Why your diversity programs need to be "foundational," and not "band-aids"
The summer of 2023 looks starkly different than the summer of 2020. Three years ago, protestors across the United States turned out by the thousands to protest the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police. Their activism was a reaction to the inequities inflicted on Black people in the United States—largely by the police, but also in almost every other aspect of civil society.
That activism spurred many publishers and developers in the video game industry to voice their support. That support often went beyond words, with organizations promising donations to causes supporting Black Lives Matter or to funds that support diversity and inclusion in the world of video games.
Said support was encouraging, but observers and organizers had plenty of reason to wonder if this support was temporary or a flash in the pan. Three years later, it is unfortunately true that many companies that appeared impassioned in 2020 have fallen quiet—while some inequities have only become more entrenched, not less.
Black Voices in Gaming director and co-founder Justin Woodward is one of many organizers who's watched that shift over the last three years. It hasn't deterred him one bit—his organization partnered with Netflix in June to launch the XPerience Excellence Accelerator. The program organizes cohorts of aspiring mobile game developers, who will be paired up with industry experts and offered educational resources, grants, and business support to launch the development of their games.
The Accelerator unveiled its first cohort today, featuring an international assembly of studios—UK-based Gesinimo Games, South African studio SpaceSalad Studios, US-based Weathered Sweater, and Nigerian game studio Oshoma Games.
Woodward and his
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