The affair surrounding Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein is making waves that reach the gaming industry as well. One of the most important gaming forums worldwide, NeoGAF, has now closed after allegations of sexual harassment were raised against the site’s head.
“Sexual harassment” is more in the public focus than ever before. Powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been one of the biggest topics on our planet for days. Weinstein is alleged to have sexually harassed actresses in countless cases. More and more allegations are coming to light.
This event is making big waves and reaching more and more people. Because the actresses in Hollywood found the courage to confront such a powerful man, more victims of sexual harassment are finding the strength to go public and say: “I have remained silent until now, but something like this has happened to me too. I was sexually harassed.”
These waves are now reaching the gaming sector as well.
NeoGAF temporarily down
There are allegations against the head of the huge gaming forum NeoGAF, who allegedly sexually harassed a woman during a trip to New Orleans in 2012. The allegations can be found here on Imgur. It is said that he had stood nude in the shower with the woman unsolicited.
In the course of this, further allegations have surfaced that cast the head of the forum in a bad light. These allegations are also documented here on Imgur.
As reported by PcGamesN, in the course of this, 11 administrators or moderators from NeoGAF have left to make a statement of solidarity. Many users have also joined their departure.
Currently, NeoGAF is offline, and it is speculated that it may stay that way.
Other gaming forums seeing significant membership growth
PcGamesN notes that other gaming forums are currently seeing a significant increase in members, benefiting from this exodus from NeoGAF.
The NeoGAF forum is one of the most important gaming forums worldwide. Here, the news of the hour is discussed. Industry insiders and developers regularly participate in discussions. One or the other rumor may also have originated from the imagination of a NeoGAF member.
We at Mein-MMO have reported on discussions and information that originated in the NeoGAF forum. Especially regarding Destiny, there were revelations—game director Luke Smith commented there, for example. Leaks about Destiny 2, which later turned out to be true, were also found on NeoGAF.
It is currently unclear whether the story of NeoGAF ends and the forum remains down or if it will open again. The situation is confusing. Moderators are distancing themselves from the head of NeoGAF, and more and more are announcing their withdrawal—users also seem to be leaving the forum in droves.
Whether the forum will open again—perhaps under different leadership—is currently unknown. Allegedly, the head of NeoGAF is preparing a statement.
NeoGAF back – but chaos continues
Update 24.10 10:55: NeoGAF is back. The founder’s statement is available. He denies all blame and describes the allegations as false. You can read the statement in English here.
Essentially, the forum operator holds the difficult political situation of 2017 responsible for the break with the moderators. He wants to focus NeoGAF more on gaming in the future.
Many users express dissatisfaction with the statement and open protest threads or posts. Numerous users are getting banned. Whether NeoGAF will recover from the crisis remains to be seen.
