User:Tony Sidaway/Fish

This is an attempt to collate all public news reports and commentary on independent game developer Phil Fish's involvement in the Zoe Quinn affair and Gamergate. All sources I can find are listed here without any attempt to distinguish them according to my perception of their reliability or relevance.

Methodology
The search string on Google News is "Phil Fish Zoe Quinn", filtered by edits in the last year and ordered by descending date. All results obtained are listed. The search was performed on January 3, 2015. A link to each source is included. The source and date are given, followed by the headline, and the comments that follow on the item are an attempt to categorise it.

Up to August 21, 2014

 * IGN 2014-01-15: How Twitter changed the gaming industry This turns up in a search on "phil fish Zoe Quinn" for the past twelve months but it's a false positive for the purposes of this analysis
 * Vice 2014-03-24: Notes from GDC: Why Do We Game? Another false positive
 * Gamer Headlines 2014-06-20: Are Youtubers Pirates? Phil Fish thinks so Another.
 * Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish language, a Swedish daily newspaper with a circulation around 120,000) 2014-08-19: Triangeldramat som skakar spelbranschen (Triangle drama that shakes the gaming industry). Basically a false positive. No discussion of Fish's reaction to the attacks on Quinn.

Part 1

 * Develop 2014-08-22: Phil Fish quits development, puts Polytron Partners and Fez IP up for sale. A bare coverage of Fish's announcement, without any explanation or any specific reference to any events.
 * Lazy Gamer 2014-08-22: The wonderful world of reviews False positive. Allegations against Quinn are mentioned and dismissed for lack of evidence. Fish is not mentioned in the article.
 * SegmentNext 2014-08-22: Polytron and Fez Up For Sale as Phil Fish Quits Twitter Yet Again A report that Phil Fish is selling Polytron and Fez following a tirade in which he roundly condemned Zoe Quinn's attackers (his actual language is quoted). No mention of the criminal activity against Fish. Presumably it was not known to the writer.
 * Attack of the Fanboy 2014-08-22: Phil Fish Puts FEZ IP Up For Sale and Quits Twitter After Polytron Hack. An account of the hacking and doxing, and Fish's online response. This article describes the crime as "said to be in retaliation for Polytron and Fish’s involvement in the ongoing controversy surrounding Zoe Quinn". No mention of any of his interactions prior to the hacking.
 * Play.tm 2014-08-22: hil Fish puts Polytron and Fez up for sale and quits Twitter after multiple hacks. Appears to be a report mostly constructed from the AOTF story. It's mostly about Fish's response to the crime.
 * Crave Online 2014-08-22: Embarrassing Week in the Gaming Industry Concludes with #WeLoveGameDevs Twitter Campaign. Sole reference to Fish is "Fez creator Phil Fish defended [Quinn], which then led to yet more outpourings of abuse."
 * Venture Beat 2014-08-22: Hackers post Fez developer Phil Fish's personal information and take control of his studio's website. Straightforward account of the crimes against Quinn and Fish.
 * Crave Online 2014-08-22: Fez Creator Phil Fish Has Quit Gaming After Polytron is Doxxed [UPDATE]. A bare story about the doxing, updated to pour cold water on the claims that the site was hacked. There is a reference to "Phil Fish’s vocal support of Depression Quest developer Zoe Quinn."
 * IGN 2014-08-22: Fez creator sells company after hackers expose his personal info. Another straightforward account of the hacking as punishment for being an "outspoken supporter of Depression Quest developer Zoe Quinn, who, throughout the past week, was the target of a massive harassment campaign."

