I don't think its having a different opinion necessarily. He's shitposting on an account where the dev company is in his profile. I assume he has probably tweeted about the game and stuff before, so even if it isn't a work related account, it still looks that way to everyone else. If you're posting stuff anonymously and people find out it is you, then you maybe could make an argument in your favour.
This is stupid though and it should really be no surprise to him.
on an account where the dev company is in his profile
That does complicate the issue, and provide some justification.
But I do feel that a persons personal life should be off limits to the employer.
I don't think its having a different opinion necessarily
In this case, we lack the information to know, but do you think he'd have lost his job if he'd been spouting Liberal ideas? I don't know, but I doubt it.
And in other somewhat related incidents, opinion does matter. IE Google, and most academic positions. You can say/post radical left, but you'll get fired for moderate right.
This is stupid though and it should really be no surprise to him.
I can agree on that. There's stupid all around in this one. Nobody is going to emerge from this in a better position. Programmer lost his job, and the company is gonna lose sales.
As is often the case, the only winners are the reporters and lawyers.
I expect it. I know I'll be disappointed, but I feel a persons off duty actions have no relation to their job, and should not be held against them.
But that is an opinion that is not supported by any law.
Which leads me to my main point, how can anyone consider themselves a competent professional in the computer industry, but not understand the dangers of having a facebook account? And the even bigger danger of having a political opinion that is not the same as your boss.
People who still see no issues with using their real name and identity on the internet are retards.