EctoPlaza, a "competitive brawler indie game" which resembles a combination of Angry Birds and Super Smash Brothers, just became a commercial success on Nintendo's WiiU platform.
EctoPlaza's booth at Tokyo Game Show. (Courtesy of Jocelyn Kim)
A month before, the creators traveled to Japan to present their "cutesy, flat 2D" video game at Tokyo Game Show.
Then 19-years old, USC Games alumni and Korean-American Jocelyn Kim (she/her) was the art lead. She worked on the game's visuals and promotions, and managed her mostly females team.
The process of self-publishing taught her “how much work it takes for a game.”
To celebrate, Kim and her team invited all of their friends to play games and relax.
"I feel lucky that my first experience shipping a game to a console platform was with some of my closest friends, and on a team that actually valued diversity and each others well beings," Kim said.
"I think that was really important in me sticking through the entire development process, which took almost two years of virtually unpaid labor ... I still wanted to make the games after."
USC Games classes are housed at School of Cinematic Arts, SCI Building. Courtesy of USC Games.
THE GAME DEVELOPMENT HOTSPOT
Coined as “the Entertainment Capital of the World,” Los Angeles is the affluent nest of radio, television, music, filmmaking and also, game development powerhouses.
Video games are a cultural medium for entertainment. Popular “triple-A” companies like Naughty Dog, Playstation, Activision Blizzard, and Riot Games are known for its higher marketing budgets.
In 2018, Princeton Review recognized USC as number one on its “Top 50 Schools for Game Design” programs in North America.
According to Los Angeles Times, USC’s history of female to male acceptance ratio in the games department has fluctuated.
“In 2011, USC admitted 15 men into its graduate track and five women. In 2015, those numbers were nearly reversed with 12 women and seven men. There's a similar trend at the undergraduate level. In 2012, just seven out of the program's 27 freshmen were women. In 2014, freshmen women outnumbered the men 14 to 7. And in 2015 the numbers were even,” wrote Todd Martens.
But in the last two years, the gender ratio in the Interactive Media and Game division (IMGD) cohorts finally improved the number of enrolled female students.
In fall 2017, seven women and eight men were admitted for undergraduate students, and eight women and seven men were admitted for graduates.
In fall 2018, the number of female undergraduate and graduate admits outnumbered males in both levels; nine women and six men were undergraduate students , and ten women and five men were graduates.
USC Games offers an exciting collaboration for aspiring design students; they may earn a bachelor of arts in interactive media and games or a bachelor of science in computer science with an emphasis in games.
Students in Viterbi School of Engineering and Marshall School of Business can also take classes within Cinematic Arts department.
Students create their games at labs which “nurture concepts that push games beyond their currently defined genres, markets and play patterns, and to make breakthroughs in these areas that will be valuable to lab sponsors and the industry on the whole” under the direction of Associate Professor Tracy Fullerton.
(I emailed USC Communication and Development writer Desa Philadelphia who said she could help me get in contact with Fullerton on March 28. Fullerton's door was always locked and I never heard from her. Students at USC Games said she was working on a game.)
Illustration by Pixabay. Edit by Laurie Maemura.
SYNDROME VERSUS REALITY
Cheng grew up playing games with her siblings. (Courtesy of Audrey Cheng)
Audrey Cheng is a recent USC Games graduate who studied game research and production. She concluded that the competitive nature of the university is due to its perfect location for the games market.
But game developers like Kim and Cheng said they have often internally struggled with "imposter syndrome." This syndrome is the feeling of self-doubt that clings onto them, even outside of the classroom.
While learning the tools of the trade at the top games program in the world, both recounted that every game developer they knew had constant unwavering feelings.
"It's the feeling that one doesn’t belong in the position one wants. They feel they aren't talented enough to be at USC … But everyone in the games program deserves to be here. They just have to live up to the expectations to the peers, faculty, and themselves," Cheng said.
Cheng said she can "easily think of five or more people" in her year alone that were burnt out from working themselves to the point of mental breakdown and hospitalization. Some took a whole semester off for health reasons.
Cheng explained, 'you want to be friends but you want the same job.'
Junior year is usually prime internship season for students but it is also complicates friendship and competition.
When Kim looks back at her undergraduate career, she remembered going through "negative thought loops."
Kim with her teammates at a video games festival in Scotland. (Courtesy of Jocelyn Kim)
Tending to one's mental health is not only important especially during internship season but also in 'crunch time' — the period just before a game is released.
Rich Eddy of Games Industry Biz also discussed mental health in the games industry during Mental Health Awareness Week (May 8-14). He described the "reality for many people working in games studios:
'The brain fogging confusion, the rapid over breathing, the dry retching, that bloody pounding heart. The screwed-up sleep, the agitation, the constant worry, the self-frustration, the low-mood troughs that went deeper every day, the just wishing it was all over.'"
Kim noticed her decreased self-esteem followed her into the professional world after graduation.
