Was going to write a lengthy blog post about why I'm leaving games to pursue other stuff for a while, but here's the cliff-notes:

Basically, I've felt really unwelcome in games for a while - that isn't to say that I don't think the indie games community is wonderful, or that there's anything inherently wrong with games - it just feels as though the things I want to say, the stories I want to tell, aren't well suited to the games market. I've been trying for years now to marry what I thought were interesting and unique ideas to forms that made them accessible; to subtly challenge expectations and deliver slightly unconventional experiences through conventional paradigms.

For my work I've received a lot of criticism (much of it fair, and well-expressed, and helpful), but also a lot of abuse; a lot of people telling me that I'm a scam artist, that my work is irredeemable trash, that they'll steal it out of spite, that they want to see me go bankrupt. As my visibility and the ambition of my work has increased, so too has the stress involved in making it, and so too has the level of abuse I receive upon each new project's release. This year I basically reached my breaking point - games were affecting my health, my relationships, and my ability to function properly day to day, and I've had enough. I'm no longer happy working myself to breaking point for people who ridicule me and my work, in an industry that makes me feel miserable.

I want to make absolutely clear that my objection is not to people disliking my work, that would be absurd - my issue is that the mainstream games community right now, for all its talk of innovation, of artistry, of experimentation, is a ferociously and unyieldingly conservative space. It's one thing to see antagonism towards rival groups, rival ideas, rival philosophies and political positions - none of these are exclusive to games, but what *is* exclusive to games is the intensity of this Us VS Them mentality - it doesn't exist to anything like the same degree in film, in literature, in music. In games we can't criticise someone on a specific point without our words becoming ammunition for their abusers, we can't express support for a person without it being assumed we agree with their every word, we can't express political philosophical positions without being reduced to just another voice in a larger discussion - everything is reduced to absurd, harmful absolutes, and I don't believe I'm the only person who feels hugely alienated by this.

So I'm distancing myself from games to focus on the things that make me happy. I'm going to go back to writing, to web design, to DJing and music curation. I'm going to spend more time with my girlfriend, with my friends, and aim to repair the relationships that have suffered due to the stress I've been under. Above all, I'm going to actually take the time to be a 20-year-old kid again. I want to make stuff and experiment and try things without the pressure of ten thousand angry consumers ready to fill my inbox with vitriol every time I make a wrong step

I hope that the people who enjoyed my work in games will continue to follow and enjoy my output in other creative spaces, and I sincerely hope that my going public about all this will resonate with others in a similar position, and help to encourage more positive discussion.

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