February 14, 2001

"Nothing says 'I Love You' like pornography," jokes DeathTech founder Markleford Friedman, "so we thought the exchange was an excellent way to celebrate Valentine's Day this year."

The lovers in this particular celebration are two small online presses, Friedman's DeathTech and gaming industry underdog Freak Factory. The object of mutual affection is Freak Factory's Porn Star card game, a game which has received its share of both acclaim and controversy.

"We believe that Porn Star and, thusly, Freak Factory were grievously mistreated by the WotC event staff at Origins 2000 and the following GenCon," Friedman says of the decision of Wizards of the Coast to ban not only Porn Star but Freak Factory entirely from their events. "It was a knee-jerk, power-mad decision on WotC's part. Its the sort of thing that you come to expect when the industry is dominated by a monopolistic juggernaut that isn't run by gamers."

Subsequently, Freak Factory had grown weary of the legal hassles needed to prove that Wizards of the Coast was in violation of ethical standards expected of convention management staff, finding that it had begun to detract from their focus on game development. Instead, they decided to punt, concentrating their efforts on their upcoming RPG system and handing off duties of Porn Star's distribution to the highest bidder.

"I jumped at the chance," continues Friedman. "My participation in past [Freak Factory] projects gave me the 'in' to make the offer, and while DeathTech is historically a design shop and not a game studio, I think we have far more experience in pushing controversial materials."

So, will DeathTech be bringing Porn Star back to the convention circuit? "Perhaps. It's a bit soon to tell for the upcoming season, as we've only just now taken over the reigns and made the design changes necessary. But you never know; as always, people can look for 'The Guy in the Big Hat' and ask!"

Porn Star is a non-collectible, non-pornographic card game in which players take the role of producers of "adult films". It is available for free download from www.DeathTech.com.