Her game developer coworkers, who were between 21 and 35 years, also struggled with self-doubt.
"I think I wish I could have told myself to find stability and people that you can work well with instead of finding a cool project or improve my game developer credit," Kim said.
Courtesy of Nick Youngson
VIEWS FROM EXPERTS
Behind some of your favorite video game concepts are female developers contributing to the growing games community.
Game developers Aya Kyogoku of Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and Risa Tabata of Chibi Robo: Zip Lash discussed making games for Nintendo in an interview from 2015.
"You don’t need to feel hesitant or nervous because you are female. Please cherish what you really want to do," Tabata said.
While IGDA executive director Jen MacLean said there were positive improvements to the culture of game developers, “the Developer Satisfaction Survey should be troubling for every person who loves the creation, business, or play experience of games.”
Things to NEVER say pt 1: You shouldn't/can't be a #game dev because: You're a woman You don't play games You don't play enough games You're not passionate enough Any other reason
No one-NO ONE-gets to decide who a game dev is, or who should be a game dev
MacLean wrote “Game developers continue to recognize the need for diversity in the workplace, in the industry, and in game content, with developers scoring these items as important in higher rates than ever before. However, while the overwhelming majority of game developers recognize the importance of diversity, game development as a profession can still be unwelcoming, with half of survey respondents asserting that they do not believe there is equal treatment of developers and half of respondents witnessing or experiencing inequity.”
The number of respondents who felt that diversity in the workplace was very or somewhat important was at its highest in the history of the DSS; 81% of respondents felt that it was ‘very important’ or ‘somewhat important’ compared to 78% in 2016, 63% in 2015 and, 75% in 2014.
Similarly 84% felt that diversity in the game industry was important, compared to 80% in 2016, 66% in 2015, and 79% in 2014. Slightly less than half of respondents (42%) felt the game industry had increased in diversity over the past two years.
In addition, 74% were cis male while 'only 21% identified as female, 2% identified as male to female transgender, and fewer than 1% identified as female to male transgender.'
While game developers tend to flock to Los Angeles to break into the video game industry, others are in Plano, Texas. It is the third highest population of passionate game developers in the country.
At Southern Methodist University Guildhall, the university is famously known for offering the first masters’ program in the world in game development, with more than 800 graduates securing jobs at major game companies.
Professor Elizabeth Stringer of SMU Guildhall is a USC alumni who believes that its also important to introduce game development and coding earlier to budding children.
“The most successful approach to [game industry] is giving an opportunity for students to learn skills,” Stringer said.
She was an executive producer at Activision for two years and director of development for Atari for five years who has been helping to improve the lack of female presence in the industry.
“The best summers I’ve had were taught at SMU Guildhall,” Stringer said. “It takes three hours on the first day to realize for the first time in their life, the students are among the environment they are interested in...that share their interests.”
By bridging the gap of young children and college students, Stringer hopes that more young women will follow their passion of game development and design.
Courtesy of Jocelyn Kim
FIRESIDE CHAT
I think that a lot of students end up neglecting their mental health for several reasons but don't really have the vocabulary or the power to fix the situation. -Kim said.
During Kim’s senior year, she was inspired to push "Fireside Chat," a one-night informational meeting about mental health.
Her inspiration was backed by an even more stronger force of nature; it was beyond imposter syndrome, intense competition, and the lack of female diversity.
The two main reasons was her genderqueer identity (she/her), and McKenna Martin, a second-year SCA screenwriting student, who committed suicide last spring.
Fireside Chat was mainly to "provide a comfortable space where people could feel empowered to talk about mental health," specifically in the technology and games field.
"I also think that there's too much faith being put into institutions like USC in protecting their students' wellbeing," Kim said.
Although her event was directed towards Games students, only one professor and several undergraduates attended. They found the event on Facebook and Twitter.
In that single session, combating depression, and burning out in school and the industry were the most discussed topics for the 20 or so students.
“It's just distressing to go through a program where every other student is making dry jokes about pulling all-nighters or being depressed, even for me,” she said.
During this session, Kim noticed that students' felt more comfortable to the point where they began to unmask their emotions and open up their vulnerability with other students. They were not alone anymore.
It's important to find community. It's important to find it when you’re going against the adversaries, Kim said.
Kim provided the support that the students otherwise would have not found. She presented an extensive and informative PowerPoint slide of additional phone numbers for mental health services including suicide and therapist hotlines.
Kim also sought therapy for the first time at USC. While it lasted for a month and a half before she graduated, she recalled that the sessions were "extremely validating" and made her "hectic last semester of college more bearable."
Additionally, female students discussed micro-aggressions and toxicity in the workplace.
“There's no such thing as a rockstar video game company. There’s so many people in games that sacrifice their health and happiness instead of their careers,” Kim said.
At the end of the session, students would “give little pep talks of validation and love to each other," Kim said.
