In June 2020, game writer Chris Avellone, best known as the screenwriter for the "Planescape Torment" and "Fallout" series, was accused by two women of sexual abuse on Twitter (opens in new tab). At the time, Avelone remained silent on Twitter, returning only a few short replies (now deleted), but the accusations prompted several studios to publicly cut ties with the writer. About a year after the accusation, Avelone publicly denied it and filed a defamation lawsuit in California (opens in new tab) (later re-filed in Illinois).

The lawsuit has now been settled in favor of Avelone. His accusers, Carissa Burroughs and Kelly Rae Bristol, have signed a joint statement retracting their claims. Ms. Burroughs has asked to retract her earlier comments to the media.

Full details of the settlement are confidential, but Avalone has a "seven-figure payment in place" and public statements from both sides (open in new tab):

"Mr. Avalone has never sexually abused either of us. We are not aware that he has ever sexually abused any woman. Mr. Avellone has never misused company funds. Everything we have previously stated about Mr. Avellone or written to the contrary is not our intent.

"We wanted to support women in the industry. In doing so, our words have been misinterpreted to suggest specific allegations of misconduct that were neither expressed nor intended. We are passionate about the safety, security, and agency of women, minorities, LGBTQIA+ people, and any other community that has been persecuted in the video game industry. We believe that Mr. Averon shares our desire to protect and uplift these communities. We believe he deserves a full return to the gaming industry and we support such efforts.

Above are the words of Carissa Burroughs and Kelly Rae Bristol.

"We are grateful that Ms. Burrows and Ms. Bristol are willing to work with us on issues within the gaming community, and their advocacy is to be commended and supported," Averone's statement said.

"There are still so many practical challenges facing us, but we are confident that together we can face them.

"In the spirit of these goals, we respect the privacy of Ms. Burrows and Ms. Bristol and ask everyone to use this opportunity as a means to listen to all voices in order to improve our culture and community."

This is quite a turnaround and vindication for Averon, who was an outcast immediately following the accusations. He was fired from "Dying Light 2," people demanded that companies associated with Avellone publicly denounce him, further accusations were made, and Avellone was described as "fucking disgusting" by one of his accusers, adding fuel to a raging fire (opens in new tab).

"I want to thank everyone on both sides who chose not to rush to judgment, listen, let the legal process run its course, let the facts come out on both sides, and bring about a resolution," Avellone wrote on Twitter (opens in new tab) after posting a settlement statement.

Shortly before the accusations surfaced in 2020, Avelone had contributed to several games, and most of the studios behind those projects had publicly distanced themselves from him. Avelone provided the screenplay for Into the Breach, was a consultant on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, was a consultant on Pathfinder: Kingmaker: Story Design. He was in charge of. Whether he will be able to make a "full return to the industry" remains to be seen.

March 28, 2023: This article has been updated for editorial deletion.