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It’s easy to get demotivated as you see social media work together to push insane conspiracy theories or enable, by all accounts, horrible people. But every now and again you get something good such as the recent #IAmPOCInPlay hashtag on twitter, full of amazing talent working on some of the best games.
In that same spirit, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to shine a spotlight on some of the cool people bringing diversity into the games industry.
Lauren Ng, Insomniac Games
Lauren Ng is a Chinese-American Associate Project Manager at Insomniac Games. One of the titles she’s worked on, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, comes out this week.
On top of that she’s also working on the upcoming Ratchet and Clank game, which is also going to be on the next-gen console.
Andrew Tan, Sucker Punch
Oh hi #IamPOCinPlay
I'm Andrew Tan – Chinese Malaysian🇲🇾, I'm an Animator @SuckerPunchProd and I get to pretend to be a Samurai on Ghost of Tsushima pic.twitter.com/c5fs678uiO
— Andrew Tan (@an_tan_) November 10, 2020
Andrew Tan is a fellow Malaysian, working in Sucker Punch Productions. He’s an animator, and his twitter is also a great resource for budding animators who want more works to study.
On that note, he’s also got a YouTube channel full of samples of his work.
Jeevun Sidhu, Riot Games
Hi, I'm Jeevun! #IamPOCinPlay
My family hails from India; they immigrated to NYC where my brother and I were born.
I've been at Riot Games for 7 years as a Game Designer, and I've worked on Camille, Kai'Sa, Aatrox, and Seraphine. pic.twitter.com/LfrZZF4znN
— Jeevun Sidhu (@JeevunSidhu) November 9, 2020
Jeevun’s family immigrated to New York many years ago, where Jeevun and his brother would be born. He’s worked at Riot Games for the past 7 years, and is the mind behind several popular League of Legends champions such as Aatrox and Seraphine.
Kat Barkwell, Bioware
Hello! I'm Kat and #IamPOCinPlay. I’m a RPG programmer at @bioware currently working on the newest #DragonAge! Good to see ya'll 🙂 pic.twitter.com/6oGcUyzmKx
— Kat Barkwell (@Velocitrina) November 10, 2020
Kat is a programmer for Bioware, the studio behind such big hits as Dragon Age and the Mass Effect series. While she hasn’t shared any juicy details, she has confirmed that she’s working on the upcoming Dragon Age title.
Del Walker, Rocksteady Games
#IamPOCinPlay
Yours truly is a Black British, Senior Character Artist on the new @RocksteadyGames Suicide Squad game. This wild 2020 marks my 10th year in the industry! I've been a Junior, a Lead on a Halo, and everything in between. All whilst blasting Mobb Deep in my headphones pic.twitter.com/K7EhGeUpAk— Del Walker (@TheCartelDel) November 7, 2020
While most of the other talents we’ve shown have been based in America, Del represents the UK with his storied 10-year career in the gaming industry. He’s been a Character artist on Halo Wars 2, Warframe as well as the upcoming Suicide Squad game.
You can also find his website with more of his work here.
These are far from the only people on the hashtag, as it covers people from all walks of life, working on everything from independent games to the biggest Triple-A titles.
That being said, this highlights something that many people in the gaming industry have been trying to say for years- that people from all walks of life are into videogames, and out there telling their stories. The dream of working on your own game is entirely possible if you put your back into it.