Part 2

 * Gamer Headlines 2014-08-02: Phil Fish Quits The Gaming Industry. "The Creator of the critically acclaimed indie title FEZ, Phil Fish, has sparked a decent amount of controversy over the past few days. Earlier this week, he had yet another meltdown on Twitter by defending Zoe Quinn, the developer behind the indie title Depression Quest, which has been accused of exchanging sex for positive press."
 * iDigitalTimes 2014-08-22: Polytron Closes As Fez Creator Looks To Sell Company Due To Hacker Attack. "Not being one to keep his opinions to himself, Fish tweeted his support for Quinn, and verbally attacked anyone who disagreed with him. Fish is familiar with online harassment, and even cancelled the highly-anticipated Fez II because of abuse he received over the internet. The harassment went further than ever before, though, with Fish's personal information getting posted online by hackers. The official Polytron Twiter handle was also hacked, before getting suspended."
 * Paste Magazine 2014-08-22: Fez Creator Phil Fish and Polytron Corporation Hacked, Doxxed. 'Fish had been vocal—very vocal—in his defense of Quinn online, raising the ire of onlookers by referring to Quinn’s detractors as “absolutely pathetic, ball-less manboobs” and “essentially rapists” in a series of tweets that are long-since deleted.'
 * Venture Beat 2014-08-22: PS4, League of Legends, and Nintendo: These (and others) lack two-factor authentication. Article about securing gaming websites. "Late last night, game developers Zoe Quinn and Phil Fish found several of their accounts hacked. People were able to get into Quinn’s Dropbox and Fish’s Twitter account as well as his company’s PayPal account. They could have potentially prevented the hackers from accessing their accounts if they enabled two-factor authentication on their accounts."
 * New Gamer Nation 2014-08-22: Fez Creator, Phil Fish Gets Hacked and Sells Polytron. "Phil Fish was defending an outspoken supporter of Depression Quest developer Zoe Quinn. As punishment, hackers exposed his passwords, financial records, social security info, and other sensitive details."
 * Game Zone 2014-08-22: Phil Fish quits gaming industry again, puts Fez and Polytron up for sale. 'Fish, who's no stranger to verbal wars via Twitter, recently took to the social media website as an outspoken supporter of Depression Quest developer Zoe Quinn, who has also been the target of a massive harassment campaign following the publishing of a blog post about her alleged relationships with various game industry workers. As a result, Fish engaged in many verbal arguments, ultimately ending in hackers releasing information as a "public execution of Polytron and Phil Fish."'
 * Polygon 2014-08-22: Fez developer Polytron hacked in ongoing game developer harassment effort. A straightforward report of the crimes against Fish and Quinn, and Fish's decision to sell up and quit gaming.
 * Just Push Start 2014-08-22: Phil Fish’s Website Hacked, Personal Details Leaked Onto Web. "Phil Fish, creator of the popular indie-developed title Fez, has been in gaming news over the years for various reasons. The most recent of which is over his views on the situation regarding Zoe Quinn, another member of the indie gaming scene, and the drama surrounding recent events in her life."
 * n3rdabl3 2014-08-22: (Updated) Phil Fish is at it Again, This Time Putting Polytron up for Sale, then Quits Twitter (again). A gossip blog that got updated when the gossip realised that the reason for Fish deciding to sell up was that he'd been hacked. "The reason for the leak was mostly because of his outspoken support for Depression Quest developer Zoe Quinn who before yesterday’s events had also had information leaked out and Twitter and DropBox accounts hacked."

August 23-27, 2014

 * Game Revolution 2014-08-23: Phil Fish Selling Polytron and Rights to Fez. "After expressing support for Depression Quest developer Zoe Quinn on Twitter, Fish found himself the victim of a hacker attack in which a whole bunch of his personal information was exposed. Following the incident, he announced that he's selling both the rights to Fez and the studio that created it."
 * Playstation Lifestyle 2014-08-23: Fez Developer Polytron Allegedly Hacked, Phil Fish Puts up Polytron and Fez for Sale. Account of hacking "reports" by Quinn and Fish. No reference to any reason why.
 * Shack News 2015-08-25: Fez developer's site hit by DDoS attack. Straightforward account of hacking, mentions other cases but doesn't relate it to Fish's online comments.
 * Game Informer 2014-08-26: Best Podcast On The Citadel Episode 16. Apparently these chaps discussed both Fish and Quinn. No, I'm not going to sit through 66 minutes of people clearing their throats and coughing into microphones to find out what they thought about it.
 * The State Press 2014-08-26:Internet a cold, cruel place for video game developers Opinion piece largely about the hackings. "[Quinn] has been the target of extreme sexual harassment for some time, and it boiled over to the point where Fish spoke out in her defense."
 * Slate 2014-08-27: Letter to a young male gamer. David Auerbach's attempt to reason with those involved in what was not yet known as Gamergate. "Perennially high-strung game designer Phil Fish defended Quinn; in response, his own site got hacked—exposing his personal data down to his Social Security number—and he left the industry again."

