Giant Spacekat, developers of space adventure game Revolution 60, announced this weekthey cancelled PAX East booth space due to safety concerns. The studio has since spoken with PAX organizers and responded to criticism over the fact that its head of development, Brianna Wu, still deciding to attend PAX East and appear on several panels.
In an online statement earlier this week, she said she was concerned âdue to a concern that in a crowd of such a volume expected at Pax, the safety of our team can not be guaranteed.â
Wu has been feuding with members of the Gamergate movement for months and has blamed some of them for online threats of violence last fall. (Gamergate is, of course, an amorphous movement, and, as weâve reported before, members of that same movement have condemned harassment against Wu.) Sheâs most recently raised alarm about an individual who appeared to sympathize with Gamergate and made videos threatening violence against her while wielding a knife. In a statement released by Giant Spacekat on Wednesday said backing off from PAX East was a group decision, based on previous threats and the idea of thousands of attendees being on the show floor at one time.
âI cannot and will not make that choice for the people I work with,â said Wu. âAfter talking to them, I made the decision to prioritize the safety of Giant Spacekatâs employees. Specifically, we have chosen to withdraw our presence from the Pax East 2015 Expo Hall, due to a concern that in a crowd of such a volume expected at Pax, the safety of our team can not be guaranteed.â
The company expects it wonât have to pay for the booth space, despite the late cancellation.
Wu told me she tried to contact the organizers of PAX three times prior to cancelling, specifically to discuss concerns over an attendee being able to sneak a knife into the event.
Though Giant Spacekat would no longer have booth space at PAX East, Wu still planned to show up at various panels and potentially take meetings in or around the event. This has raised questions as to Wuâs intentions. Sheâs been an outspoken critic of the movement and been charged by some as using harassment against her for publicity. She responded to criticisms about continuing to attend the event through another blog post on Thursday:
âSheâs attending her panels anyway!â
Yes, because this is my choice. I wanted to go to PAX. Our decision to withdraw is about respecting my teamâs wishes. Iâve had difficult conversations with husband if itâs worth it to put our lives at risk standing up to Gamergate. We made choice to speak up. I cannot make the choice for my team to interact with thousands of strangers a day with 46 death threats. Many are parents, one is pregnant.
âItâs a PR Stunt.â
No. This is honestly about safety. I do what I think is right. If you talk to my employees, I deeply care about my team. Also, the logic of skipping a PR event for PR escapes me.
âThey couldnât get a booth, and itâs a stunt.â
No. Weâve attended Pax East for the last two years, and were all set to go this year. Withdrawing is a huge pain for us logistically.
âWhy arenât you talking to police?â
I talk to law enforcement constantly. Itâs one of the most frustrating experiences of my life trying to get arrests. Look for articles from me soon about the systematic inability of law enforcement to respond to these threats, because itâs complete BS.
In the hours after releasing a statement, PAX got in touch with Wu.
âI think if theyâd talked to us earlier we couldâve made this work,â she said.
PAX didnât respond to my request for comment, but released a brief statement to Polygon outlining the eventâs code of conduct and how it prides itself on bringing together people âshare what they love most, in a safe environment.â
You can reach the author of this post at [email protected] or on Twitter at @patrickklepek
