Well-Known Games Writer Chris Avellone Accused of Sexual Misconduct

Another day, another well-known man is accused of sexual misconduct and predatory behavior.

The problematic chap this time around is well-known fantasy writer and frequent video game contributor Chris Avellone, a fellow who’s worked on Fallout 2, Fallout: New: Vegas, FTL, Pillars of Eternity, Tyranny, and other well-known games and RPGs dating all the way back to the '90s. But all that history doesn’t mean squat when, over the weekend, a number of women claimed he had sexually abused them.

Following a tweet from IGN about his work in the upcoming Waylanders, Twitter user Karissav described an evening at a convention with the man where he got her blackout drunk, took her back to her room with some of his male friends, and “pounced” on her. She didn’t remember any of the events of the evening until a member of Avellone’s entourage filled her in. She then reported that she witnessed him pull the same stunt with several other women, becoming so problematic that she eventually reported him to the convention and got him blacklisted from attending.

"He moved to other studios. Other projects. Other conventions until they stopped inviting him on their own accord (whether due to behavior or relevance, I don’t know). I pushed him out of my memory, as did my dear friends, and we only discussed our anger and disgust if he happened to come up… I didn’t bother blowing this up until today due to work being insane all week, but I’ve got the time now. Chris Avellone is an abusive, abrasive, conniving sexual predator. People tried to get him help. He refused it and continued. Stop glorifying him."

Following this allegation, several other women came forward, most notably Jacqui Collins, Riot Games' PR lead, who shared a rather disgusting image of a text message the man sent her back in 2014.

While criminal charges seem unlikely, the good news is that the reports have not gone ignored. Studio Gata, the folks behind a new RPG called The Waylanders, Paradox Interactive, the folks behind Vampire: The Masquerade 2, and Techland, the folks behind Dying Light 2, have all ended their contracts with Chris Avellone, and are going to review his contributions and outright remove them. Which may not end his career, but it will certainly damage it.

Oh, and Chris acknowledged what he did to Karissav, but said he didn’t realize what he did was wrong. So. That’s charming.