Following a post by indie creative Zoë Quinn alleging that Night in the Woods co-creator Alec Holowka sexually abused them, the game’s team has taken to Twitter to announce that they are severing ties with Holowka.
This week, allegations of past abuse have come to light regarding Alec Holowka, who was coder, composer, and co-designer on Night In The Woods. We take such allegations seriously as a team. As a result and after some agonizing consideration, we are cutting ties with Alec.
— Night In The Woods (@NightInTheWoods) August 28, 2019
Amid the confusion, Holowka was mistaken for the game’s creator, full stop. His contributions to the indie darling were by no means minimal, being named as coder, programmer, composer, and co-designer. However, the remaining team behind Night in the Woods is comprised of creators Scott Benson and Bethany Hockenberry. As clarified in their tweets from Wednesday, Benson and Hockenberry are the ones behind Mae Borowski’s mysterious story in the sleepy town of Possum Springs.
Benson, lead animator/artist, co-designer/writer, and “the guy who wrote almost all of that dialogue in the game,” posted his and Hockenberry’s statements. Hockenberry is fellow co-writer and researcher. They clarify that Night in the Woods is their story, one influenced by deep, personal, individual experiences living in isolated areas of Pennsylvania, they recognize how it has resonated with audiences, making the removal of Holowka all the more imperative.
Much of Night In The Woods is pulled pretty directly from our lives. Bethany is from a tiny valley in central PA. I’ve lived out here in Western PA for about 20 years. The characters are us, and people we’ve known. The places are ones we know.
— Night In The Woods (@NightInTheWoods) August 28, 2019
Benson also announced that further projects planned with Holowka are canceled. The limited physical release of Night in the Woods has been delayed, but an iOS port remains in the works, as the release is being conducted by a third party.
Fan reactions have been positive for the most part — an early entry in Benson’s thread notes, “We’ve received a lot of emails and messages in the past few days, often very hurt and angry. That’s also how we feel. This has been very, very tough.” Comments range from gratitude to relief, while there’s more than a couple of users outraged, suggesting Benson and Hockenberry have made the decision to remove Holowka without sufficient evidence.
https://twitter.com/connollydsgn/status/1166812814109040647?s=20
Alec Holowka has yet to respond to Quinn’s allegations. His personal Twitter remains set to private at time of writing, and developer account @InfiniteAmmoDev has posted nothing in relation to the allegations.
