Autumn Rose Taylor, a marketing director at Owlchemy Labs, reveals in a series of tweets that Michael Antonov, the co-founder of Oculus VR, sexually assaulted her in 2016.
Sexual Assault Allegation At Game Developers Conference
Last week, Taylor recalled in a series of tweets the interaction she had with the founder/executive of a VR hardware company at the Game Developers Conference. At the time, this man offered to show her VR demos in his apartment.
"I was new. I remember trusting them, they're an important person that I admired. So naive" Taylor tweeted. "They showed me VR demos, but put their hands up my skirt while they did so — WHILE I WAS STILL IN VR. The shock and fear of that happening while I was essentially blindfolded."
She later confirmed in the following tweet that the exec was Antonov who, she said, was around 30 years old at the time. Taylor was a college student when the sexual assault happened.
"This person in a position of power when VR was new made me feel small," she added. "I shouldn't discredit my experience. Michael Antonov was a f****** creep to me at an Oculus event."
Antonov has not stated the allegations made by Taylor. However, Andrew Bosworth, the head of VR and AR at Facebook, has responded to the tweets, saying that he "does not accept this behavior." He added that Facebook does not ignore harassment and the company investigates any claim.
However, Katie Chironis, a narrative designer at Riot Games, shared that she was sexually harassed at an Oculus holiday party. She said that she reported the incident to HR, but the unnamed person who harassed her is still working at the company.
#MeToo Hits Gaming Industry
Taylor said that she finally dared to share her negative experience with Antonov after several other women spoke out about sexual misconduct within the gaming industry.
Last week, in her blog, developer Nathalie Lawhead accused composer Jeremy Soule of rape. Depression Quest developer Zoe Quinn, in a series of tweets, said that Alec Holowka, also a developer, assaulted and abused her. Developer Adelaide Gardner tweeted that Luc Shelton of Splash Damage assaulted and gaslit her and "at least one other woman."
