Editing Gen Con (section)

== Issues ==
2008 was a tumultuous year, legally, for Gen Con LLC.  On January 10, [[Lucasfilm]] filed a lawsuit against them, claiming breach of contract, conversion, and unjust enrichment over [[Star Wars Celebration#Celebration IV|Celebration IV]], held in 2006. The suit also claims Gen Con failed to give the money raised at a charity auction held at the event to the [[Make-A-Wish Foundation]].<ref name="LucasFilms 2008" /> Gen Con filed a counter-suit claiming Lucasfilm had no basis for their claims and owed money to Gen Con.<ref name="force.net" />

On February 15, 2008, Gen Con LLC announced that it had filed for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection]], citing "significant unforeseen expenses associated with ... externally licensed events".<ref name="bankruptcy" /> As a result of the bankruptcy filing, the Lucasfilm lawsuit was delayed until November 19, 2008.<ref name="LivingDice 2008" /> Gen Con Indy 2008 was held as planned.

On November 20, 2008, a letter of intent to purchase Gen Con LLC's assets was filed with the bankruptcy court. It announced that a to-be-formed company called Gen Con Acquisition Group would purchase Gen Con LLC., for an amount equal to Gen Con LLC's outstanding debt.<ref name="Gen Con Sale 2008" /><ref name="Letter of Intent 2008" /> Gen Con's president, Adrian Swartout, described the letter as "suspiciously cryptic" and concluded that the offer "is not in the best interest of our creditors".<ref name="loigencon" /> Gen Con rejected the hostile takeover bid, and the bankruptcy court allowed Gen Con to emerge from bankruptcy in January 2009, 11 months after it had entered Chapter 11.<ref name="loigencon" /><ref name="Chapter 11" />

In 2008, [[ChildFund|Christian Children's Fund]] was reported to have turned down $17,398 from a GenCon Live Game Auction, during that year's Gen Con.<ref name="gamepolitics">{{Cite web |last=Eisen |first=Andrew |date=4 November 2008 |title=Children's Charity Turns its Back on Gygax Memorial Donation |url=http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/11/04/children039s-charity-turns-its-back-gygax-memorial-donation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081107162214/http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/11/04/children039s-charity-turns-its-back-gygax-memorial-donation |archive-date=7 November 2008 |access-date=11 November 2008 |website=[[GamePolitics.com]]}}</ref><!--article deleted <ref>[http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Christian_Children's_Fund_rejects_GenCon_donation Christian Children's Fund rejects GenCon donation], [[Wikinews]], 2008-11-01</ref>-->  The donation was made in honor of Gary Gygax, who died in 2008, and was a frequent donor to CCF.<ref name="legault" />  Some individuals within the gaming community expressed disappointment about the decision; author and game designer [[Rich Burlew]], for example, called it "insulting,"<ref name="burlew1">{{Cite web |last=Burlew |first=Rich |author-link=Rich Burlew |date=5 November 2008 |title=Giant in the Playground News |url=http://www.giantitp.com/index.html#UM7iOEJbez2GVntGYjh |access-date=26 March 2025 |website=Giant in the Playground |archive-date=9 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081109053317/http://www.giantitp.com/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the response by gamers led both the CCF and Gen Con to issue official statements explaining what had happened.<ref name="burlew2">{{Cite web |last=Burlew |first=Rich |author-link=Rich Burlew |date=5 November 2008 |title=11/5/2008 |url=http://www.giantitp.com/index4.html#UM7iOEJbez2GVntGYjh |access-date=11 November 2008 |website=Giant in the Playground |archive-date=29 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329153651/http://www.giantitp.com/index4.html#UM7iOEJbez2GVntGYjh |url-status=dead }}</ref> As a result of the misunderstanding, Gen Con chose to support a different charity.<ref name="legault">{{Cite web |last=LeGault |first=Jeannette |date=2008-11-05 |title=Gen Con Indy08 Show Charity and CCF |url=http://community.gencon.com/forums/t/18786.aspx |access-date=2008-11-11 |publisher=Gen Con}}</ref>

On March 23, 2015, Adrian Swartout sent a letter to Indiana Governor [[Mike Pence]], asking the governor to reconsider his intent to sign [[Indiana SB 101|SB 101]], the so-called "Religious Freedom" bill that already passed both state legislatures. The bill would allow businesses in the state to deny service to anyone on religious grounds, with opponents of the bill stating that it would allow businesses to unfairly single out and discriminate against the LGBT community and other groups. Swartout pointed out in the letter that "Gen Con proudly welcomes a diverse attendee base, made up of different ethnicities, cultures, beliefs, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, and socio-economic backgrounds" from over 40 countries and all 50 states, and that welcoming such a "wide-ranging diversity has been a key element to the success and growth of our convention", as well as injecting "over $50 million dollars" annually to the local economy. Swartout stated that signing such a bill "will have a direct negative impact on the state economy and factor into [Gen Con's] decision-making on hosting the convention in the state of Indiana in future years," after the [[Indiana Convention Center]] had already completed a major expansion in 2011 to accommodate increased attendance to Gen Con.<ref name="polygon">{{Cite web |date=2015-03-24 |title=Gen Con threatens the governor it will leave over Indiana's controversial SB 101 |website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |url=http://www.polygon.com/2015/3/24/8285287/gen-con-threatens-the-governor-it-will-leave-the-state-over-indianas |access-date=2015-03-24}}</ref><ref name="sb101letter">{{Cite web |date=2015-03-23 |title=Letter to Indiana Governor asking to reconsider support for SB101 |url=http://files.gencon.com/Gen_Con_Statement_Regarding_SB101.pdf |access-date=2015-03-24 |publisher=Gen Con}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.blackgate.com/2015/03/26/gen-con-threatens-to-leave-indiana-over-religious-freedom-bill/ | title=Gen Con Threatens to Leave Indiana over Religious Freedom Bill – Black Gate | date=26 March 2015 }}</ref> Pence signed SB 101 into effect on March 26, 2015.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 26, 2015 |title=Indiana Gov. Pence defends religious objections law: 'This bill is not about discrimination' |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-indiana-religious-freedom-bill-sb101-pence-20150326-story.html |access-date=April 22, 2017}}</ref>

In August 2022 when [[Indiana]] passed a near total ban on abortions, Gen Con tweeted a statement in support of abortion rights, and Gen Con president David Hoppe made the following statement: "Passage of Senate Bill 1 will have an impact on our stakeholders and attendees and will make it more difficult for us to remain committed to Indiana for our long-term home. We are committed here through 2026. We do have to think about what that means beyond that and, of course, we would have to look at what that means for the period up until that time."<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 11, 2022 |title=Indiana's relationship with Gen Con faces a rocky future in wake of state's abortion ban|url=https://www.dicebreaker.com/events/gen-con-2022/news/gen-con-2022-indiana-abortion-ban-pressure |access-date=August 14, 2022|website=dicebreaker.com}}</ref>