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Game developers of color are in the spotlight at annual Games for Change festival

12 July 2021
Dan Ackermann

Gaming's annual festival about using games for social good is putting extra focus this year on "advancing and digging deeper into international issues" for people of color.

Why it matters: Games for Change president Susanna Pollack told Axios that events like the murder of George Floyd and rising violence against Asian Americans "absolutely did" impact how they approached its 18th festival.

  • "We've always thought intentionally about our Games for Change Festival and making sure that it's a platform for diverse voices," Pollack said. "But this year in particular, we felt that we wanted to really double down on that effort."
  • "Prior to Black Lives Matter and the attention [from 2020], this very real issue has existed."

The big picture: The game industry has long struggled with diversity, but its record on treatment and inclusion of BIPOC is especially poor.

  • "I think it's a systemic issue," Pollack said. "That means it's going to take a while to change, and we as an industry need to encourage young students and young kids at younger ages to realize that this is a career that could be for them."
  • Pollack pointed to Niantic's Black Developers Initiative as one example of "literally putting money into the hands of independent developers," which she says "will nurture an independent, creative community."

Several events at this year's festival are intended to shine a light on these issues:

This year's free festival begins today and runs through July 14.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.