Fallout New Vegas writer Chris Avellone accused of sexual abuse

Chris Avellone, a games dev vet with huge credits in fan favorites like Fallout 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, KOTOR II, and more recently Prey and Jedi: Fallen Order, now has a rap sheet of sexual abuse allegations to match his industry accomplishments.

Chris Avellone has been accused of sexual abuse and misconduct by numerous women, leading to major developers parting ways with him. Victims paint a sordid picture of Avellone's behavior, calling him "an abusive, abrasive, conniving sexual predator" who preyed on young women. Avellone allegedly would try to sleep with young women at gaming conventions by getting them drunk and using his influence in the games industry.

One woman, Karissa, recounts her encounter with Avellone in a lengthy Twitter post. Avellone got her quite drunk and made out with her, and allegedly tried to sleep with her (and numerous other women during the time). Karissa describes a vicious cycle of manipulation, abuse, and exploitation. Avellone had been reported multiple times to the convention handlers and was blacklisted.

Another woman on Twitter says Avellone groped her repeatedly at a 2014 games event:

"I've never admitted this on main, but he groped me repeatedly at D*C 2014, by Pulse. Every time you or his gf weren't looking, his hand was on my ass & he was trying to get me to go to his room. I told him I don't fuck my friends' boyfriends & to stay the fuck away from me...," she said.

Other women like Jacqui Collins were likewise treated as sexual objects by Avellone.

Avellone sent Collins lewd and inappropriate messages via Twitter DMs. Shortly after sharing the screen cap, Avellone apologized to Collins.

"I should have been better, and I apologize," he said.

As a result of his alleged behavior, multiple dev studios have kicked Avellone off of their projects.

Techland has terminated its relationship with Avellone for Dying Light 2:

"We treat matters of sexual harassment and disrespect with utmost care, and have no tolerance for such behavior. This is why, together with Chris Avellone, we've decided to end our cooperation," Techland said on Twitter.

Avellone is also no longer working on Paradox's Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, and Gato Studio has likewise kicked him off of the Waylanders game.

"Chris Avellone is no longer associated with Gato Salvaje Studio or The Waylanders project," Gato said on Twitter.

These allegations were precursors to more recent sexual abuse claims at Ubisoft. First Assassin's Creed director Ashraf Ismail was accused of cheating on his wife by multiple people, and then rape allegations were made against Ubisoft brand manager Andrien Gbinigie.

Now two high-ranking Ubisoft execs Maxime Beland and Tommy Francois have likewise been accused of illicit and lewd behavior stretching back multiple years. Ubisoft has since suspended both Beland and Francois from their creative teams.