into FEZ 2, that's he's just going to cancel it because of what happened today. He's the only one who loses out if this is true.

[shadowst17]

Shame, he is talented but he has a huge stick up his ass.

[MegaLagann]

It appears that Fish has indeed "choked" on it.

[Sketchy_Galore]

I don't even feel right laughing at this guy the more I hear from him. He sounds like he has some genuine mental/emotional problems.

[annus]

That's probably what getting screwed around making a basic game for 5 years while constantly having on going problems with the creators/publishers cause.

[fsfsxii]

"One less to worry about"

[kingmushroom]

......

[jaixvx]

I think calling him blowjob would've way more offensive then blowfish. haha.

[Tyre]

Well that's just mighty F'd...i F'ing love Fez and was anticipating Fez II. Fish...come on man? WTF!! Fez is Freakin awesome. Ignore those F'd journalist. Seriously i'd rather have good game developer with a bad temper than all the journalists in the world. F'd man i really wanted to play Fez II. Change your mind Fish! There are lots of people that can see through all the hate sheeples and see your game for what it is: F'ing Awesome... Loved every bit of it, keep making games dude!

[Tyre]

There ain't no Magic in a breakdown baby...Do you gamers/journalists realise how hard it is to create a game like Fez? Apparantly not. The journalists should be ashamed. Fish tells people how it is..do you know how much BS he has to endure? Who the F cares if he's a little full of himself? This happens to be the case with creative people and it might serve us to help him make better games. Since when do we gamers & journalists act as like moralist and get all whiny about a harmless indie dev that can do no harm but create a game like Fez. Fez is one of the few indie Gems that deserve praise. I don't give a F how he behaves. Everybody should forget this ever happened. Everybody should at least play Fez unbiased. It is a lovely game and says a lot more about who Fish really is. I hope to God he stills continues with Fez II. I was anticipating it. Who cares about the personalities of developers If their games are good? Cliffy B much? I don't like him either but i have played and like all the games he was involved in. Game Journalists ARE parasites that amount to nothing but trying to be cool. They went to far and Phil acted justifiable. Why attack game developers? Attack a company like MS who almost killed our hobby. They can do a lot of harm instead of an indie developer that happens to have a temper.

[AO1JMM]

Don't let the door hit you where the...... well you know the rest.

:P

[CrossingEden]

this guy is like the hideki kamiya of indie games

[Father Murder X]

Why do these indie guys think so much of themselves?

[Parasyte]

What I find funny about this whole situation, and I'm not saying what Phil Fish did was right, is the quote he used, "compare my life to yours and then kill yourself" is a Bender quote from Futurama.

[Mkai28]

"Cancelled "? Lol.

[modesign]

what the hell is FEZ. and who the hell is Fish. i saw he is leaving the gaming industry. i hope he likes flipping burgers at mcdonalds.

[SylviaHouston3]

on a side note.. anyone tried out this http://goo.gl/rlkw8 ?...it looks like you can make some fast cash using google