A half dozen game publishers, including Arcane Wonders, Iello USA, and Floodgate Games, have broken ties with The Broken Token after CEO Greg Spence was accused of sexual, mental, and emotional abuse by former employee Ashley Taylor. Arcane Wonders said that they “will not support them in light of this news,” and Evil Hat Productions, Floodgate Games, Greater Than Games, Iello USA, and Grey Fox Games all also Tweeted that they have ended their licensing agreements with The Broken Token.
On the convention front, Gen Con stated, “Broken Token is not an exhibitor with us this year and we’ve forwarded the relevant information to our Policy Enforcement Team for next steps.”
Taylor detailed allegations of her experiences as an employee under Spence at Broken Token in a post on Medium, in which she said she was “…finally speaking up after over 10 years because my silence has allowed others to be hurt as well.” She alleged “…five years of sexual, mental, and emotional abuse” as an employee at the company. “Greg is a predator and a true narcissist,” she wrote. “He thrives off of control and mental games.”
The post also alleges that Spence committed similar acts toward a second, unnamed, woman. “Then it happened… my worst nightmare came true and it happened to another woman,” Taylor wrote. “I am still devastated to this day that I didn’t come forward sooner to prevent this.”
Spence posted a response to the allegations on Twitter. “I now find myself in the very uncomfortable position of defending my integrity,” wrote Spence in part. “While I do so with the complete confidence that none of those accusations are true, I am genuinely sorry for how this may affect my family and our terrific team members at The Broken Token.”
Spence also conceded that “more allegations may be raised” against him in the future. And with other companies, including Cephalofair (via Twitter), indicating that they are reviewing their relationships with Broken Token, this is likely not the end of this story.
Source: ICv2
