Drama erupted in the PokeRogue community after a senior dev resigned earlier this week, with community members and outsiders alike accusing the game’s developers and mods of transphobic comments and policies.

Samuel “FlashfyreDev”’s firing on May 16 came as a shock after the title became an overnight viral sensation. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the developer gave his various reasons for stepping down, citing “scope creep” and saying that “a project like this is ultimately incompatible with my intended path in life,” and that he wanted to focus more on his family and faith than on a fangame.

Community members immediately began discussing the announcement, and a firestorm of controversy engulfed the Pokémon fangame and its developer. Receipts posted by a user on X on May 17 reportedly showed a conversation between Sam and another Discord user. They included comments in which FlashfyreDev said he was “far from pro-trans” due to his “biblical worldview.”

A statement from the official PokeRogue Discord, produced by moderator Lost In Thought on May 17, explained how fans could expect to interact with the official community space going forward. This was written in response to Sam's revealed comments, which reportedly "do not speak for [the remaining PokeRogue developers] as a community."