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GaymerX in dire straits after NIS America pulls pledge [update]

An email sent late on Monday afternoon is incurring a dour situation for the organizers of GaymerX2, an LGBTQ-focused and inclusive convention held in San Francisco on July 11-13. The marketing coordinator for niche publisher and developer NIS America reached out to event founder, Matt Conn, to apologize and renege on a pledge of $3000.



"I feel awful and betrayed," says Conn. "We were already in dire straits, but we were really relying on this $3K to pay for our artists who came and to take care of some of the outstanding hotel bills. This just further puts a nail into our coffin if we don't figure out a revenue stream very quickly."

According to an invoice dated July 8 and payable within 30 days, NIS America had agreed to sponsor part of a GaymerX VIP Party held at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco. Drinks themed after Prinny, a popular penguin appearing in NIS' Disgaea role-playing games, were sold at the event, surrounded by promotional signage for the publisher.

Though Conn claims the bar racked up nearly $8000 from the "Prinny Bomb" drink, he believes NIS' handling of the agreement is tantamount to bullying. "I want to prove that we can fight back," Conn said.

NIS America did not respond to request for comment at the time of publishing.

Update 1: Though it has no formal comment at this time, NIS America tells Joystiq it is "trying to work with GaymerX so that we can resolve this issue as soon as possible."

Update 2: Devolver Digital tweeted it's pledging $3,000 for 2015 GaymerX sponsorship. The publisher also urged other games companies that could to follow suit.

[Image: Midboss Instagram]