Precinct Omega Statement on David Sondered

With very unfortunate timing, the cover artist for Horizon Wars: Midnight Dark (and, indeed, for the previous two Horizon Wars games and the Operation Nemesis supplement) David Sondered, has been making gaming news following an allegation that he used art from another artist in the background of a commission he completed for the iconic collectable card game, Magic the Gathering. David acted immediately, accepting responsibility and apologising for the mistake and making private representation to the affected artist. David reached out to me to apologise that this might impact on Precinct Omega and Horizon Wars: Midnight Dark and suggesting that I might want to remove his name from publicity relating to the game's imminent release. After careful consideration, I have decided not to do this. I didn't commission David to be my cover artist at random. I have known him for many years, have always been aware of his methods and approach to art and have nothing but respect for him. I have taken note of the speed with which he has accepted the criticism, acknowledged his mistake and sought to make amends. I have no reason to believe that David's work for Precinct Omega has violated any other artist's intellectual property, not least because I provide him with my own detailed sketches along with the brief. That said, I do recognise that a period of review is called for and I will not, therefore, be considering further commissions for David for at least three months, and will reconsider this position should further allegations of unfair or improper use be made in that time. David has been forced to close his social media presence due to a barrage of hostile and offensive comments and whilst I understand the anger, such behaviour actively discourages individual artists from sharing their work and engaging with the community and I strongly believe that this not only inappropriate but counter-productive and Precinct Omega will continue to support individual artists and resist the siren call of generative art that is a vastly greater threat to artists' intellectual property rights than any one artist's mistake.