Justice has been served for one prominent game developer who went through accusation hell.

Chris Avellone, known for his designer and developer work on the Fallout series and also Star Wars and System Shock, is now free of past sexual assault claims. He was accused in 2020 by two women, whom have withdrawn their claims made against Avellone.

To recap, Avellone was accused of sexual assault by two women in 2020. In 2021, Avellone launched a libel suit against his accusers. Right now, he shares a joint statement from his accusers and himself.

“Mr. Avellone never sexually abused either of us. We have no knowledge that he has ever sexually abused any women. Anything we have previously said or written about Mr. Avellone to the contrary was not our intent. We wanted to support women in the industry. In so doing, our words have been misinterpreted to suggest specific allegations of misconduct that were neither expressed nor intended.

We are passionate about the safety, security and agency of women, minorities, LGBTQIA+ persons, and every other community that has seen persecution in the video game industry. We believe Mr. Avellone shares a desire to protect and uplift those communities. We believe that he deserves a full return to the industry and support him in those endeavours.”

He also settled on a 7-figure settlement from his accusers as compensation for the trouble he went through. It’s hard to get a job or land high-profile gigs when everyone in the industry sides with the perpetrators.

Avellone said that he appreciated the willingness of the accusers to work with him to address issues within the gaming community. He also asks that everyone respects the privacy of the accusers and “use this opportunity as a means to listen to all voices in improving our culture and our communities”.

While it’s good that Avellone gets justice on his side, we should remember that there are other game developers and folks in the industry who aren’t lucky due to these similar “woke” witchhunts without proof of any kind. This should be a wake-up call for people not to jump to conclusions and look at facts rather than who’s the loudest on social media.