After years as a games journalist and then years as a grad student, I’ve finally had the chance to return to the Game Developers Conference as a plain old speaker and attendee. Still, that reporting instinct is in my blood, and these days I can’t seem to listen without live tweeting. Those who follow me have seen the torrent of notes on the state of social justice and games.
For me, this year’s GDC felt different from years past. Diversity, accessibility, and change were central to many of the presentations I saw and almost all of my discussions with colleagues. Has something fundamentally shifted? Maybe there truly were more women, more queer folk, more people of color at the conference this year. Maybe I’ve just learned to tune out the noise. Or maybe I’m starting to find my place in the fuzzy landscape between academia and industry, to feel at home.
You can find my full Twitter coverage (and my future conference coverage) by following me: @myownvelouria. I also Storified a few key sessions, including the micro talk panel I lead on creating safe spaces at game events. Video recordings should be hitting the GDC vault soon.
– Creating Safe Spaces at Game Events, micro talk session with Matt Conn, Chelsea Howe, Toni Pizza, and Bonnie Ruberg
– #1ReasonToBe 2015, this year with Brenda Romero, Leigh Alexander, Katherine Cross, Sela Davis, Amy Hennig, Elizabeth LaPensee, Constance Steinkuehler, and Adriel Wallick
– The Problem with Gender and Body Choice in Sunset Overdrive, a report from Aldabert Kinsey’s talk on animating for diverse body types
