Yesterday was not a good day at the offices of Indie Statik. CEO and Founder, Josh Mattingly, officially stepped down from the indie journalism mantle after making completely inappropriate comments to a female game developer. The co-founder and Editor-In-Chief (EIC) Chris Priestman has stepped down as well.
According to a Kotaku article, Josh Mattingly, starts with “hello” and “…how are you pretty lady?” Mattingly continues on, asking about a game that is possibly in development. Then he states her reward for helping him is “I’ll kiss you on the vagina if you do.” The few following lines are degrading and worse than “let me know if you need a penis for anything in the near future.”
Needless to say Mr. Mattingly posted an apology here. He takes full responsiblity for his actions and admits to struggling with mental health issues and alchoholism. Along with that apology, Indie Statik announced “for the sake of the community and our website, we felt it was best for Josh to remain out of the picture for a while.”
In that same announcement EIC and co-founder Chris Priestman is stepping down.
Yup, that’s right, both founders of the company. Part of the letter posted by the Indie Statik staff made very clear that “Josh’s actions do not reflect on our writers as individuals, or the mission of Indie Statik, and we hope our readers will understand.”
Meanwhile, David DeCarmine of Game Jolt will take care of the site to make sure it’s running smooth. Chloi Rad will take the helm as the EIC.
My Thoughts
I hope the staff at Indie Statik are not affected by this in a negative way. This kind of behavior warrants recognition and people need to vocalize, it is not okay. Josh Mattingly agrees he’s only added to the already vulgar, and at times grotesque, cesspool of harassment towards women in the industry.
As I try to find something clever to say, nothing comes to mind. This type of immaturity and lack of self-control tends to get under my skin. Having recently realized my own daughter will one day be online, it disappoints me that industry professionals – even those who advocate against this behaviour – are just as guilty.
