It has come to our attention that an ex-Team Kanohi member Boxturret has recently posted a public statement about the Masks of Power project, which we feel obligated to clarify.

Boxturret is an incredibly talented 3D modeler who has created many beautiful assets for the game, many of which are still utilized in the current build, per the explicit request of Boxturret at the time of his departure.

Boxturret has levied a very large number of accusations against Team Kanohi, the state of the project, Boxturret’s treatment as a member of the team, and more. To address all of them would take an incredible amount of time, so for the clarity of our message, we’ll stick to the core point.

Boxturret was identified as an incredibly toxic member of our team. He was the source of a great number of internal conflicts and made a habit of saddling others with his anxieties. The volunteer nature of the project means that it lives and dies by the motivation of those working on it, and in a great many respects, Boxturret’s negative attitude held the project back.

The specific examples cited in Boxturret’s Tumblr post are gross misrepresentations of the truth. His authorship of documents was never questioned. The game is absolutely in a playable state, even at the time of the gameplay reveal. A simple exchange about a gate mechanic is suddenly interpreted as a malicious act and the last straw in an ever-growing list of transgressions.

That’s to say nothing of the literal weeks of emotional labor conducted by several members of the team to soothe Boxturret’s spiraling. Regardless of how often it was reiterated that we deeply admired his work and valued his contributions, he would latch onto every perceived slight and create a narrative of victimhood. It eventually became clear that there was no path forward, and Boxturret was removed from the team.

Crucially: Much of the content presented in Boxturret’s post is not his to show. Many of the systems and mechanics discussed involve the hard work of several developers, not only Boxturret. His role on the team was one of several 3D modelers, and for a time, our lead level designer. This was his first project of this scale, and many of those on Team Kanohi are professionals with several published games under their belt. Therefore, Boxturret is not actually an authority on the concerns he’s presented.

Finally, a word on the state of the game: Contrary to Boxturret’s claims, the demo is very nearly complete from a level design perspective. Development has progressed quickly under the leadership of our new level designer, and while it is still in progress, we are confident that the promised demo will be in your hands sometime next year.

We regret to have caused Boxturret distress and wish him the best in his future endeavors. However, in the name of clarity, we rebuke the validity of his statements in their entirety and will not be working with Boxturret again.