Report suggests that a well-known advocate for videogame accessibility may not have existed

A bizarre, but very thorough report on IGN claims that a prominent advocate of accessibility in videogames who co-founded Can I Play That? In 2018, the website may not have existed at all. Instead, it appears to be a creation of her purported boyfriend Coty.

Banks was first featured as One Odd Gamer Girl back in 2015. She quickly became a well-known disabled gamer, according to IGN. In 2018, she was featured in a videogame accessibility website AbleGamers interview. In 2019, after her reported death, "A Farewell to a Friend" paid tribute to Banks, calling her "an amazing ally" in the fight for access.

Five years later, IGN's investigation found no evidence to support her claim. The opposite is true. The report is very detailed, but a source hired a private investigator in order to confirm Banks’ existence before her death. The investigator could not find any evidence that Banks was real: no immigration record (Banks, who was allegedly Turkish, was found), employment record, birth certificate or address.

In reality, it appears that Banks was never in direct contact with anyone. The report states that interviews and other interactions took place exclusively via email or Twitter Direct Messages, facilitated through Craven. Steven Spohn, senior development director at AbleGamers confirmed that he had never spoken to Banks directly. However, he said that it was not unusual at the time, as many deaf individuals--Banks is reportedly deaf -- prefer text-based communication over voice calls.

It's not a crime in itself, and many people, including myself, would rather send an e-mail than make a call, whether they are disabled or not. The IGN report claims that no one interviewed for the story has ever heard or seen Banks alone, "outside her social media profile" or with Craven.

The report also details other oddities involving Banks and Craven. For instance, in 2021, the Game Accessibility Conference awarded the Susan Banks Advocacy Award to "an advocate who uses their voice to make an impact across the [videogame] industries." A year later, the International Game Developers Association got an email asking if Banks was a real person. When Craven heard about it, he claimed that the incident had impacted his mental health. He asked for Banks' name to be removed from the award. The award was then renamed the Advocacy Award.

The full report is very detailed, and includes coverage of two of Craven’s subsequent romantic relationships. Both of them were with accessibility advocates, whose existence was in doubt. Craven wrote on Medium about the mother of a purported partner in 2023. He claimed that his tutelage had "ignited a passion for games" in a 96 year-old woman named Bess. Eight months later, he announced that Bess was dead on Twitter, but IGN could not find any record.

Craven refused to comment on the IGN article, but he apparently asked the site to not publish it at any time. Since the report was published, he has deleted his personal website and most of his social media profiles. The Can I Play That? The Can I Play That? website has also taken steps to remove a reference on its "About page" that referred to Banks and Craven. The original can be viewed via the Wayback Machine.

It's a strange situation, especially because, as far as I know, the only reason for this complex, persistent and nearly decade-long fraud - if it is a scam at all, which is technically unproven - is clout. I know that people will do anything to gain clout. But this? This is . Check out the full article at IGN.