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Black Game Developers Fund One-Year – Reflecting, Learning and Mapping the Future
This month marks one year since the murder of George Floyd and what many consider the tipping point in the conversation around social and racial injustices we’ve been seeing globally for far too long. The conversation sparked industries and companies worldwide to look within and ask the question, what else can we do to support diversity, equality and inclusion?
For us at Humble Bundle, we see the positive power and potential to unite communities for good through gaming and in June of last year we established the Black Game Developers Fund. BGDF continues to build on our vision with a $1 million annual investment fund meant to empower and help achieve racial equity within game development.
While the games industry as a whole is certainly taking steps to elevate diverse talent, creatives and voices, its shortcomings and slow pace for change became apparent with every conversation we had with Black developers through the BGDF process.
Building the Next Step and Marking the Path Forward
Initially, we started the BGDF as a program that would support Black game developers on their path to publishing a game. Alongside Sithe Ncube and Justin Woodward, our strategic advisors on the BGDF, we quickly learned that it’s much more complicated than that.
Game development is hard. Being an indie game developer can present even more challenges. Being a Black indie game developer exacerbates those challenges and shows the cracks of inequity surrounding available opportunities as a professional game developer. Getting that initial cash infusion to kickstart an idea from pitch to production or to take development to the next level can oftentimes feel like a pipedream.
To make the most impact we are focusing on helping to fund these independent projects to get them off the ground or into their next phase of development. With this added clarity around BGDF’s mission, we are able to invest in even more talented individuals and teams that are creating unique games and help them define their path ahead in the games industry.
Whether our initial BGDF partners end up working with Humble Games to publish their titles or they pursue publishing agreements with other companies, we hope this initial funding will ultimately help to strengthen the future of Black game development and shine a light on diverse voices through games for years to come.
Introducing the Next BGDF Partnered Studios
In December of 2020, we announced the first set of developers that would be a part of the BGDF program, from Adam Kareem in Chicago working with a team on his dystopian 3D action game, Protodroid Delta, to Joinplay Games from Cameroon, Africa creating a unique “afro-fantasy” action RPG with Amma: Chronicles of Lost Stars.
Today, we’re proud to share 11 more Black independent developers and development teams who have signed onto the next phase of investments from the Black Game Developers Fund. Each game is truly unique, representing original stories, with interesting characters and worlds and ambitious gameplay and design.
We’d like to introduce you to:
Flying Carpet Games – Founder Salim Larochelle from Montreal, Quebec is focused on creating unique and original experiences that inspire players and is developing their next title Hiboka, a single player survival horror video game based on folklore from Madagascar and set in the middle of the 20th century.
Independent – Marc Morisseau – Marc Morisseau is best known for his work as a motion capture artist on AAA projects like Resident Evil 6, Dark Souls 2 and Battlefield 4 and is independently developing a narrative driven third-person survival game titled Cold Fortune.
Independent – Dalton Freeland – Dalton Freeland is an independent developer and animation and character specialist creating a new 3D action game titled Project Kamen.
Klan of the Kings – The Ugandan studio helmed by Ronald Kayima is creating an ambitious single player third person action adventure hack and slash game called Sunjata: Trumpet of Last Day which takes place in a fantasy version of Great Ancient Africa.
NuChallenger – An independent studio spanning NYC and ATL centered around games and culture, NuChallenger was founded in 2012 by Shawn Alexander Allen and the studio is working on two new unannounced and exciting games, please keep an eye out for more info in the future!
Playtra Games – Founded by Dan Bernardo, one of the few Black and gay studio heads in the games industry, the London-based indie developer is building Grid Force Mask of the Goddess, an action RPG which mixes frenetic real-time grid-based fights with game-changing decisions and branching storylines and featuring a cast of 45 all-female playable characters.
Retro Ninja – Created by Tony Barnes, the independent developer known for his work on the Strike series (Urban Strike, Jungle Strike, Nuclear Strike) and as the designer on the Strider (2014) reboot and winner of the Jerry Lawson Lifetime Achievement Award. Tony is creating a fast-paced first-person precision platformer titled Run Die Run Again, a speed-running, trial and error endurance contest, where fast reactions and acrobatic dodging skills are rewarded.
Strange Scaffold – From award-winning director, narrative designer and writer, Xalavier Nelson Jr., the studio’s next titles include El Paso, Elsewhere, a third-person neo-noir supernatural shooter which puts players in the shoes of a reluctant black monster hunter, facing off against a haunted motel full of classic horror movie monsters.
Sue the Real – The Brazil-based studio was founded by Raquel Motta and Marcos Silva with the aim of creating emotional and socially impactful interactive experiences through Afro-Brazilian themes. Their in-development rhythm game, One Beat Min, connects music, urban culture and diversity through a colorful and creative gameplay experience.
Weathered Sweater – Award-winning Trinidadian-American game developer Ryan Huggins founded their new studio with one core vision in mind: be an inspiration to young BIPOC creators. This Vermont-based studio has been building games together for over 8 years and currently the team is creating a card-based, action tower defense game called Castleboat. Build the tallest boat, battle sea monsters, and literally combat global warming.
White Guardian Studios – The wife and husband team is developing Celestial Tear: Lost World:, which features retro-inspired pixel-art graphics and a lush, dynamic 16-bit soundtrack in a gameplay experience that blends multiple genres of sandbox, survival, and horror with classic, active turn-based, Japanese role-playing style battles together.
Each game represents an opportunity to showcase unique voices, visions and stories that are seldom heard or given a chance in our industry.
We’re really looking forward to working with these talented developers on their next steps for each of their projects. Don’t forget to check out our BGDF website where you can learn more and apply.
-The BGDF Team at Humble Games
