Amazon Games Partners with Black Voices in Gaming at D.I.C.E. Summit 2024
At the 2024 D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas, Amazon Games partnered with Black Voices in Gaming to provide sponsorships to underrepresented game devs and entrepreneurs, allowing them to attend the event and connect with some of the biggest names in the business.
Black Voices in Gaming, a nonprofit based out of Oakland, California, was co-founded by Justin Woodward and Alfanso Hooker with the purpose of increasing Black representation and making space for opportunities within the games industry. This sponsorship for a trip to the D.I.C.E. Summit is important because it allows Black games industry professionals to network and connect with the industry’s most influential people.
“It's who you talk to and the relationships you build,” Woodward explained. “Once you're in the business and you do some good things or make good games, that money opens up. It's a weird phenomenon.”
For Woodward, it’s all about getting Black entrepreneurs in the same room with those who understand and know how to make things happen in gaming.
“Some people are privileged to have those opportunities,” Woodward said. Some people have those opportunities earlier because of their parents or because they went to the right school. And Black folks don't have that. We're not in the conversation. We're not in the room. Sure, there are a few, but not enough.”
Fellow game developer Shawn Alexander Allen, who has worked for AAA studios like Rockstar Games, is another instrumental figure in the Black Voices in Gaming organization. While getting to the D.I.C.E. Summit is a massive step for any developer, having an idea of what you need as a games professional is also beneficial before stepping onto the convention floor.
“If you're not in that mindset of ‘how am I going to execute?’ or ‘how am I already executing on an idea or specific game?’ then I don't think D.I.C.E. is for you,” Allen said. “D.I.C.E. is for people who have an idea of, 'I want to do a thing.’ And that makes it very special. That’s what we aim
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