Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
Narrative designer Meg Jayanth has accused Cultist Simulator developer Alexis Kennedy of exploitative and predatory conduct towards young women in the games industry, in a thread posted on Twitter.
Jayanth, who worked with Kennedy on Sunless Sea at Failbetter Games, claimed that Kennedy has ‘a pattern of "befriending" young women who are entering the industry and then crosses professional boundaries with them.’ According to Jayanth, Kennedy uses his reputation and success to ‘exploit women sexually + professionally’, and that his connections with established female game developers are ‘a cover for his predations and abuses.’ Jayanth claimed that Kennedy has ‘threatened many women with retaliation to ensure silence + compliance.’
There will also be many people reading this who won't feel able to share their stories – about Alexis, or about other abusers in the industry. Publicly or otherwise. To those people: I see you, I support you. Together we are more powerful than they can possibly imagine. Be safe.
— meg jayanth (@betterthemask) August 28, 2019
Kennedy responded to Jayanth’s allegations on Twitter, and wrote, ‘I deny this. I have had a small number of fully consensual relationships with other people in the industry. Everything else here is a malicious misrepresentation. I have taken legal advice and I am making a police complaint about what seems to be a campaign of harassment.’
Failbetter Games writer Olivia Wood, in a Twitter thread of her own, said, ‘I was in a relationship with Alexis Kennedy for nearly two years. He was my line manager the entire time,’ before adding, ‘During our relationship he cheated on me with people brought to company events, and who were wanting to work with the company.’
Wood claims that once Kennedy was no longer her partner, he became antagonistic, and that he would verbally berate her and her work, but she remained at Failbetter Games. ‘He was still the CEO and had (I thought) my career in his hands. He had always seemed popular and powerful in the industry, and I feared he could get me blackballed,’ Wood wrote.
apparently the thread broke here: https://t.co/YeAJ0Kih11
— Olivia Wood (@babelfishwars) August 28, 2019
The official Twitter account of Failbetter Games posted a statement about the allegations against Kennedy, and said that it ‘stand[s] with everyone who has come forward to speak out.’ It stated that ‘this sort of behaviour has no place in our industry, or in any other,’ and that the developer has no connections with Kennedy personally, creatively or financially.
We fully understand and respect that. This sort of behaviour has no place in our industry, or in any other. We can only say that we strive to be a studio we can be proud of, and that you can be proud to support.
— Failbetter Games | PAX West (@failbettergames) August 28, 2019
Earlier this week, Depression Quest creator Zoe Quinn accused Night in the Woods developer Alec Holowka of abuse. ‘I’m still afraid of him,’ they wrote, ‘I’m afraid that people will care more about their love of Night in the Woods than they will about the safety and truths of women and non-binary people in games.’ Quinn posted her story about Holowka after Tetrageddon developer Nathalie Lawhead claimed that The Elder Scrolls composer Jeremy Soule sexually assaulted her.
Survivors Trust provides information, advice and emotional support for victims of sexual abuse or rape; call them on 08088 010818. You can also contact Victim Support for free and confidential support to help after a crime or traumatic event by contacting their helpline on 0800 640 8738.
