Night in the Woods co-creator and artist Scott Benson made shocking revelations regarding fellow indie creator, Alec Holowka.
Last week, allegations surfaced that Alec Holowka, one of the people behind the 2017 break-out indie hit Night in the Woods, was an abuser. Many people shared their stories on Twitter, with Zoe Quinn chiming in with her tale of how she was tricked into becoming trapped in Holowka’s apartment with promises of creating a game with the indie phenom.
Then on Saturday morning, Alec took his own life in an apparent suicide.
Details are still murky and likely never to be revealed, but sister Eileen Mary Holowka posted a lengthy statement on her (now private) Twitter account confirming Alec’s death.
Following the news, even more people began to talk about Alec's life and his pattern of abusive behavior. One of those people was Night in the Woods co-creator, Scott Benson.
In a post on Medium, Benson describes Alec as "my friend, my collaborator, a nightmare, the origin of my PTSD, and the reason I was in therapy." He tells a lengthy tale of how Alec was at times eager to work with Scott on Night in the Woods, and at other times absolutely indifferent to the game's development.
Which was a problem as the game was Kickstarted and their small team of 3 developers was legally required to produce a game.
You can read the full story from Scott, but highlights include warning signs at 2014's E3 where Alec spoke poorly of ex-girlfriends, and then a complete mental break down at the 2015 Game Developer's Conference. Alec would threaten himself and others, eventually getting kicked out of his Vancouver apartment and dropping from Night in the Woods' development entirely.
He'd return to work only after a concerted effort in 2016 that resulted in both Scott and Alec entering therapy--Alec for his mood disorder, and Scott for anxiety and PTSD.
According to Scott, it was a minor miracle that Night in the Woods got published, but it left both himself and co-creator Bethany Hockenberry with lasting mental scars.
"Alec is gone,” wrote Benson. “What he did to people remains."
Source: Medium