California-based Rock It Games has announced its establishment as a new game publisher focused on supporting independent developers, with a mission to offer a diverse portfolio of curated titles that capture the essence of retro gaming while embracing the spirit of the independent games community. The company aims to release up to 10 physical games in 2024, along with additional digital releases.
The power in granting access to the gaming industry | Black Voices Progress Report
15.02.2024 - 18:23 / gamesindustry.biz
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This interview is part of GamesIndustry.biz's Black Voices Progress Report, offering insight into the different experiences Black professionals have in the games sector. You can read more about the project and check out the other entries on this page .
Many game developers love data, whether it comes as a spreadsheet, a pie chart or a feedback box – so in some ways, Adanna Nedd's move from academic research to game development isn't all that surprising.
During her time as student at Penn State University in California in 2021, Nedd worked as a research fellow for the iSchool Inclusion Institute (i3), which prepares students from underrepresented backgrounds for postgraduate study in computer sciences. Two research projects she worked on focused on purchasable skins in games, leading Nedd to consider the intersection between representation and games, which is still important to her.
"My research was focused on looking how and why players of colour would buy the in-game skins they buy in online games like Overwatch or Fortnite," Nedd tells GamesIndustry.biz. "We were looking into this because in these games, you don't see a lot of diverse skins. You don't see a lot of skins of characters who look like me.
"I find it amazing that you can just start making games, so all people have to know is where to find the information"
"So when you have all of these players trying to represent themselves, how can they represent themselves if the options aren't available? We found out that the majority of players, whenever they pick their in-game skins [for] aesthetic purposes instead of actually looking like themselves in real life, they do note the lack of diversity."
After these projects, Nedd found she "didn't like to write research papers all that much," and decided to look for something else. The inspiration for what that something else would be came from POC in Play's presence on X the years before; the organisation had called on developers who would be open to being approached with questions by Black students. she realised not only how many different disciplines there were, but also how many Black people worked in the industry.
"I didn't even know game developer or games writer were actual jobs you could have," Nedd says. "I reached out to something between 50 and 80 people, just to find out what their jobs were and what their day-to-day was like. I needed to learn what it means to write for games specifically, and that you didn't need to go to a big university and get a degree to do it."
When Nedd asked what the industry was like, she got what she describes as "mixed responses" – entering and staying in the industry is notoriously
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