At one of the events that framed the Game Developers Conference 2023 in San Francisco, there are quite serious allegations. Some women were allegedly drugged, molested, and assaulted on Thursday evening.
Leena van Denver, a video game designer and writer currently working on the survival horror film Dead Static Drive, would have been "belittled and stripped of their roles, relentlessly beaten and drugged with tainted beverages" during GDC 2023.
According to his testimony, two women were allegedly "led to a hotel room for a 'proposal' by a powerful man, who then attacked them." As a warning sign for other women, the victims have already received help.
"We've always spied on each other's backs, but now you predators more aware of who you're dealing with. We know who you are and who you (currently) work with. We have more information than ever before, and many suggestions on how to utilize it; not even the fury of hell matches the intelligence of an informed woman."
Second Guy BlombergPR Vice President of Stride and founder of Games Industry Gathering, there is a possibility that van Deventer's actions occurred during a karaoke event he personally coordinated. "It's absolutely not their fault," says the victim.
Both van Deventer and Blomberg directed victims to the Games and Online Harassment Hotline, which later tweeted: "Every year, there are stories of groping, drugging, harassment, and other instances of attempted violence during GDC events." It hurts our hearts and upsets us that everything seems to be normal, something you have to endure or avoid if you are lucky.
