Welcome to Changing Gamedev Life!
Summary
In this episode, the hosts, Pejman and Jen, introduce themselves and discuss their game development and academic backgrounds.
They share how they met and their experiences working in the game industry. They also talk about their current work and research projects, focusing on the challenges and opportunities in the field. They express their goals for the podcast; demystifying the game industry and making it more accessible for a diverse range of people.
Takeaways
The podcast aims to demystify the game industry and make it more accessible for a diverse range of people. Creating inclusive games involves involving diverse voices and perspectives in the development process.
Personal positionality, including factors like race, culture, and language, can shape experiences in academia and the game industry.
Increasing diversity in decision-making roles is crucial for creating more inclusive game industry.
About Pejman and Jen
Jennifer R. Whitson is an Associate Professor in Sociology & Legal Studies and at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, both at the University of Waterloo in Canada. She studies the secret life of software, mostly at the nexus of digital games and Surveillance Studies. She has been conducting ethnographic fieldwork with game developers since 2012, tracing how social and technological practices shape both developers' creative work and access to sustainable careers. Her Production Studies writing centres on the shifting production models of the global game industry, tracing how both social and technological practices shape developers' creative work and influence who exactly can have a sustainable career doing what they love. Past projects include work on social influences on software development processes, digital media surveillance, and gamification. You can find her work at: IndieInterfaces.com, first3yearsproject.com, and jenniferwhitson.com.
Pejman Babaei is a games user research consultant, author, and professor. His latest book, The Game Designer's Playbook, was published in September 2022. He also co-edited the Games User Research book (2018), a compendium of insights from over 40 experts on UX research in games. He has over 10 years of experience doing UXR and interaction design on various applications, from mobile to VR games and everything in between streaming content, console, PC games, and even delivery robots! He was the Games UX Research Director at Execution Labs (Montréal, Canada) from 2015-17 and UX Researcher at Vertical Slice/Player Research (Brighton, UK) from 2009-13. Pejman contributed to pre- and post-release evaluation of more than 35 commercial games, including award-winning titles such as Crysis 2, PewDiePie: Legend of the Brofist, Weirdwood Manor, A Fold Apart, and Broken Spectre. You can connect with Pejman via LinkedIn.
Keywords
game industry, diversity, equity, inclusion, academia, university, introduction, game development
Episode 1: Meet Your Hosts: Pejman Babaei and Jen Whitson