Reporter Josh Mattingly has apologized for making "inappropriate" comments to a female game developer after they were made public earlier today, saying he was drunk.

Earlier this afternoon, game designer Laralyn McWilliams posted a blurred Facebook conversation from January 18 in which a male reporter asked a female game developer—a friend of McWilliams—about an unannounced game. The conversation, which you can read in its entirely at the bottom of this post, quickly turned crude, as the reporter sent messages like "I will kiss you on the vagina if you do" and "Let me know if you need a penis for anything in the [near] future."

Kotaku has learned that the journalist involved in this conversation was Josh Mattingly, the founder and CEO of the indie gaming website IndieStatik.


When reached on the phone by Kotaku, Mattingly said he planned to apologize, and took to his blog, where he wrote an apology this evening. "There has been a recent situation that I regretfully put myself into involving a woman who I consider a friend in the industry," he wrote. "I want to take a moment to sincerely apologize for the way I acted and the words that were exchanged."

You can read the posted conversation right here, or see an uncensored version at this link.


And here's Mattingly's full apology: