Zoe Quinn's Allegations Against Alec Holowka Called Into Question by New Evidence of Inconsistencies

While many people familiar with Zoe Quinn’s history of duplicity were initially highly skeptical of the allegations, reporter Anna Slatz at The Post Millenial was the first to report on the inconsistencies in an article titled Zoe Quinn’s allegations are falling apart.

[yarbie1000]

She has blood on her hands! So does ResetEra. People were making posts saying I hope he gets what he deserves right before he took his life. Evil parasites

[Eonjay]

I'm new to this whole story. Why was everyone on ResetEra so upset with him?

[yarbie1000]

Because they believe it's Guilty until Proven Innocent in all cases of #MeToo

[Mr Pumblechook]

The games media websites need to recognise the role they all played.
They all wrote about Zoe Quinn's claims without using proper journalistic standards of objectivity - instead, they wrote about the allegations as if they were proven facts. Why? It is okay for individuals on the internet to have an opinion and believe one side or the other but it's not okay for a professional 'journalism' website. This led to mounting pressure on a vulnerable guy who was being attacked by everyone on the internet, EVERY website, no individual spoke up for him.

Alec Howloka was a troubled guy who in his past interviews always came across a good natured. The poor guy was abused as a child, and the recent tweets reveal he was submissive in the relationship.

Polygon.com contacted the husband and wife team that ALEC had hired to help him make Night in the Woods and Polygon effectively asked them 'what are you going to do?' They then parted with Alec and he killed himself. Two days later his former friend and colleague wrote a long post condemning Alec. Disgusting human beings.

People came out of the woodwork to attack him and promote their brand and websites.

But the problem is that if and when allegations come out about somebody else, individuals and the games media will pile in without professionalism attacking the character of an individual. What happened to Alec must never happen again.

[ginganinja]

So, Mr Pumblechook, a lot of the people who knew and worked with Alec agreed with and supported Zoe - including Alec's own sister.
But, you and the other internet Sherlocks who've never met anyone involved, know different..

[Mr Pumblechook]

@ginganinja. You misunderstand the point of my post completely - this is not about you or I taking sides with the alleged abuser or the alleged victim. This is about the games media recognising that they should report on allegations - but must do so professionally. The reporters on these games websites were not witnesses to the relationship but by declaring one vulnerable person guilty he likely saw no path to clear his name. In actual newspapers in the UK, real newspapers would not be allowed to that as it is considered both ethically and likely legally wrong. If the games websites had reported this story with balance rather than writing as if he was guilty (as is right in real journalism) he might have felt brave enough to release a statement.

[ginganinja]

@Mr P
Firstly, the sites I've seen (such as kotaku, IGN, PC gamer, etc. not blogs or bedroom youtubers) just covered the stories as is. Laid out who accused who of what and didn't pass judgement.
Secondly, have you ever read a UK tabloid ?
You'll struggle to buy a Sun in Liverpool because of all the BS it wrote about Hillsborough.
You can't use the Daily Fail as a source on Wikipedia because it's so unreliable and prone to sensationalist BS.

[The Wood]

UK tabloids can be just as trashy as any other country's tabloids so I totally disagree with that. . Just look as recently as when Rahim sterling exposed their hypocrisy in regards to race. . . .

But in regards to this women she's clearly told a fib or twm. just because the guy wasn't perfect there's no need to pile on crap to justify the assumption of guilt. Some sites were just point scoring and tried to paint themselves as 'for the victims' . . . .bs. . .report fairly or don't report at all. An inspector calls springs to mind here

[bumbleforce]

Because everyone on reset era is a bitch

[Welshy]

There 100% needs to be legal ramifications for people who make false/misleading accusations that lead to ANY loss of the accused. Whether that's financial/reputational loss from being fired or all the way at the extreme that someone harms themselves or ends their life.

Any sane person obviously wants victims of abuse to have justice, but the scale has been tipped all the way to other side now, it doesn't even matter if there's evidence anymore. All it takes is an accusation and you're pre-judged as guilty by court of public opinion.

Enough is enough, we need reasonable middle ground. If you abuse someone, you go to jail. But also if you accuse someone falsely you should go to jail because it ruins and costs lives as much as abusing someone does, they need to be treated equally.

