Gen Con attendees have been sending racist, sexist messages from fake accounts

Because the culture wars have now spread on all fronts imaginable in recent years Board games have gone through their own struggles as gamers traditionally marginalized in the space have fought for more inclusion, again confronted with ever more strident resistance. That opposition took a strange and hostile turn over the past week, when attendees of the massive Gen Con show received harassing messages from what appeared to be the congressional staffers themselves.

Some contestants who posted online shared racist and sexist messages they received before they even got to the show (which is from today, May 4th).

Here’s an example provided by the show’s safety advisor Kelsey Danger, indicating that the messages were designed to try and persuade the targeted people not to attend the show:

Gen Con organizers have since issued a statement saying:

We are aware that there are harassers who attempt to impersonate Gen Con attendees and staff via SMS and email. We encourage you not to engage with them and instead report concerns…

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The targeting of marginalized attendees led some to speculate that someone within Gen Con had played a role, but Gen Con later denied this, saying none of the affected attendees gave their phone numbers to organizers. Instead, it just seems that people believed to be attending the industry’s largest North American show have been targeted, along with anyone commenting or replying to tweets on the subject:

If you or someone you know has been affected, the Gen Con email address guide above is a useful tip to share. Hate messages on Twitter should of course be reported immediately.

Held annually in Indianapolis, Gen Con is the largest board game event in North America for both industry members and fans alike. The last show before the pandemic in 2019 attracted almost 70,000 visitors.