“When I thought about how to counteract these pain points, I figured that my peers and I are strongest when we work together. With others, you can find support and solidarity, and learn how to band together to collectively realize what the best version of your community can be,” Kim said.
In addition to being the main facilitator for Fireside Chat, Kim was also one of the five members of IMGD Diversity Council led by professor Jane Pinckard and expressed the immediate need for gender-neutral bathrooms.
Courtesy of Audrey Cheng
LOOKING UP
Audrey Cheng
Congratulations to all the Ascend seniors who just graduated yesterday at the USC Commencement 2019!! 🎉🎉
Since graduating in May, Cheng has begun her full-time position as an associate UX Researcher at Blizzard Entertainment.
When she interned two years ago, Cheng knew it was the company she wanted to work for.
Cheng feels proud to work for Blizzard Entertainment where diversity is highlighted not only through the inclusivity of coworkers but also through the characters in video games.
“They actively promote their inclusivity of their coworkers and their support for their entire player base. This is really shown in the characters they make,” Cheng said.
One of their popular games, “Overwatch” is a first-person shooter game. It features a cast of characters such as a lesbian woman named Tracer who is visibly on the game’s poster cover. Michael Chu, the lead writer confirmed Tracer’s sexuality on Twitter in December 22, 2016.
“Through the community-related or company-wide events, they support diversity,” Cheng said.
Cheng at Blizzard headquarters. (Courtesy of Audrey Cheng)
The triple-A company Blizzard Entertainment is also known for its eight core values for its employees and fanbase.
One value that most passionately struck Cheng was “every voice matters” — “every employee is encouraged to speak up, listen, be respectful of other opinions, and embrace criticism as just another avenue for great ideas.”
“As a female, I truly felt that my gender, sexuality and race didn’t matter in the sense that I felt that what I said was respected and valued — even as an intern,” Cheng said.
A participant of Fireside Chat, Cheng knows that managing mental health is extremely crucial for her and for everyone she works with now.
In her position as co-director and lead producer for her capstone classes at USC, Cheng said that by “reaching out and letting people know that I care about them outside of the game project is extremely important.”
“It’s not just “how are your tasks going or how’s project work?” but always also “how’s life outside of the project? How are your clubs?” Cheung said.
She said she also plans on seeking a life outside of her job post-graduation. Taking lessons for horseback riding, going to the beach, playing cello and visiting Irvine restaurants are some of the activities on her “me time” list.
“In my opinion, I enjoy being in the video game industry if I also have a life outside of it. I know many people who breath video games and are happy with that, but personally for me, it’s important that I expand outside of that,” Cheng said.
Kim always wanted to spend time on the computer. There was something gratifying to her about connecting with online friends in a world that she loved so much as a child.
Neopets, the early 2000s social games website, was one of the main reasons why Kim, a USC Games alumni, is now creating video games and working in the game development industry.
“I used to spend a lot of time playing emulated SNES games on the computer, and playing online games with social aspects like Runescape or Neopets,” Kim said. “It encouraged many girls to play and start learning basic web design programming in HTML and CSS.”
Jocelyn Kim with classmates on graduation day in 2018. (Courtesy of Jocelyn Kim)
Today, Kim has experienced working in different stages of games development but feels most satisfied than ever as an engineer in the mobile and casual games industry in San Francisco.
With her current employer, Kim said, “the studio overall is the most diverse non-student team I have worked on yet, mainly because mobile games have such a large female market that many mobile studios end up hiring women.”
This made Kim feel “much more socially comfortable."
She has also seen an increase of genderqueer employees in San Francisco's mobile games industry.
“There’s a lot of queer people in games. Gay or trans or binary. For whatever reason, I always encountered genderqueer people,” Kim said.
“As a genderqueer person, it felt nice to have that solidarity that ‘I see you, I understand you.'”
Her most recent project was with “two girls on a 10-person team" who were "multinational, Native Chinese, Mexican."
"It’s the most diverse team I’ve ever worked on. The effect was super strong [on me]," Kim said.
As for the workflow, it is “more agile and flexible, meaning that deadlines are generally more lenient,” said Kim. “I am never expected to work late hours.”
Kim has also noticed that her positive experiences from Fireside Chat has drawn “slightly heightened sensitivity to people's’ situations” in her professional workplace.
"The separation from work and personal life and work as well as physically moving away from USC has been really healthy for me in my transition to adulthood post-graduation,” Kim said.
Now, Kim’s mental health has moved onto a better place. Her new environment is supportive.
“I think the biggest boost to my mental health has been getting a stable income and a stable routine,” Kim said.
In addition, Kim said she recognized that “the separation from work and personal life and work as well as physically moving away from USC has been really healthy for me in my transition to adulthood post-graduation."
“Now that I have a workday that doesn’t ask more than it should from me, and ample free time to work on my own stuff or delve into new hobbies such as cooking, mixology and exercising, I feel much more mentally stable than ever.”
