Skateboarding was only for white kids, in Michelle “Missy” Senteio’s mind. Back then, she’d never seen a Black person on a board. But when Kareem Campbell appeared as a playable character in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, she decided to pick one up and try it. She fell and hurt herself almost immediately, quickly giving up the hobby, but Campbell’s example at least let her know she could try.
Missy never saw a Black woman in video game development, though. She loved games, but the thought of making them never crossed her mind. Popular culture told her coding was for nerdy white guys in their parents’ basements, not Black girls – even those whose parents told them they could be anything they wanted. She ended up discovering the career by accident, when a college classmate suggested they make a game for an assignment. He programmed, and she did the art and story, which was the first time she ever thought, “Woah, could I do this?“
Click the button below to start this article in quick view.
A self-reported survey by the International Game Developers Association in 2019 found only 2% of respondents working in the games industry identified as Black, African American, African, or Afro-Caribbean. Despite making up 13% of the U.S. population, it’s common for Black game developers to be the only Black person in the room – not because they don’t play games, but because barriers in the industry and in society as a whole work against them getting there.
Screen Rant spoke with Andrew Augustin, Cara Hillstock, Derrick Fields, Michelle “Missy” Senteio, and Ricardo Lee – all part of the Play NYC convention’s Graffiti Games 2020 installation – as well as Jesse Wright of Team Coreupt, about their journeys into game development. The six share common experiences as Black developers but took different paths to their current positions, ranging from self-funded indie projects to roles at AAA studios. Here’s their advice for aspiring game devs.
Start Learning Game Development Online For Free
While a few of the developers went to college for degrees related to game design, several emphasized the accessibility of game-making outside of the classroom. Augustin, creator of Super Ubie Island 2, pointed to free development tools like Unreal Engine 4 and Unity, as well as resources like dedicated forums and YouTube tutorials to help developers learn them without formal schooling.
“I’ve always kind of been against schools that are tailored to the arts because they’re ridiculously overpriced, and I have friends in the industry that … their college monthly payments are, like, $1,500 a month. And it’s just insane how much it costs to go to school to learn how to do Photoshop. So, as much as possible, learn using the internet.”
- Andrew Augustin, Notion Games
This learning, of course, takes time. Illus Seed Games’ Hillstock noted high school afternoons are the perfect time to learn not only gaming-centric skills but others useful for development projects, like marketing. For aspiring game makers – even those in high school – with jobs, families, or other responsibilities, however, such openings may be harder to find.
Don’t Sacrifice Making Money To Make Games
The tools may be free, but time isn’t, and developers shouldn’t expect to make a living on games when they’re starting out. Kickstarter, Patreon, scholarships, and programs like Graffiti Games are potential paths to funding, but most learning and independent devs will likely need to work a regular job to avoid a permanent diet of noodles, Augustin said. He is a teacher, Hillstock is a Twitch streamer, and Wright, creator of Coreupt, once worked two jobs to pay for character designs from a Marvel Comics artist – a move he said helped get others to take his project more seriously.
“You would have to be there [at Menards, a chain hardware store where Wright worked] at 4:50 a.m. to be clocking in. I would be there … ’til 10 [a.m.], and I had to open Panda Express at 10:30. … I would work open to close there. It was terrible, but I was able to afford getting the art. … If you’re going the route of investing in yourself – if you want to build this thing yourself – there’s nothing wrong with having a day hustle.”
– Jesse Wright, Team Coreupt
Outside of earning enough money to hire others, balancing work with game development can still be a major challenge. For those like Augustin creating games entirely by themselves, development is a second job of its own.
“It’s gonna be one of those lifestyles where you’re pretty much working 16 hours a day. I do my eight hours at the job, and then I get off, and I go into the lab, and I work on my projects for another six to eight hours. So, it’s tough, but if you love it, you’re gonna do it.”
– Andrew Augustin, Notion Games
Have Different Plans & Expectations For AAA & Indie Development
A big question looms for beginners who’ve dipped their toes far enough into development to know if it’s really the career they want to pursue: Should they apply for big, AAA studios, or develop their own games independently? Choosing one doesn’t necessarily negate the other, but, Augustin argued, different skill sets are useful for each.
“If you’re trying to get into the mainstream, AAA development, don’t do what I did. I became a jack of all trades, … and I thought the industry would appreciate that more, but they don’t. … The industry is really role-based. … You wanna develop Grand Theft Auto or anything like that, I would say definitely find what you like, and stick to that.
“If you’re trying to go my route and do indie, I would say the complete opposite. Learn as many things as you possibly can. Learn how to do some programming. Learn how to do some art. A lot of it is trying to save money, and in order to save money, you have to be able to wear multiple hats.”
– Andrew Augustin, Notion Games
Like many industries, though, certain barriers make it harder for people of color to find employment in game development. Black developers who decide to go AAA likely contend with the kind of hiring discrimination present in other fields: On average, according to a Harvard Business Review study, white job applicants received of 36% more callbacks than Black applicants from 1990 to 2017. Socioeconomic inequalities, like poorer school systems and a lack of community wealth, can also mean some Black resumes simply can’t meet AAA studios’ extensive hiring prerequisites, which, as Missy put it, ask for “like eight million years of developer experience, and five different software programs, and you speak three languages.”
Some game studios have diversity initiatives to make sure they push themselves to find qualified developers of color. According to a 2020 Game Developers Conference survey, however, 28% of nearly 4,000 respondents said their studios put no effort at all into diversity initiatives, and an additional 16% said theirs put only a little. In these instances, Black devs like Nifiy Studios’ Lee may be forced to take the indie route.
