GUEST EDITORIAL by Anon 

IGF Chairman Brandon Boyer was recently discovered to have engaged in a conflict of interest with Steph Thirion, writing a series of articles for Boing Boing promoting him without disclosing that they are personal friends. This conflict was noticed after an interview with Allistair Pinsof in which he claimed to have had a conversation with Thirion’s girlfriend Tiff Chow in 2011 in which she bragged that Thirion would win Fantastic Arcade’s Best Game Award because of his friendship with Boyer. In a statement to Kotaku she denied that this conversation had ever occured. However both the Boing Boing articles and the social media records demonstrating that they were friends over the same period as the articles are public record, so unlike the alleged Fantastic Arcade conversation there is no need to rely on anyone’s testimony.

http://pastebin.com/8mmz88Zz
http://techraptor.net/content/allegations-improper-relationships-igf-chairman-brandon-boyer-indie-dev-steph-thirion

I have now compiled evidence indicating that he has also engaged in a conflict of interest with Douglas Wilson (Die Gute Fabrik), Ricky Haggett (Honeyslug), Kyle Reimergartin, Ben Esposito, and Nina Freeman. A sampling of tweets is linked for each person, however note that one aspect of the evidence they don’t convey is sheer activity. In particular Wilson and Haggett have chatted with Boyer via twitter on a regular basis for many years and Reimergartin has talked with him on a near-daily basis since around December 2013.

I believe this list to be far from comprehensive. All five conflicts of interest were found by systematically checking each small developer listed in a single Boing Boing article, “20 Games You Shouldn’t Miss in 2014”, which I used as a starting point after learning of a second COI besides Thirion. Given the brazenness and number of articles promoting Thirion and the pattern of behavior shown by the other COIs, his hundreds of other Boing Boing articles likely contain more, not to mention any of his developer friends who don’t broadcast details of their personal relationships on the internet.

Boyer could have chosen to disclose these relationships. Instead in the opening he claims that “Over the past year I played hundreds of amazing games across a wide spectrum of team sizes, budgets and ambitions. Below are 20 games that exemplify the best that 2014 had to offer”. Yet of the 13 games developed by a single person or group of less than 10 people, 5 were made by people from his personal circle of friends. Four of those five have also been IGF finalists at least once and two have been featured by Fantastic Arcade.

For all 5:
20 Games You Shouldn’t Miss in 2014
https://archive.today/b2TGj

Douglas Wilson:

Used as a promotional quote on the company website:
https://archive.today/17iqN#selection-265.0-262.1

On J.S. Joust and Venus Patrol
https://archive.today/b34F0
“Our friend Brandon Boyer recently ran a Kickstarter drive for his new website, Venus Patrol. To help support the drive, we agreed to contribute a special pre-release demo build of Johann Sebastian Joust, for donors at the $25 level or above.”

2012 IGF Finalist (Seumas McNally Grand Prize and Nuovo Award) for JS Joust
https://archive.today/r5jtA

2012 Fantastic Arcade Selection (Where is my Heart?)
https://archive.today/0CNZT

Venus Patrol:
KICK IN: HELP BRING JOHANN SEBASTIAN JOUST, HOKRA, BARABARIBALL, SUPER POLE RIDERS TO PC/MAC & PS3
https://archive.today/sP8La
(Mentions financial involvement in Venus Patrol kickstarter but not personal relationship.)

ONE SHOT: DOMINIQUE FERLAND’S TRIBUTE TO SPORTSFRIENDS
https://archive.today/hOw0F

ONE SHOT: MARé ODOMO’S TRIBUTE TO SPORTSFRIENDS
https://archive.today/o695w

The following articles were published in 2009. As Wilson joined twitter in 2011 (at which time he seems to have already been friends with Boyer) and I haven’t been able to find evidence indicating the nature of their relationship in 2009, it is uncertain whether they are also a conflict of interest:

Red 7: the first prototype screenshot of Die Gute Fabrik’s swamp-opera Mutatione
https://archive.today/pijYG

One shot: Die Gute Fabrik’s swamp-opera concept, Mutatione
https://archive.today/g0dht

One shot: headbanging for love in Spirit Horse of the Cherokee!
https://archive.today/Y6IOX

Recently on Offworld: a more social Nintendo, more DS blood diamonds, time ufck’d pathos puzzling
https://archive.today/Gpzi9

Recently on Offworld: rapid prototyping time lapse, Experimental Gameplay Wii-bound, headbanging for love
https://archive.today/xT1WS

Sample of tweets demonstrating relationship:
http://pastebin.com/cuK1sRj4

Aided in testing JS Joust in 2011:
https://archive.today/4NKMR#selection-2749.17-2749.53

Ricky Haggett:

VENUS PATROL PRESENTS: THE ART OF HONEYSLUG’S FROBISHER SAYS
https://archive.today/f7Eap

LOOKING BACK: A SLIDESHOW OF VENUS PATROL & MOCATV’S HORIZON CONFERENCE
https://archive.today/nI0jC

STUPIDNESS COMES STATESIDE: HONEYSLUG’S FROBISHER SAYS GETTING U.S. RELEASE
https://archive.today/uiAIB

2011 IGF Finalist (Excellence in Visual Arts) for Hohokum
https://archive.today/4gztI

Sample of tweets demonstrating relationship:
http://pastebin.com/TXFKkhZT

Kyle Reimergartin:

Fantastic Arcade 2014 spotlight game (Banana Chalice)
https://archive.today/JxtvC

GANG BEASTS, MOUNTAIN, DONUT COUNTY ARCADE CABINETS COMING TO FANTASTIC ARCADE
https://archive.today/vPZxt
“Once again, the games have been selected by the operators of Austin indie collective JUEGOS RANCHEROS (aka Adam Saltsman, Jo Lammert, Rachel Weil, Wiley Wiggins & yours truly)”

Showcase game for Fantastic Arcade 2013 (Fjords), however based on twitter activity they do not seem to have been close friends yet at that time:
https://archive.today/AT97p

Sample of tweets demonstrating relationship:
http://pastebin.com/cUcsNUMD

Ben Esposito:

A HOLE NEW WORLD: BEN ESPOSITO’S KACHINA BECOMES DONUT COUNTY
https://archive.today/DYW5a

GANG BEASTS, MOUNTAIN, DONUT COUNTY ARCADE CABINETS COMING TO FANTASTIC ARCADE
https://archive.today/vPZxt

2015 IGF Finalist (Excellence in Visual Arts) and Honorable Mention (Seumas McNally Grand Prize) for Donut COunty
https://archive.today/ZkU7d

2014 IGF Finalist (Excellence in Visual Arts) for Perfect Stride
https://archive.today/nbi1G

Sample of tweets demonstrating relationship:
http://pastebin.com/P8NAVGVC

Nina Freeman:

IGF 2015 Finalist (Nuovo Award)
https://archive.today/ZkU7d

Sample of tweets demonstrating relationship:
http://pastebin.com/Z4bNcz2L