Rafif Kalantan’s mission to champion MENA and SWANA devs

gamesindustry.biz:

Each year, the organisers of London Games Festival showcase the work of Black, Asian, and underrepresented games professionals working in the UK through the Ensemble initiative.

Curated by author and artistic director Sharna Jackson, the Ensemble initiative features a new cohort each year, with their talent being showcased at exhibitions in various locations across London.

Part of 2024's cohort is Rafif Kalantan, an emerging narrative and game designer from Saudi Arabia who spoke to GamesIndustry.biz about her journey from studying computer science to winning the 2023 Yugo BAFTA Student Award for her puzzle game Eros Xavier's Love Solutions.

Prior to moving to the UK, Kalantan studied computer science at Effat University. During this time, she took a game development course which became a catalyst for her to consider a path into the games industry.

However, Kalantan found difficulty in actually finding a suitable career path in Saudi Arabia once she graduated.

"Unfortunately for me and for other people from the Middle East and North Africa, it's a lot harder to try and get bigger studios to take you and your experience seriously," she explains. "When I graduated, there weren't any studios in Saudi Arabia that did game development. So I worked in VR for around three years, then I did my master's course in games design and development here in the UK at the National Film and Television School instead of just continuing on working on my own project to try and showcase my talent."

"I don't remember seeing other Arabs or North Africans in the industry that I could look up to who represent me that I can see myself in a similar role"

Kalantan certainly did just that, with her final year project receiving the BAFTA Student Award for Games at the Yugo BAFTA Student Awards 2023 which celebrates the creativity and works of students across various creative industries.

This win marked off many firsts for the category, with Kalantan being the first female director, first non-European, and