Edit: I normally keep things factual/logical, but this genuinely pisses me off so im allowing this one personal rant through. Look at the absolute STATE of her too. That "I'm invincible and can do what i want" look, you can tell from a 1,000 paces she loves to abuse double standards to further her own agenda on a daily basis. Stay away from f***ing cretins like this and show them no more attention. What a monster of a human being to contribute to a person death like this.

[rainslacker]

Making false claims is a civil offense, and there are laws for it. In some cases, the damages may be more extreme than what can be recovered financially...like in cases where people lose their job or ability to maintain their way of life. But it's really rare for it to be a criminal offense, and requires more than what quinn did, and is usually prosecuted as part of a bigger criminal fraud case.

Victims of abuse can get justice, and while it isnt as easy to get justice as it should be...same as many crimes really...these kinds of accusations being about informing are spreading the idea that there is no way to get justice otherwise. The first step would be to call the police, or visit any number of free public or private services that help abuse victims for free.

Unfortunately, the legal system doesn't move as fast as the world does though. There have been an increasing number of cases in the past few years of false accusations leading to ruining a person's life, or potentially leading to deaths, so it may be something lawmakers start to try and look into. It becomes hard in the internet age though, because with everything being online, it almost requires a federal law since a lot of accusations are across state lines, and then of course there are international laws which would have to be accounted for.

There is no easy fix for the law itself I'm afraid. But while these things may take time to be remedied, any victim of abuse should seek aid. There are many sources which can refer you to who you need to speak to, and if one cant help, ask somewhere else. It isnt until everyone is saying they cant do something that people should seek other forms of recourse if they feel they've been wronged.

[NarooN]

Well said. I forgot what she looked like since that GamerGate thing all those years ago, and wow, she just inherently looks like a stuck up piece of shit by default. What a terrible waste of oxygen. Every time her name pops up it's ALWAYS something negative attached, a controversy.

[rainslacker]

Kind of a shame that it took so long for someone in the press to point it out.

I dont know if the press is giving her as much attention as they did years ago, and she seems more like she living off Twitter fame, but the press is at a point where they have to probably distance themselves from her. I havent seen any ardent defense of her actions in a long time, and it usually is just some report about whatever claim she makes. But at the same time, i haven't seen the press also taking accountability for making her relevant(relatively speaking) as they made her in the first place. Doing so would only implicate then in their own failings as journalists in the whole gamergate thing, and we all know they arent going to do that.

In the end, many of the things she and those like her ushered in have left lasting effects on the game industry and press, and has changed the landscape about what is talked about when it comes to games. Many of us in the community see this, and dont like it. Worse, their actions have led to talented people being pushed out of the industry because they decided to create something they wanted to create. It's a shame that they were ever allowed to get so much influence, or that the gaming press has ever gotten so much influence over the industry or games that get made.

[ginganinja]

Is it dark up there?

[rainslacker]

Nope. I can see just fine, thanks.

[IamTylerDurden1]

I never believed her story, it always seemed inconsistent, nonsensical, and like attention seeking. I'm happy that there are actually some real journalists who are willing to do research rather than simply hang a guy based on a headline.

I implore every gaming journalist who has ever written a story about this to dig deep and do the research because you all contributed to a man dying. Every headline that judged Holowka before the facts were out and the story assessed contributed. Every person who immediately condemned the man and ran to Quinn's defense as if every word of her shaky story was granite fact. The fellow developers and former friends who immediately turned on him, trashed him, and quit his team. You all contributed. A man is dead. Her story is being proven as bullshit. You better hope for a smoking gun that miraculously proves her right because if this story is indeed bullshit and a man is dead because it, all of you cowards deserve to burn. Shameful.

Even IF her story is true, which i very much doubt, this is a tragic result regardless. Is this how we handle serious legal matters in 2019? Use Twitter to drive a man to suicide? This crazy bitch is wrong any way you slice it. Go to the police, seek justice through legal avenues and use facts and evidence to support your case. This whole situation is a travesty and it makes me sick.

[-Foxtrot]

"While Marvel and Vertigo author Zoe Quinn"

Marvel and Vertigo? She got that kind of job? Are these people serious? Jesus man.

His blood is on her hands and she needs to pay the price, if this was a male developer he'd have his head on a spike by now.

[Count_Bakula]

She/anyone who does this should face jail time or at least a massive fine. They must be punished if found they're lying and attempting to destroy someone's life.

[Smokehouse]

That would explain the marvel high dive into the toilet bowl.

