In conclusion National Historically Black Colleges and Universities WeekXbox announced Project Amplify, an outreach program designed to help the next generation of black game developers chart their career paths in the industry.
In a blog post from Xboxthe company announced that it will have a panel at Revolt Summit 2022, an event whose mission is to provide young emerging artists with the opportunity to celebrate, network and curate the skills necessary to grow in their careers. Although the event typically features celebrities and musicians from the music and entertainment industries, the Revolt Summit also highlights those across the technology spectrum. The event will take place September 24-25 in Atlanta, Georgia.
For those still wondering why Xbox would want to be part of an event whose lineup included performances by hip-hop celebrities like Amber Rose, Killer Mike, Gucci Mane and Bobby Shmurda, the stats from the Microsoft-commissioned event paint a tide Poll paints a pretty clear picture: Today’s Black youth are hungry to delve into the gaming industry, even though it doesn’t highlight people who look like them.
According to a recent HBCU poll, 95 percent of the 200 college students and alumni who responded want to work in the gaming industry. Of those 200 respondents, 34 percent want to be program managers, 24 percent engineers, and 18 percent game developers. I don’t think I’m pulling the rug out from under any reader by reminding you that the current climate in the gaming industry is still pretty white. And as for my lukewarm opinion, Xbox agrees, saying, “Only 2% of video game industry professionals are black, compared to 13% of the US population.”
For people who can’t book a plane ticket to Atlanta in this economy, this is the right place Project Amplify video series is coming in. Xbox uploaded a series of videos under the same name to the ID@Xbox YouTube channel. In the 16-episode playlist, viewers can watch videos featuring 14 game designers working at Xbox. It includes people from 12 different game design disciplines, including story directors, character artists, and software developers.
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My two cents, as someone who is black (check pigmentation) and covers the gaming industry as my job: I think that’s a good move by Xbox. While I was studying journalism in college, it proved next to impossible for my college advisors to pursue a career path in games journalism to help me consider the only recent success stories they could conjure up, Alanah Pearce and Greg Miller, who , although great, is not black. While it’s not Xbox putting on their hotep hat and relationshipBigots on social media, helping relatives get a foothold in this relatively young and insider-like industry is welcome. The more the better. Good luck to everyone who applies.
