We Screwed Up

To the supporters of GaymerX and GX3: Everyone Games,

First, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Katie Batterman, former Shopper Marketing Coordinator at Ubisoft. I just took over most of PR for GX3: Everyone Games as a volunteer staff member. The plan was to have me start next week, but then well… life happened.

We hurt some of you deeply. We acknowledge this and we are ashamed of ourselves. We have committed to making GaymerX and GX: Everyone Games safe spaces for people who identify as LGBTQ, Women, People of Color, and Allies who support marginalized communities. But then we said something thoughtless on Twitter that was interpreted as GaymerX being in support of #GamerGate. By doing this we alienated and disturbed a great number of you. Worst of all, we violated that safe space.

A lot of people see #GamerGate as a hate movement. Others see it as being about journalistic ethics and integrity. The fact is that #GamerGate is a complicated, multi faceted, emotionally charged issue. No matter where you stand, a lot of feelings can get hurt within the space of 140 characters. (See Addendum)

We at GaymerX didn’t want to be involved at all. But then, well… like I said before, life happened.

Now I could try to explain away what we said, but that wouldn’t cut it. The fact is we said something stupid on Twitter. We take full responsibility for that action. We hurt you, we betrayed your trust, and we are truly and deeply sorry.

I want to make a few things 100% clear: We are committed to supporting the community of awesome LGBTQ and Allied gamers that we’ve built. We are committed to promoting diversity within the gaming universe. Most importantly, we are staunchly against harassment and bullying of anyone for anything. Everyone who agrees with these statements is welcome within our community.

To the #GamerGate supporters, specifically: GaymerX/GX: Everyone Games is a small organization. Please do not involve us in the larger discussion. We have no interest in it.

Thank you, to those of you who brought our statements into question. We value every ounce of criticism and take your words very seriously. We will try to do better in the future. We just hope you can give us another chance.

If you have questions or further concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We want a conversation with our supporters, not a monologue.

All the best,
Katie Batterman and the GX3 Staff

 

Addendum: Our community has spoken. And we feel we can be honest: We do NOT support #GamerGate. And we denounce their activities.

My personal apologies for dancing around this earlier. It’s my first day.