[Welshy]

James Gunn made crude jokes on twitter more than 10 years ago and gets the boot.

But cretins like this who make false claims about sexual abuse and contribute to a person taking their own life get jobs in media because they are "brave" and "progressive". It almost makes me physically sick that industry's love this kind of person and are seemingly oblivious to double standards.

[KeenBean345]

What gets me is that this keeps happening. How many more suicides or ruined careers is it going to take for these people to realise that baseless accusations are a serious matter and can destroy someone.

[Snakefist30]

She working for DC Comics now her upcoming comic is Dona Troy turning into joker!

[XiNatsuDragnel]

A villain right here folks

[Leeroyw]

I got to say I'm heartened by the biggest show in solidarity N4G has ever seen on this issue. Perhaps the tide is turning. I'm hopeful but not optimistic. Nice to see people agreeing on such an important issue.

[rainslacker]

I doubt it. N4G is generally against people like her, outside some that want to antagonize people. But, the press will do whatever they want to keep making headlines, and they won't take any accountability for their part in their careless reporting. This will blow over like it always does, and about the best we can probably hope for is that the press won't give her any attention in the future. She fled from twitter after Holowka's suicide, but knowing her, she will not be able to stay away from the attention it gets her when she goes through one of her phases of needing to feel important.

She's obviously depressed and bipolar based on her attitudes and other reports from other people she's had relationships with, and people like that can't really stay away for very long.

[Leeroyw]

Yeah agreed rainslacker. I meant maybe the tide turning in the media away from attention seeking nut jobs but point taken.
So good to see common sense prevail in this community but the video game media has been absolutely hijacked by people with social justice agendas lately and that comes at a huge cost.

[Samus707]

100% upvotes. I'm so proud of this community.

[DaDrunkenJester]

We all knew it...

[shammgod]

take her down. this chick is out of control

[Battlestar23]

If she really made up everything she deserved to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. You know she reminds me of that youtuber Mecharadom42 another toxic social media user who makes up her news to attack people she doesn't like. I wish something could be done about all these toxic social media people the internet is already a toxic place and we don't need them adding more to it.

[BondJames]

She belong to prison. guantanamo bay.

[Silly gameAr]

Good. Maybe she can feel what it feels like to be guilty until proven innocent for a change.

[jznrpg]

It’s sad he killed him self because if this persons lies and abuse. She is going to have some legal troubles in the future as she should .

[Inzo]

Of course there is inconsistencies, her whole life is inconsistent. One thing that is consistent is what a despicable human being this female is.

[thatguyhayat]

That idiot David Jaffe is defending her too.

[Spurg]

Looks like someone David Jaffe would be into.

[Rachel_Alucard]

David Jaffe is very left leaning and pro corporate. No surprise there

[CrimsonWing69]

Disgusting person and someone who blew Gamergate into something that is wasn't about.

Read this article and you'll see what a hypocrite and a garbage person Zoe Quinn is.

https://www.skepticink.com/...

This also should reflect how ridiculous society has become that a person can make false accusations or present shoddy "evidence" and it ends someone's career. You should go to the authorities about this and not post it on social media.

Honestly, I feel like she needs to be made an example of and be held accountable for the consequences of her actions so that further instances don't happen.

[Lord_Sloth]

I came here to complain about her derailing Gamergate.

[rainslacker]

Kind of funny that the comments in that thread, outside a couple people, are saying the same things about her that many say now. I know we around here have mostly felt this way about her, on the occassions where her name comes up since we usually don't even remember her. If this goes anywhere to open up other people's eyes, it's kind of vindicating that people years ago saw her for what she was, and were shamed into submission by the gaming press. Told us we weren't relevant. Called misogynist, sexist, or treated as if we were nothing of worth, despite being the very people who brought games, or consumed the gaming press media that these sites relied to on stay alive.

It's really unfathomable to me how after all these years all those sites most implicated in gamergate, and spread the idea that gamers were terrible people managed to stay afloat given that you'd think their readership would say "Screw you, you don't know me", and go elsewhere. I know for sure that this fringe group of "feminist" isn't enough to support those bigger sites.

Sadly though, like it has so many times before, this will go away, people will forget, she'll fall back into obscurity until she comes out of the woodwork again, then we'll repeat this same cycle again. If there is any hope, the press may be a bit more prudent in how they report on whatever claim she makes to get attention again. One thing I think we can count on though is that she won't stay out of social media attention grabbing ways forever.

