Night In The Woods Studio Cuts Ties With Co-Developer Over Abuse Allegations

(Content warning: sexual assault.)

Following serious allegations leveled against Night in the Woods co-developer Alec Holowka, the indie studio Infinite Fall has cut ties and changed its release plans for a physical edition of the game. In a series of tweets, developers Scott Benson and Bethany Hockenberry say they take the allegations very seriously and that they share their fans' hurt and anger.

On August 27, developer Zoe Quinn detailed sexual abuse and assault allegations against Holowka on Twitter. Though the response from Benson and Hockenberry does not mention Quinn, it does reference "allegations of past abuse" that have come to light this week. Quinn's statement came alongside a broad range of abuse accusations within the games industry.

"We take such allegations seriously as a team. As a result and after some agonizing consideration, we are cutting ties with Alec," the studio stated. "We are cancelling a current project and postponing the Limited Run physical release. The iOS port is being handled by an outside company and supervised by Finji and will remain in development."

The studio goes on to address how people may feel about the game itself, and that this shift in studio roles may impact their plans in other ways. The situation is in flux.

"Thousands of people have connected with Night In The Woods in a very personal way," it stated. "We can't tell you how to feel about any of this. Whatever you're feeling is valid. Your experience with art is yours. What it means to you is yours, regardless of anything else. Going forward, Night In The Woods will be handled by Bethany and I [Scott]. We're not sure what that all means yet. This stuff takes time.

"Thanks for your support over the years. We're sorry to even have to say any of this. That's all I can say at the moment. Thank you for your patience."