SAG-AFTRA, the union for US actors, is moving towards a potential strike against video game publishers, it’s announced.
Why your diversity programs need to be "foundational," and not "band-aids"
16.08.2023 - 10:07 / gamedeveloper.com
The summer of 2023 looks starkly different than the summer of 2020. Three years ago, protestors across the United States turned out by the thousands to protest the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police. Their activism was a reaction to the inequities inflicted on Black people in the United States—largely by the police, but also in almost every other aspect of civil society.
That activism spurred many publishers and developers in the video game industry to voice their support. That support often went beyond words, with organizations promising donations to causes supporting Black Lives Matter or to funds that support diversity and inclusion in the world of video games.
Said support was encouraging, but observers and organizers had plenty of reason to wonder if this support was temporary or a flash in the pan. Three years later, it is unfortunately true that many companies that appeared impassioned in 2020 have fallen quiet—while some inequities have only become more entrenched, not less.
Black Voices in Gaming director and co-founder Justin Woodward is one of many organizers who's watched that shift over the last three years. It hasn't deterred him one bit—his organization partnered with Netflix in June to launch the XPerience Excellence Accelerator. The program organizes cohorts of aspiring mobile game developers, who will be paired up with industry experts and offered educational resources, grants, and business support to launch the development of their games.
The Accelerator unveiled its first cohort today, featuring an international assembly of studios—UK-based Gesinimo Games, South African studio SpaceSalad Studios, US-based Weathered Sweater, and Nigerian game studio Oshoma Games.
Woodward and his collaborators have earned a moment to look back on years of hard work. He's optimistic about the support offered by the industry—partners at Xbox, PlayStation, Riot Games, and Netflix have been among those who made good on their 2020 promises—and he's observed what kinds of decisions can make that support sustainable.
Woodward said developers who are genuinely interested in improving diversity in the video game industry should above all else, try to make support such efforts "foundational" in their companies, and that a "band-aid" approach to events like the 2020 uprising risk reversing any gains against changing economic and social ties.
Woodward explained that much of the XPerience Excellence Accelerator's program is built on his fifteen years in the video game industry. Black Voices in Gaming was founded in 2020 based in part on Woodward's experience running the Media Indie Exchange (referred to sometimes as the MIX). The MIX had become a regular presence at Game Developers Conference and E3,
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rockpapershotgun.com
31.08.2023 / 18:11
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pcgamer.com
31.08.2023 / 15:49
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techradar.com
31.08.2023 / 10:45
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mmorpg.com
29.08.2023 / 21:43
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wccftech.com
29.08.2023 / 08:41
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gamesradar.com
28.08.2023 / 17:53
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gamesradar.com
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23.08.2023 / 15:09
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23.08.2023 / 03:53
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venturebeat.com
22.08.2023 / 14:37
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mmorpg.com
16.08.2023 / 19:17
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