[bangoskank]

So many people in the industry including Matt Thorston and Corey Barlog retweeted her claim making her look like a martyr. Watching his peers turn against him must have been devastating for Alec, especially being clinically depressed. Innocent until proven guilty needs to become a thing. Quinn should be arrested.

[NiteX]

Man, she even looks evil as fuck in that pic. Very fitting one you found for this.

[william_cade]

Greedy kids willing to destroy one another for a leg up. None of this has to do with any actual social movement.

[madpuppy]

Zoe Quinn and her ilk, The disgusting, blood sucking opportunist, Anita Sarkeesian are just two gold digging flim-flam artist that care nothing about anything other than virtue signaling and the almighty Dollar.

[ElementX]

Social media isn't the place to make allegations, even if they are true. If they are false claims, you ruin somebody's life forever. Take your accusations to the police.

[Enigma_2099]

This is going to do nothing but hurt legitimate victims.

[Lord_Sloth]

Something people like her never bother to think about. They're too selfish to bother with things like "consequences" and "responsibility".

[Samus707]

Facts.

[Dom_Estos]

She could have been one herself. Who knows the extent of it. But, aye, she's a silly attention seeking bastard for spouting off over Twitter, and the people who latched on and said "I believe you" can all go fuck themselves with a cactus.

[DrShoe]

She now has a kill count. It's only a matter of time before she adds more to it.

[gamer7804]

this is why I cringe when people say "believe women", kindafunnygames just said that a couple podcast epsisodes ago and it echoes what they hear in the media they watch and listen to.

Honestly I don't believe men or women until the full details have come out and juries have had all the information to reach a verdict. I LISTEN and HEAR people, but I only believe evidence.

[W4rfight3r]

She's just like Monica Rial and Jamie Marchi :/
TO JAIL YOU LIARS

[ZwVw]

Toxic femininity.

[Rachel_Alucard]

Reminder that her own mother had stated she had schizophrenia after a book she released had a bunch of things in it that never happened. The twitter contradictions are only the tip of the iceberg. The only reason she gets so much support is because she's a female new age feminist, so anyone with that status is immune from conviction or guilt.

[isarai]

I genuinely think she needs to go to prison for manslaughter. the fact that she hasn't come forth yet to admit this BS was made up means in her sick head she believes his life is worth less than her agenda. What a psychopath.

[drunkenspy007]

I mean, she is a nasty attention whore

[good_sk8er]

Yeah she needs to be prosecuted. Evil person, and shame on all these garbage news publications that ran with her story.

[HaVoK308]

The professional victim/manipulator lies?! Imagine that.

[Rapidfirepunches]

Big YIKES ResetEra

[WeAreLegion]

She's a POS. She has only hurt equality and the gaming industry along with it.

[bumbleforce]

If what this gurl said Isnt true and this guy killed himself because of it l this girl should. Go to jail for the rest of her life

[DafunkyRebel]

She killed someone with her allegations, she deserved prison time

[dedicatedtogamers]

The media silence (including the coverage over Alec "passing away" instead of accurately reporting his suicide) should be the clue here, friends. A week ago these journos were sharpening their knives over "gaming's #metoo movement" yet where is all that zealous anger now?

[frank_a]

Look, no one cares about this. DC Comic and Marvel still employ this murderer. There is no point in discussing this. She's untouchable. It's unfortunate, but it is what it is. Just stay away from her if you want to live.

[Germaximus]

No idea who these people are.

[Dom_Estos]

Doesn't matter what he may or may not have done. This stupid bastard here should have kept her gob shut on public forums like Twitter. Seriously, to air dirty laundry like that to people who you dont even know and then they go on a witch hunt is a right c*nt's trick. She should have kept this private, and got justice in the same way many other victims of abuse do: through a fucking court. What a dickhead.

[Xaevi]

It was only a matter of time. Who knows maybe she wasn't lying, but if she was she definitely deserves jail time, or to be sued, fined, punished in some way. Not only her but all that supported her without question. Again maybe she's telling the truth, but at this point I don't doubt she lied about the whole thing. Either way the way this whole thing was handled was wrong, and Twitter and other social sites should start taking some responsibility over this whole MeToo bs

[ShadowWolf712]

On the one hand, I don't trust Zoe Quinn as far as I could throw thirty of her.

