Matt Conn, the founder behind both developer MidBoss and LGBTQ gaming convention GaymerX, has resigned from leading both amid allegations that he sexually harassed workers and exploited inexperienced employees working in the gaming industry.
Conn’s alleged behavior first emerged after musician liquidcrystal turned to Twitter, claiming that both Conn and MidBoss “severely mistreat their workers” and have “a streak of taking advantage of young queer people.” She also alleged that, based on the experiences of former employees that confided in her, Conn “consistently undervalues women” and “enables others to do the same,” along with engaging in “inappropriate sexual content in work settings.”
https://twitter.com/l1quidcryst4l/status/976607164268793856
https://twitter.com/l1quidcryst4l/status/977045637324836865
https://twitter.com/l1quidcryst4l/status/977188035233239040
https://twitter.com/l1quidcryst4l/status/978323361339203584
Her thread sparked further claims from former MidBoss and GaymerX workers. GX Australia founder Joshua Meadows said Conn “personally made me and my partner uncomfortable a few times” and was “completely unprofessional as a whole.” Tyler Gausvik, a former QA employee with MidBoss, claimed they faced “sexual harassment,” “emotional manipulation,” and “really toxic behavior,” saying they were threatened with legal action while attempting to speak out.
Meanwhile, writer George Diez alleged that Conn made repeated comments about his physical appearance, read through Facebook messages with Diez’s then-boyfriend without permission, showed him porn in the workplace, and engaged in exploitative behavior during an unpaid internship.
https://twitter.com/kungfulasers/status/978328466784317440
What can we do to protect ex- and current MidBoss employees? — HIRE THEM. I am very fortunate in that I have had a lot of work opportunities that started almost… https://t.co/GbiFTUbPt3
— EMi (@uglymachine) March 26, 2018
Matt Conn wasn’t explicitly who I had in mind but he was in the same sphere of all of this. I never knew about any sexual abuse on his part, but he personally made me & my partner uncomfortable a few times and I certainly considered him completely unprofessional as a whole.
— Joshua Meadows (@joshuameadows) March 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/aquapupper/status/977654746487115781
https://twitter.com/diezesq/status/978440300258471936
Conn has since stepped down from MidBoss, saying that he “made some major mistakes” and “will not skirt from my responsibility to give you answers,” GamesIndustry.biz reports. MidBoss and GaymerX president Toni Rocca will lead the company moving forward, although Rocca herself is facing allegations of sexual misconduct of her own from both liquidcrystal and queer social worker Avery Baa. In the latter case, Baa alleged that Rocca became “belligerent” after they refused to sleep with her.
“[B]ut having heard enough voices of people close to me who have experienced this, people who have much more to lose than I do, I need to speak out,” Baa tweeted. “I am going to use my voice and my experiences.”
