Alexis Kennedy, an independent developer from Weather Factory and maker of Cultist Simulator, recently addressed some allegations put forward by a Twitter account looking to get in on outrage culture by claiming that Kennedy was an abuser.

The allegations were addressed in a blog post on the Weather Factory website on September 16th, 2019.

In the post, Kennedy explained how a Twitter account going by the handle of IndustryAbuse or @AbuseIndustry, made some salacious claims about the British developer, and as it started to gain traction, Kennedy and his wife decided to seek legal council, and then attempt to stay off the internet.

Kennedy goes through each of the allegations made against him, pointing out how they’re false, quoting his ex-wife how he isn’t as bad as the Twitter rage mobs have made him out to be, and how the biggest mistake he made was dating someone, hiring her, and then sleeping with her while they worked together.

He addresses many of the allegations as best he can, but mostly sums it up that everything is being blown way out of proportion to seek another scalp for the Federation of Feminism, writing…

“The claim that I have been methodically seducing and abusing ‘a multitude’ of young women, like some sort of Svengali Dracula, and threatening them with retaliation if they go public – this claim is so daft that I find it difficult to grapple with seriously, but here we go:

 

“I have some professional reputation in the industry for the work I’ve done, but I have no power to speak of. I run a microstudio out of my living room with my partner. I couldn’t get anyone fired, let alone end anyone’s career. Portraying me as a shadowy cult abuse mastermind would be silly if it wasn’t so horrible.

 

“I’ve seen claims that there is a much larger number of women ready to come forward, but that I am known for my retaliatory behaviour, and they daren’t. This is also nonsense. I think the most retaliatory thing I’ve ever done is ‘write a slightly pointed subtweet’, except in Olivia’s case, where my retaliation was ‘approve her promotion and then leave the company.’”

These sentiments were corroborated by Kennedy’s partner, Lottie Bevan, who wrote her own blog post on September 16th, 2019, titled “Blood Sport: Call-Out Culture From The Other Side”.

Bevan goes through a list of the troubles that the couple and their studio have incurred in result of the allegations, writing…

“Weather Factory’s reputation tanked. Weather Factory had nothing to do with any allegation, but a bunch of people aren’t comfortable working with us anymore.

 

“My reputation tanked. If we’re going to judge women on whom they sleep with we’re all pretty terrible feminists. I also had nothing to do with any allegation.

 

“We lost two female employees. The PR stink was too much and could have damaged their careers, so they resigned. Two women are now out of secure jobs. They had nothing to do with any allegation.

 

“We lost our mentees. As above, the PR was awful and could have damaged new studios’ reputations. They had nothing to do with any allegation.” […]

Bevan also briefly touches on how Kennedy was on the verge of committing suicide due to the flagrant claims made against him that were designed to ruin his career and ruin his life.

Had Kennedy gone through with his contemplation, he would have been the second developer within the span of just weeks who would have committed suicide due to abuse claims propped up by outrage cultists.

As mentioned in Bevan’s blog, Alec Holowka – the co-developer for Night In The Woods – committed suicide after unsubstantiated allegations were made by Zoe Quinn that cost him his career, his studio, his reputation, and eventually his life.

In this rare case Kennedy and his partner, Bevan, decided to speak up against the claims made by cancel culture.

Will it assuage the masses and get them to relent or will the media pile on to fan the flames in the kangaroo court of public opinion? In today’s Clown World, anything seems to be possible.

On the bright side, Weather Factory’s Cultist Simulator is still available for purchase from the Steam store for $19.99. This means that the deplatforming of Kennedy’s projects hasn’t taken effect… yet.

(Thanks for the news tip Lyle)