Xbox recently announced a partnership with Gameheads to highlight Black game developers for Black History Month.
Having already started on Feb. 1, the video gaming company will work alongside Gameheads, a California-based video game design program for young Black developers, to provide a platform for their students’ games.
The games will be showcased on a website available to everyone. As part of the month-long celebrations, different indie game studios will be highlighted. To kick off the initiative, Studio Hitsuji will be celebrated with games such as “HighSidin: Hyphy Edition,” a dance battle game revolving around sideshow culture, and Camino, a survival game modeled after colonization.
Other games include the puzzle game “Where’s My Chain??,” the visual novel “Snapshot: Slice of Life,” the apocalyptic video game “The Last Day” and “SplitMaze.”
To celebrate Black History Month, Xbox also announced that points could also be used to donate to both Gameheads and Cxmmunity, a nonprofit focused on increasing the rates of BIPOC developers in the esports and gaming field.
“The games we’re showcasing here are created by students and center around Black history, Black experiences and Black talent,” said a representative for Gameheads per a release.”This partnership and campaign are a testament to a brighter and more inclusive future for the games industry.”
For years, Black video game developers have been underrepresented in the field. Overall, according to the latest study by the International Game Developers Association, only 4% of video game developers are Black.
Although the statistics indicated an increase since 2021, when there were only 2% of Black developers in the field, it marks a slow growth.
Despite the lower numbers of representation, there are numerous Black video game developers who have helped revolutionize the gaming industry, particularly in the earlier years of the field’s development.
In 1976, developer Jerry Lawson developed the video game console Fairchild Channel F as well as the modern game cartridge.
Approximately 10 years later, Muriel Tramis became the first Black woman video game designer, developing popular titles such as “Mewilo,” “Urban Runner” and “Lost In Time” at Coktel Vision.
In her official statement on the latest partnership with Gameheads, Corporate Vice President of Xbox Dametra Johnson-Marletti acknowledged the past achievements of these trailblazers.
“Understanding this rich history as I navigate my day-to-day journey inspires me to pay forward the same mentorship and sponsorship to others that will someday blaze similar trails for those following them,” she said. “In doing so, I hope this increases representation, further building upon an organization that represents the broad demographics of the gamers we serve.”
