Shawn Pierre, the chairperson of the Impartial Video games Competition, opened the Impartial Video games Competition Awards with a plea to assist sport builders.
Pierre had some heartfelt phrases for the viewers, which has been hit onerous by layoffs, studio closures and different ills which have made life robust for sport builders currently.
“I’m positive that many people have been overwhelmed by quite a bit. Final 12 months, most of the people on the stage spoke about how unfairly our friends have been handled. And it’s truthfully a disgrace that no matter how a lot might have improved, it must get higher,” Pierre mentioned. “The combat for equity, for duty, for treating folks as folks, not as numbers, is one thing that should proceed.”
He mentioned the struggles that unbiased builders face from discovery to funding are ever current, and it’s troublesome to consider what lies the subsequent on the horizon.
“However watching all of you’re employed day by day, whether or not It’s full or half time or in between different functions, watching them push the boundaries of the sport business, watching the concepts bond from the world round us, watching everybody attempting to attach each other. It’s nothing wanting inspiring,” mentioned Pierre.
“Personally, I imagine that to essentially join to one another by means of video games, we have to look previous what we see on our screens and take a look at the proficient individuals who put their time, effort, their hopes, their goals, their wins, or their deepest ideas into the experiences like those you see right here tonight,” he mentioned. “We have to take a look at the people, hearken to their voices, and, extra importantly, assist everybody with their quest to thrive on this group.”
He mentioned the sport business has such an extremely various set of individuals and experiences within the world unbiased gaming group.
“We now have a duty to take care of ladies,” mentioned Pierre. “So assist the video games created by your pals and those made by black and white folks. Assist the video games made by trans folks. Assist the video games made by queer folks and the one made by a stranger from the opposite aspect of the planet. Assist your pals.”
He added, “Assist your pals who you see yearly at GDC. But in addition hearken to the voices of those that are unable to attend this 12 months’s convention out of concern for their very own security.” And he mentioned by supporting all of these items and these voices can we really join the world and one another by means of the artwork of video video games.