August 28-29, 2014

 * The Mary Sue 2014-08-28: (UPDATED) A Disheartening Account Of The Harassment Going On In Gaming Right Now (And How Adam Baldwin Is Involved). An account of the then-nascent Gamergate. "As Badass Digest notes, Phil Fish also fled from Twitter yet again after coming to Quinn’s aid and ending up doxxed with his website hacked"
 * bizjournals.com 2014-08-28: How Zoe Quinn’s ‘Depression Quest’ changed the way gaming is reported. A short piece that quotes part of Auerbach's essay in Slate, including the reference to Fish.
 * Gamasutra 2014-08-28: IGDA issues statement condemning harassment. News piece about the IGDA statement. "Though it is unspecific, the statement is clearly a response to incidents involving noted game critic Anita Sarkeesian (Tropes vs. Women series) who was driven from her home by threats made on Twitter, and developers Zoe Quinn (Depression Quest) and Phil Fish (Polytron Corporation - Fez) whose personal accounts were hacked and private details made public."
 * Venture Beat 2014-08-28: Game-maker group scolds trolls over death threats and other harassment of developers. "Developers Zoe Quinn (creator of Depression Quest) and Phil Fish (creator of Fez) had their social networking accounts hacked and their private details made public."
 * Ars Technica 2014-08-29: The death of the “gamers” and the women who “killed” them. 'Around August 17, Phil Fish, the creator of Fez, tried to step in and defend Quinn. After he received pushback, Fish threatened to cancel unnamed projects. Fish then said he had his Twitter and Dropbox accounts hacked and e-mail accounts, passwords, and banking information published in response to his defense. Fish shamed those who were attacking Quinn on his Twitter account: "All you people attacking Zoe are cowards. Attacking a woman the easiest way you can. Despicable cowards, all of you." Fish followed by announcing his Fez IP was for sale because he "want[ed] out" of the gaming industry.'
 * games.on.net 2014-08-29: Announcement: Readers who feel threatened by equality no longer welcome. "Fez developer Phil Fish had his website hacked and his entire life, his social security numbers, his financial details, everything, dumped online. His crime? Speaking up in support of Zoe Quinn."
 * PC Authority 2014-08-29: Gaming, equality, and you - yes, STILL. "Developer Phil Fish has defended her, and he's copped the same experience [as Quinn], with his site hacked and more private details published. "
 * The Daily Beast 2014-08-28: It's dangerous to go alone: why are gamers so angry? An essay by Arthur Chu that contains the following parenthetical comment in the context of his thesis that a unique mob mentality rules gaming: "Phil Fish, the indie creator of Fez, got harassed off the Internet just for not having any comment when asked to join the campaign against XBox One; now he’s had his company’s financial data hacked for not joining the campaign against Zoe Quinn."
 * Venture Beat 2014-08-29: The DeanBeat: Getting an acquisition story wrong, and the lessons that come from it. Passing reference to criminal attacks on Quinn, Fish, Sarkeesian etc in the context of a quite unrelated story.
 * Game Politics 2014-08-29: IGDA Board of Directors Issues Statement on Developer Harassment. Passing mention of the crimes in a news article about the IGDA statement.
 * Level Up 2014-08-29: Opinión: La guerra de la corrección política contra los gamers. Brief mention in a political essay about Gamergate: "Sitios web como 4chan y reddit han declarado una guerra contra Quinn, mientras desarrolladores como Phil Fish y sitios web la han defendido."

August 30-31, 2014

 * Playstation Lifestyle 2014-08-31: International Game Developers Association Condemns Harassment of Industry Professionals. Refers to "alleged" doxing of Fish in the context of the IGDA statement.

