Zero Hour Interactive director Chance Blair refused bail on rape, assault charges

Chance Blair will remain in custody on remand after a judge said she was concerned he would attempt to pressure the alleged victim into retracting her statement if released on bail.

Police arrested Chance Blair in Sydney's northwest in May last year over disturbing allegations of violence towards a woman. Picture: Instagram

An indie game developer accused of raping and choking a woman has been refused bail amid allegations he tried to coerce her into rescinding her statement to police, a court has heard.

NSW Supreme Court justice Julia Lonergan described Chance Blair as showing a “Shakespearean level of manipulation” in a series of text messages recovered from his phone, in which he allegedly tells the woman how to retract her statement and avoid compliance with a court subpoena.

It comes on the back of revelations aired in court detailing how Blair has previous convictions for offences against another woman.

“My biggest concern is his manipulative, arrogant and appalling attitude towards women,” Justice Lonergan said in refusing Blair’s application for bail on Wednesday.

“[His alleged actions] cause very significant concern.”

Blair is charged with raping, choking and assaulting a woman. Picture: Instagram

The court heard Blair, the director of game development company Zero Hour Interactive and a self-described “boudoir photographer”, allegedly choked the woman three times by “placing his hands around the throat and squeezing tightly, causing her to struggle to breathe”.

Police also allege Blair raped the woman on one occasion, assaulted her twice and intentionally recorded then distributed intimate images of her without consent.

He was arrested in Sydney’s northwest in May last year and remanded in custody.

During Wednesday’s bail application, Blair’s lawyer said his client would fight the rape charge at trial and would likely languish in jail for up to two years before the case was heard in the NSW District Court.

He said Blair’s partner had just given birth to their first child and he needed to be at liberty to help care for the newborn, who had arrived prematurely.

However, Justice Lonergan said Blair had made partial admissions to some of the less serious offences against him and would likely face jail time if convicted of the remaining charges.

She also noted the alleged victim had told police she was scared of what Blair might do if he was released from custody.

“She has provided a statement to police that indicates she has already felt pressured by the applicant’s communications with her [previously],” Justice Lonergan said.

Blair was refused bail in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday. Picture: Instagram

“I’m not satisfied that the period in custody has been sufficiently salutary to completely change this man’s attitude to women or the complainant such that I can be satisfied that he will not interfere with her or bring pressure to bear upon her and so interfere with the processes of a justice.”

Since Blair’s arrest, online chatter has abounded over the now uncertain fate of a hotly anticipated Vietnam War-inspired video game he designed and crowd-funded called Burning Lands.

Gaming forums are alight with speculation about the fate of the game, described as a “tactical multiplayer first-person shooter set in the Vietnam War era”.

Crowd-funding site Kickstarter indicates Burning Lands attracted $78,000 from backers, before losing almost $30,000 as some supporters withdrew their pledges.

According to social media, Blair launched his business in September 2019 and has 25 employees in 11 countries.

Blair is not accused of any criminal or civil wrongdoing in relation to Burning Lands.

His case will return to court in March.