Non-RPG General News - Chris Avellone responds to Accusations in 2020

CRPG designer and writer Chris Avellone responds to accusations made by women named Karissa and Kelly on Twitter in 2020:

It's Come To This

I’m Chris Avellone. I’m a game writer. I’ve worked on Star Wars, Fallout, and Dying Light 2, among many other games.

In 2012, I met a woman named Karissa at a convention in Atlanta called “Dragon Con.” We met at a bar after the convention. This gathering wasn’t a sanctioned convention event. She looked my age. She had no idea who I was, acted that way, and has admitted as much. She didn’t know who I was, but she did know I was buying rounds for everyone. Like many in this story, she wasn’t a colleague, she wasn’t my employee, I wasn’t her boss, and she wasn’t in the game industry.

[...]

Fast forward six years. In June 2020, to my surprise, Karissa went on Twitter late on a Friday night and delivered a long list of accusations based on our first encounter way back in 2012. I believed she was changing the narrative of every interaction she had had with me to put me in the worst possible light. Her motivation felt petty — but the accusations were not, they were very serious.

[...]

CONSEQUENCES LOVE COMPAN(IES)

There were consequences to their accusations, of course. When Karissa and Kelly made their allegations, I was cut off from almost every studio I was working with.

None of these studios did any investigations I’m aware of. Some didn’t have time (they only had the weekend, and rarely is everyone in a company working on a weekend), or they didn’t take the time.

I say “didn’t have time” because the accusations were made late on a Friday. I believe this may have been done deliberately, since Karissa herself admitted she had delayed her accusations, and furthermore, it’s difficult for companies (especially HR or legal) to respond over a weekend. This allowed Karissa’s and Kelly’s accusations to spread and become viral. For companies overseas I was working for, like Techland (Dying Light 2) and Gato Salvaje (The Waylanders), her accusations effectively hit on a Saturday.

So when Monday morning hit, I received calls and emails, and in many of them, notably Techland and Gato Salvaje, separation agreements and statements had already been drafted before they communicated to me directly.

[...]

(Found by Yemeth)