“I found myself turning in resumes and not really getting the positions that I was applying for. So that quickly, kind of, took the fuel out of my fire on wanting to pursue it as a career. … Because I was determined to do things a certain way – and I didn’t have the experience, I didn’t have the exposure, and I didn’t have the benefit of knowing somebody that that works there – I was like, ’You know what? I’ll just do this my way.'”
– Ricardo Lee, Nifiy Studios
Network With Others In The Games Industry, Big And Small
Deciding to develop independently doesn’t always mean doing it alone. “Networking” may scream of stuffy business suits and uncomfortable job fairs, but according to Wright and others, it has a more practical application in game development than establishing a web of potentially useful LinkedIn connections.
“The way that [Coreupt] looks now is just a testament to people that I’ve been in contact with for years. … The most helpful thing for me was just talking and having that conversation, … and how I did that is Google searching, you know, ‘game development, ‘game designers,’ ‘game forums,’ – finding places where I could just connect with other developers.”
– Jesse Wright, Team Coreupt
Networking on forums can help independent developers find co-creators and aspiring AAA developers find connections inside big studios. Wright, for one, aimed for a bit of both, contacting peers, corporate executives, and senior developers he admired. One spontaneous email to GameStop’s CEO while he was a store manager, he said, led to free a trip to the Game Developer’s Expo, a meeting with the company’s board, and talks of funding through its now-defunct GameTrust publishing venture. Another slim-chance email in 2011 helped Wright form a relationship with Ken Ohara, who directed the stunts and cinematics for the Resident Evil 2 remake and Resident Evil 6. He’s set to create the game’s cinematics, which Wright attributed to continually updating Ohara on Coreupt‘s progress.
Networking while Black brings its own challenges, though, beyond the usual worries of rejection. Hillstock said she’s had to remove herself from certain networking opportunities to avoid racist behavior, and while that hasn’t stopped her from continuing to look for quality connections, it does mean she has to be on her guard.
“Keep trying, and don’t let people treat you poorly. It’s gonna take a while, but that’s more or less the advice, to some extent. … When you meet a new person from the game industry, you’re always on your back foot, because there’s just that many people out there who have been kind of horrible.”
– Cara Hillstock, Illus Seed Games
Be Confident In The Games You’re Making
Because of the many obstacles between would-be developers – especially Black ones – and a career in games, it’s understandable some devs get discouraged. Lee said he gave up on making games for a few years after not hearing back about jobs in the industry. He found success by just beginning to develop for fun, eventually gaining enough confidence to feel he could make a full game. Fields, lead designer on Onsen Master, emphasized how important this sort of confidence can be when breaking into the indie scene, especially early in one’s career.
“Telling your story and becoming a game designer doesn’t mean that you have to have some sort of prowess in 2D art, or 3D art, or anything. There are so many different ways that people can tell the stories. … Undertale is a really, really great game and tells a really unique story, and it isn’t done with artwork that is blowing people’s minds, as far as the fidelity goes. … Don’t sell yourself short on your game, your story, having to look a certain way. Your game can do whatever you want, and it’s still a game.”
– Derrick Fields, Waking Oni Games
Know There Are Successful Game Devs Who Look Like You
Several of the Black developers mentioned the importance of finding others like them in the industry. Wright was a firsthand witness to this when, following a talk about game design he gave at a high school, a student even taller than the 6-foot-5, “usually in-shape” developer approached him.
“He was filming the talk, and afterwards, he was like, ‘Yeah, you know, I’m trying to get into video content and directing, but everyone tells me I should play football.’ … And I was like, ‘Dude, I a-million-percent understand where you’re coming from.’ Because that’s my whole life. Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, man, where you play ball at, son?’
“There’s so many kids like that, that I know just don’t even speak up, because they feel like, ‘I’m not in a situation where I could say something like, oh, I want to make video games.’ But I think seeing more Black developers that are actually having successful projects – but [also] having high-quality projects – is what is very important right now. Because then they’ll see, like, ‘Oh, man. Yes, I can make games. This is a real, AAA-looking game.'”
– Jesse Wright, Team Coreupt
Communities like Black Girl Gamers and The Cookout, as well as events like Blerdcon and the Game Devs of Color Expo, provide places for Black developers to meet others in the industry. Outside of these dedicated spaces, Black developers’ low representation in the field means finding others can sometimes be difficult. When it does happen, though, it can have a real impact on the mental health of those involved. Missy, now a part of indie game Tuned Out‘s development team, described benefits to collaboration with Black developers beyond bouncing ideas off each other.
“I mean, it’s really just nice to have people who are Black … give you feedback on your work. That’s something that … it’s kind of hard to find. Even when I went to the [New York University] Game Center, I didn’t have a Black professor or anything. And I feel like, whatever it means, it just feels a little different. It feels more, just, excited for another Black developer to be making an idea. … And it’s not only really cool to be in that space with people that just genuinely want you to succeed, [but] are kind of also aware of this weird depression. It’s unspoken – this weird anxiety that a lot of us are going through. You know, the fact that ‘Black Lives Matter’ is up for debate, it’s a lot of emotional stress in the back of your head. And that’s unspoken. You don’t have to talk about that. You don’t need to make a case for yourself. And that means a lot.”
– Michelle “Missy” Senteio
To learn more about Augustin, Hillstock, Fields, Missy, and Lee – and for relevant links and contact information – follow the “Next” link below. Team Coreupt’s Wright, meanwhile, can be reached on Twitter @JW_Corelated or on Instagram @jwcoreupt.
Header Image: Top – Derrick Fields, Cara Hillstock, Michelle “Missy” Senteio; Bottom – Andrew Augustin, Ricardo Lee, Jesse Wright
