Alexis Kennedy, co-founder of Failbetter and author and designer on Fallen London, Sunless Sea and Cultist Simulator, has been accused of being an abuser and “well-known predator” by a number of outstanding girls within the games business, together with an allegation from a former colleague at Failbetter. The allegations got here as a part of a current wave of comparable tales shared on Twitter, amongst them allegations made against composer Jeremy Soule and developer Alec Holowka. Kennedy has denied the allegations on Twitter and by way of an announcement given to RPS.
Kennedy is among the greatest recognized writers within the games business. He co-founded Failbetter in 2009 and led the creation of Fallen London and Sunless Skies, earlier than departing in 2016. He then co-founded Weather Factory, who launched the commercially profitable Cultist Simulator final 12 months. He’s additionally written underneath contract on Stellaris, a Dragon Age undertaking, and as a freelancer on a cancelled undertaking for Telltale Games, and is an everyday speaker at business occasions corresponding to GDC.
On August 28th, Meg Jayanth, main author of 80 Days, tweeted a long thread during which she alleged that Kennedy was a “well-known predator”, and that his behaviour exhibits a “pattern of abuse perpetrated by an older man who uses his professional, financial and social power to exploit women sexually + professionally.”
“If you have not heard this before it is because Alexis Kennedy has retaliated against people who have spoken out against him in the past, and many he has harmed the most are rightly afraid to come forward,” wrote Jayanth. “He has frightened and threatened a lot of women into silence.” Jayanth declined to remark for this story.
Kennedy denied the allegations to Jayanth via Twitter, writing “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.”
Later on the 28th, Failbetter author and editor Olivia Wood alleged in another Twitter thread that she was in a relationship with Kennedy for 2 years whereas each labored at Failbetter, and that, “He was my line manager the entire time. It was kept a secret from the whole company, including the board.”
Wood claims that in their relationship, Kennedy cheated on her “with people brought to company events, and who were wanting to work with the company,” and that he broke up along with her “by messaging me that he’d cheated on me with a colleague (also his direct report) at the office Halloween party.”
Wood additional alleges that Kennedy’s “attitude towards me and my work changed the moment I was no longer his partner.”
“I was shouted at and sworn at in front of colleagues; I was given opportunities – only to have my work belittled. I was kept anxious and uncertain. I was made to feel that my only recourse was to leave the company, but that I would not be able to get work anywhere else in the industry.” Wood says that she needed to request that Kennedy now not be her line supervisor after the connection ended. A later tweet alleges that, “When Alexis left the company, he asked for reconciliation, stating that he ‘didn’t want to do anything out of hurt or spite’. I took this to be a threat against my person or my career, and decided to protect both by keeping quiet.” Wood declined to remark when contacted for this story.
After these two Twitter threads went viral, various different girls out and in of the games business tweeted help, with some alleging that they’d skilled what they described as “boundary-testing” behaviour in their very own interactions with Kennedy. Emily Short, who’s at present the Chief Product Officer at Spirit AI and who has labored as a contract author for Failbetter (and in addition for RPS), alleged via Twitter that Kennedy made quite a few inappropriate and typically sexual remarks in ways in which made her uncomfortable. Other girls who Kennedy organized to satisfy or sought out at occasions, or who had labored with him briefly, alleged by way of Twitter and in e-mail exchanges with RPS that they’d skilled related, with one describing the behaviour as “raising flags”.
Allegations first surfaced about Kennedy’s behaviour earlier final week, when an nameless Twitter account referred to as ‘AbuseIndustry’ wrote on August 27th that Kennedy had been “abusing” girls within the business for years. The nameless account has since been deleted, however Kennedy responded on Twitter the same day to deny the allegations, saying on the time that “As far as I know, this is a malicious lie and there is no actual information about it.”
After seeing that change, I contacted Kennedy by way of e-mail for additional touch upon the topic. “I haven’t ever been involved in anything even remotely non-consensual,” Kennedy advised RPS by way of e-mail.
“There are one or more exes who I have had less than amicable break ups with, which is not a rarity or newsworthy. I have heard from various individuals that one ex has been spreading horrendous rumours about me for years. The situation is muddied because at one point I was quite promiscuous, and some of my affairs were with industry people. But I know I never even hinted that someone would get professional benefits for personal benefits, and I am absolutely confident that I have never been involved with anyone whose consent was anything less than clear and enthusiastic. There are two sides to every story, and I’ve been involved in messy relationships where I and other people had our feelings hurt, but absolutely nothing that crossed that line.”
Kennedy additionally wrote that at this level he’d solely ever heard “two specific allegations” made towards him. One, that he was Lottie Bevan’s boss at Failbetter on the time they began relationship, which he admits and says he has been open about earlier than, referring to an article in PCGamesN in which he and Bevan discuss the topic. “The other, weirdly minor, allegation, is that I remained her direct manager even after we started dating, and that’s actually provably untrue.”
“If someone wants to provide a specific allegation, I really, really, really want to know, so I can refute it.”
I reached out to Failbetter for a response to Kennedy’s statements. An organization consultant refuted Kennedy’s assertion that he was not Lottie Bevan’s supervisor throughout their relationship, alleging that Failbetter’s firm information present that Kennedy continued to behave as Bevan’s line supervisor till adjustments have been made in May 2016 in preparation for his departure from the corporate.
I contacted Kennedy once more after Jayanth, Wood and Short’s Twitter threads went public and he directed me to his lawyer, who declined to touch upon his behalf. Kennedy denies the allegations of abusive or coercive behaviour.
This isn’t the primary time that Kennedy’s private life has been within the press. In December 2017, the aforementioned PCGamesN article profiled Kennedy’s working and romantic relationship with Lottie Bevan. The two met whereas working collectively at Failbetter, later co-founded Cultist Sim developer Weather Factory collectively, and at the moment are engaged. In describing the primary time the 2 socialised as a pair, Kennedy advised PCGamesN that he introduced up the subject of energy dynamics in work relationships, and the way each events want to concentrate on standing. “I wasn’t trying to make the point that there could never be anything between us, but I was obviously worrying about it constantly,” stated Kennedy.
The article states that it was at a Failbetter Halloween occasion the place “the pair, emboldened by booze, made their feelings clear to each other. Kennedy immediately made the decision that his co-founder should be assigned as Bevan’s manager.” Bevan is later quoted saying that “Failbetter, who peg themselves as this empathetic, liberal company, clearly didn’t know how to deal with [the relationship].” Olivia Wood shouldn’t be talked about within the article.
Following the allegations by Wood and others, the official Failbetter Twitter account tweeted that they “believe and stand with everyone who has come forward to speak out about Alexis Kennedy tonight.” They additionally tweeted that “Alexis left Failbetter three years ago. We no longer have any ties with him personally, creatively or financially.” Quite a few individuals in Weather Factory’s mentorship program have additionally ended their involvement in mild of the allegations.
The allegations towards Kennedy have been made alongside these made towards a number of others throughout the games business, together with these made final week towards Jeremy Soule, Alec Holowka and Splash Damage’s Luc Shelton. Alec Holowka died on Saturday. Other allegations embrace these made towards Monument Valley’s Ken Wong, and Oculus co-founder Michel Antonov.