September 1-2, 2014

 * The Guardian 2014-09-01: How to attack a woman who works in video gaming. Jenn Frank's essay. Contains a passing mention of Phil Fish but in the context of Anita Sarkeesian.
 * MCV UK 2014-09-02: IGDA offers support for harassed developers. Another IGDA news piece. "Although it doesn’t reference any specific event, the move comes after the much reported abuse suffered by the likes of Depression Quest developer Zoe Quinn, Fez creator Phil Fish and most recently the creator of the Tropes vs Women video series Anita Sarkeesian."
 * Venture Beat 2014-09-02: Hundreds of developers plead with gamers to stop the hate. A need item about an open letter signed by many developers. Refers to August as a "turbulent" month in which (among other events) "hackers drove Fez developer Phil Fish out the industry after he publicly defended Depression Quest developer Zoe Quinn".
 * IGN German 2014-09-02: Entwickler haben die Schnauze voll vom Hass. '"Depression Quest"-Entwicklerin Zoe Quinn wurde von einem vermeintlichen Exfreund aufs Schwerste diffamiert und zog damit den Hass von Reddit und 4Chan auf sich. FEZ-Entwickler Phil Fish stellte sich auf Quinns Seite, woraufhin 4Chan-Usern seine Website hackten und doxten, also sensible Dokumente veröffentlichten, weshalb Fish seinen endgültigen Rücktritt aus der Spieleentwicklung erklärte und die FEZ-IP zum Verkauf stellte.'
 * Load the Game 2014-09-02: Developers sign a letter to end harassment. "Phil Fish, the developer of Fez found his personal information leaked online following the hacking of his website. As a result, Fish, who had previously announced the cancellation of Fez 2, decided to sell the IP to someone else."
 * Recode 2014-09-02: Rated S for Sexism: To Fix Misogynistic Games, We Need a Better Filter. Essay by Eric Johnson on sexism in gaming. 'To their credit, many independent developers, like Schafer and Polytron’s Phil Fish, tweeted in defense of Sarkeesian and Quinn. And the board of the International Game Developers Association publicly condemned their harassers’ “abhorrent behavior.”.'
 * Tech Times 2014-09-02: Video game creators want to stop intolerance in gaming. "Indie developer Phil Fish, the creator of Fez, was also attacked online after defending Quinn."
 * IGN 2014-09-02: Hundreds of developers are feed up with the hate. English version of the German IGN article above.
 * Honi Soit 2014-09-02: On neckbeards and arseholes. "Phil Fish, the game developer behind Fez, had his Dropbox and Twitter accounts hacked after speaking out in support of Quinn."

September 3-14, 2014

 * Business Insider 2014-09-03: Game Developers Are Finally Stepping Up To Change Their Hate-Filled Industry. "Game developer Phil Fish came to Quinn’s defence, which led to hackers taking down his studio’s website, and posting his personal information online."
 * Stuff.co.nz 2014-09-03: Game developers push to end harassment. "Zoe Quinn, creator of Depression Quest, and Phil Fish, creator of Fez, have both been the target of concerted harassment campaigns in recent weeks, with attackers going as far as hacking Fish's website and publishing personal information."
 * The Guardian 2014-09-03: Gamergate: the community is eating itself but there should be room for all. Keith Stuart's piece about early Gamergate. It mentions Phil Fish but not in the context of the events leading to his hacking and doxing, which are not even mentioned.


 * Gameranx 2014-09-03: The Fine Young Capitalists’ Seemingly Noble Goals Don’t Excuse them from Scrutiny. A piece dividing in The Fine Young Capitalists, which refers in passing to Phil Fish’s information being "shared over his support of Zoe [Quinn]."
 * Venture Beat 2014-09-03: Fez dev Phil Fish releases his craziest (and best) statement ever. A bemused reaction to an official Polytron press release that amounted to a quote of the US President's speech from the film Independence Day. Refers to recent events thus: "In response to the mob of angry people on social media that continue to attack personalities like Anita Sarkeesian, Depression Quest developer Zoe Quinn, and others for speaking out against sexism in games, Fish has provided a new statement …"
 * Paste Magazine 2014-09-04: 'Why We Didn't Want to Talk About "GamerGate"'. "A designer having his work site hacked is newsworthy, which is why we covered that when it happened to Phil Fish after he openly supported Quinn."
 * VOX 2014-09-06: #GamerGate: Here's why everybody in the video game world is fighting. Updated in October. The only mention of Fish is in a caption to a screenshot of his game Fez.
 * RH Reality Check 2014-09-09: What ‘GamerGate’ Reveals About the Silencing of Women. Katherine Cross's essay. "Amid GamerGate, the men who supported Quinn and Sarkeesian, such as Phil Fish or Tim Schafer, sustained no small measure of attempted intimidation for their trouble." And "Hell opened up for Fish and Schafer only when they defended Quinn’s fundamental humanity."
 * Market Place 2014-09-10: Questions raised over bullying in the gaming community. Radio interview with voice actress Jennifer Hale. Fish is not mentioned at all in the interview. False positive.

September 15-30, 2014

 * VOX 2014-09-15: The confusion around #GamerGate explained, in three short paragraphs. A brief quotation from a longer Google+ post by David Hill. The part of the quotation that is about Fish says, in full: "People like Zoe Quinn and Phil Fish, they are not gatekeepers. They are not able to enact any real, significant influence on the industry."
 * Washington Post 1014-09-16: How the gaming community destroys its heroes. A backgrounder about Marcus "Notch" Persson that references a June, 2014 YouTube video about Phil Fish. There is nothing here about his interactions with Gamergate or his decision to sell up and leave gaming in August, although Zoe Quinn and Gamergate are named in the same article. False positive.
 * The Daily Beast 2014-09-17: Death of 'Gamer' Identity: How Hardcore Trolls Pwned Themselves. "The public attacks against Phil Fish, who came to Quinn’s defense, were less widely reported but equally vile." There are 3 other references in much the same tone.