On the other, Bounding Into Comics doesn't exactly have a remotely honest reputation either.

Anyone independent who can verify any of this?

[Samus707]

A mod had this article removed yesterday for political reasons. Big shoutout to N4G for doing the right thing and restoring it to the trending page. Sealed my loyalty, for sure.

[Christopher]

The mod's decision wasn't based on politics, just what they thought how this fell under our Social Issues guidelines. The grey areas in the guidelines can be hard to measure. It is also why l exist, to deal with those grey areas.

[Samus707]

Sure, that's possible. My main point was to praise you guys for recognizing it was incorrect and thus restoring it. Thanks for that.

[bananacrust]

Bounding into comics is a dogshit website run by a guy who thinks comics did him wrong because of his bullshit opinions no one agreed with, distanced themselves from them. I wonder how all those cyberfrog copies are selling.

[Mr-Dude]

Good for putting this article up again. Failing it because some people don't like reading this stuff or are offended by it, doesn't mean it needs to be censored. Zoe Q is a "member" of the gameworld so to speak. So it is game related.

[trooper_]

Throw the law book at her.
Absolutely deplorable that she contributed to this man's death.

[frostypants]

Man she's just a vortex of crap. One might think that at some point, her remaining supporters might start to realize that she is the one constant in these equations. This much crazy nonsense doesn't happen by accident to normal human beings. She is a bad person and is in serious need of psychological help and perhaps a change in meds.

[lelo2play]

Why hasn't Marvel fired her already?

Why hasn't she been prosecuted by the law?

[N1GHT_W0LF_X]

Her name and the name of every publication that has defended her and her actions in the past should be forever tarnished with his blood. They created this monster. They are equally responsible.

[xxitalia12xx]

"Believe all women" they say ....

[Tross]

I haven't followed this, but when I heard Alec Holowka took his life I dug Night in the Woods out of my backlog and started playing it. I'm enjoying it and it's sad to think the creator behind it isn't around anymore.

[rainslacker]

It's a shame the way the creators of that game treated Alex after the allegations started getting reported on.

They released him from the project, and said it wasnt because of the accusations, but that he was a troubled person, and they could see the allegations being true. Calling him a good friend, but they had to distance themselves, despite apparently being aware of his behavior and not having a problem before it went public.

This is counter to him having had therapy years prior, which I assume was after his relationship with quinn, and even they say he was a much better person because of it. Then others corroborated him having become a better person in more recent years. Not that he wasnt still troubled, but generally being more positive.

Anyways, they washed his hands of him, then two days later when the story broke he committed suicide, they came back and said how great a friend he was and how sad they were, only to then release a FAQ about how it would affect future content of their game, as if their actions if abandoning a friend may not have also been a big part of his ultimate decision and action.

Was pretty disgusting IMO. By all accounts, many people seem to love the work he did on the game, and while the current devs say the game is their vision, they do say he had a big part on shaping that vision into reality.

[Tross]

That’s sad. I’m only partway into the game but it seems to contain some depressing social commentary, including factors that lead to depression, some of which may have been reasons why two of my cousins ended their lives. It doesn’t at all surprise me that a depressed mind at least had a hand in shaping this title. I hope he’s in a better place now, and I will say I’m quite thankful to have come across this game.

[rainslacker]

I've heard good things about the game,although I never heard of it before his suicide. I'm not that interested in supporting the developer after what went down though. I don't blame them per say for what happened, and I think a lot of developers would have also let him go. But, the way they handled the situation both after the accusation, and after the suicide was disgusting.

[Twinblade]

It no longer matters if it came out alec was all innocent. People already condemned him.

[bluefox755]

This woman is a sociopath, why anyone think she has a shred of credibility is beyond me.

[SyntheticForm]

When I gaze upon that image I imagine an emotionally stable woman with a healthy attitude and no mental baggage. Drama free and altruistic.

[MasterCornholio]

Is it opposite day?

[frostypants]

Yes...I mean no? No. Yes....dammit...

[carcarias]

Inconsistencies? But she's usually such a reliable source of trustworthy information and fair, balanced opinions...

...said no one ever.

[Deceiver_Of_The_Gods]

Well, you wanted diversity, more women, more lgbt etc people instead of focusing on just hiring skilled people. No one to blame but yourselves.