Mortal Kombat X Producer Leaves Twitter Thanks To Disgusting Rape Tweets

He received a string of messages from users who threatened to assault his daughter and wife.

A producer on one of the year's most anticipated games, Mortal Kombat X, has left Twitter because trolls peppered him with a number of disgusting messages, threatening his wife and young daughter with sexual violence. Shaun Himmerick used his account on a regular basis to chat with fans, but those interactions took a dark turn after "random" abuse turned into something more personal.

He followed that post up with an explanation as to why he was taking a step back from tweeting:
Fans asking for characters or hints or whatever, that is passion and love for Mortal Kombat and I also have that. No problem. I used to be thick skinned enough for the random personal attacks. I'm a big boy I can handle it. I've been in my share of fights. However, I cannot deal with the threats of violence to my wife and now young daughter. Threats of sexual violence are even more disturbing.
The account is still active; Himmerick is apparently retweeting content, as his last post was someone's reaction to last night's WrestleMania. But he hasn't written anything or responded to any comments for three days and shows no signs of doing so. Himmerick started as an employee for the now-defunct Midway back in 2000. He has since been involved with the Mortal Kombat series for over a decade, working as part of the team who produced Shaolin Monks in 2005. He's not the first game industry professional to leave Twitter after receiving a ton of abuse. There is a long list of people who felt forced out of social media, simply because they felt intimidated by messages they were receiving. In one particularly extreme example last year, game developer Brianna Wu was forced to leave her home after a Twitter user sent a series of vile messages, threatening to rape and kill her. He then said "I know where you live" and posted her home address.

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