Ready or Not Developer Fires Community Manager After Controversial Charlie Kirk Comments
VOID Interactive, the studio behind the tactical shooter Ready or Not, has announced that it has terminated its relationship with its long-time Community Manager, known as Kaminsky, after comments made on the game’s official Discord server regarding the recent murder of Charlie Kirk.
The controversy began when a community member asked about adding Charlie Kirk to the list of banned words on the Ready or Not Discord. Kaminsky responded:
“I just did Charlie. Funny you mention that because me and my roommate are literally just talking about him getting shot. All I have to say is: Nothing of value was lost.”
The remark, which appeared to make light of Kirk’s death, sparked immediate outrage among players and community members.
VOID Interactive quickly addressed the backlash, releasing an official statement on X:
“We are aware of comments made by our community manager about a recent tragic event. These statements do not reflect our values or represent our company. We have ended our relationship with this individual and reminded our team of the responsibility we all share when communicating on public platforms. Our focus remains on fostering a respectful and professional community around Ready or Not.”
The studio emphasized that such remarks did not align with its values, reiterating its commitment to maintaining professionalism and respect in its community spaces.
— VOID Interactive (@VOIDInteractive) September 19, 2025
VOID Interactive has weathered several controversies in the past:
2021 – Publisher Split with Team17: Originally set to publish Ready or Not, Team17 parted ways with VOID Interactive. While speculation suggested this was tied to a teased school shooting level, VOID Interactive denied any direct connection.
2022 – Steam Delisting: On June 16, Ready or Not was suddenly delisted from Steam after a takedown request, reportedly due to a nightclub level named Pryzm, which shared its name with a UK nightclub chain. The game returned to Steam two days later.
Despite these issues, the game has continued to thrive.
Ready or Not has proven to be a commercial hit. Recently, the title launched on consoles and sold over three million copies in under eight weeks. Across both PC and console platforms, the game has now surpassed 13 million copies sold worldwide.
What do you think - will controversies like this impact VOID Interactive’s reputation long-term, or will the studio’s continued commercial success outweigh them?