 * Paste Magazine 2014-09-18: Hack 'N' Slash Review (PC, Mac, Linux). Review of a video game. A brief reference to Fish reads: "The hyped Watch Dogs starred a vigilante hacker, and real-life hackers recently stole personal information from developers like Zoe Quinn and Phil Fish."
 * The Quad 2014-09-25: Who Owns Video Games? Student journalism, refers to Fish thus: "When developer Phil Fish spoke out in favor of Sarkeesian’s most recent video, his website was hacked, and it proved to be the final straw that pushed the frequently harassed developer out of the industry entirely." Yes, I know. Moving on...
 * Bustle 2014-09-29: #GamerGate Trolls Harassed Zoe Quinn For Weeks, But She Says She Won't Stop Fighting. "But their supporters have come under fire as well — two prominent male game developers were also targeted after voicing public support for the beleaguered pair. One is Tim Schafer, the legendary point-and-click adventure developer, and the other is Phil Fish, creator of maybe the greatest puzzle platformer of all time, Fez." And "While Schafer got off relatively easy, with his website being brought down temporarily by DDoS attacks, Fish got doxed in a big way — personal details, including tax and banking information, splashed across the internet for all to see."

October, 2014

 * The Escapist 2014-10-10: Interview with Damion Schubert. At one point he says "Zoe Quinn, Phil Fish, Anita Sarkeesian - these are all minor players in the games industry, making small donation-based indie projects."
 * The Daily Cardinal 2014-10-12: #GamerGate is a Damaging Blemish on the Gaming Community. 'Game developer Phil Fish (“Fez” and one of the subjects of the documentary “Indie Game: The Movie”) is legendary for his standoffishness and ability to throw and take punches; he left the games industry midway through development of his new game.'
 * Forbes 2014-10-13: What Is GamerGate And How Did It Blow Up Into Such A Giant Conspiracy? Sorry, but this is an answer to a Quora question provided by a "student". I have to draw the line somewhere. WTF, Forbes? Nevertheless there is no mention of Fish being hacked and doxed for calling people names.
 * Metro.co.uk 2014-10-15: GamerGate – what is it, and why are gamers so angry? No mention of Phil Fish. False positive.
 * Mother Jones 2014-10-16: Women Harassed Out of Their Homes. Mass Shooting Threats. How #Gamergate Morphed Into a Monster. This is the article containing screen shots of Phil Fish's ranting. The screen shots have no date and time stamp, there is no way to know whether these were from before or after he was hacked and doxed. There is no analysis and there is no mention of the hacking and doxing in the article which is dated over three weeks after the event.
 * Game Informer 2014-10-20: GamerGate's Origins And What It Is Now. "Things quickly ramped up from there. Over the next few days, waves of hatred were spewed at Zoe Quinn over social media, culminating in the posting of her personal information online as well as the personal and financial information of one of her friends, indie developer Phil Fish, who had spoken up in her defense. The doxing and harassment triggered Fish to declare his company up for sale to any reasonable offers. He was the first person to leave the industry due to the harassment targeting Quinn and her supporters."
 * Gamer Headlines 2014-10-21: Paranautical Activity taken off Steam after dev threatens to kill Gabe Newell. False positive. No mention of Phil Fish in the article.
 * PC Authority 2014-10-28: A GamerGate recognition guide. A semi-humorous feature on Gamergate supporters. Phil Fish's name only appears as a sample search term.

After October

 * Aussie-Gamer 2014-11-17: I was Offline during Gamergate. False positive.
 * Daily Caller 2014-11-20: What #Gamergate’s Critics Get Right, And Why It Doesn’t Matter: Sex, Race And Rock n’ Roll. Essay by Mytheos Holt. Contains a passing reference to the Fish in the context of the #NotYourShield hashtag.
 * CS Monitor 2014-11-25: Gamergate and the new horde of digital saboteurs. "After game developer Phil Fish publicly defended Quinn, he too became a victim of hacks and online attacks. After his company’s site was hacked and its financial information made public online, Fish said he was selling the company."