About
POC in Play is an independent organisation creating a range of initiatives and programme of events designed to increase the visibility and representation of People of Colour in the video games industry. We aim to work with industry, educators and other diversity organisations to create more opportunities for all.
The POC in Play team comprises of games industry professionals from a range of backgrounds and experiences, but who all share a passion to drive impactful change and open the door for more People of Colour.
Adam Campbell
Adam is Co-founder of POC in Play and Director of Product at Azoomee / Da Vinci, the World’s fastest growing kids’s media company. He is also a member of the British Academy Film & Television Arts (BAFTA) and an award-winning producer.
With a career spanning over a decade in video games, he has held previous roles at Hopster, Miniclip, SEGA and Jagex.
Accolades include; listing on Gamesindustry.biz 100 Future Talent, Game Dev Heroes Awards Shortlist, Dutch Game Award 2014 and he was part of a Golden Joystick Award winning team for ‘UK Developer of the Year’.
Chella Ramanan
Chella is a narrative designer across indie and AAA games and Co-founder of, POC in Play. Formerly, she was an award-nominated games journalist.
She is also co-host of geek culture podcast, Argue the Toss. Her writing has appeared on The Guardian, www.gameindustry.com, as well as interviews with the BBC and speaking at events.
In 2018, Chella was nominated as a Gameindustry.biz 100 rising star of the industry and nominated as Journalist of the Year for the MCV Women in Games Awards. She was also selected for Ensemble, an exhibition highlighting BAME talent in games.
Michael Anderson
Michael Anderson is Producer for the multi award-winning mobile game studio ustwo games, the team behind the Monument Valley series, Land’s End, Whale Trail and Blip Blup.
During his nearly 9 year career in the games industry, he’s worked at AAA game studios such as SEGA and Lionhead before realising the potential of mobile as a gaming platform.
Nida Ahmad
A UX Designer with a background in Psychology dedicated to the accessibility of UX and game design. She has worked in the mobile space contributing to games for diverse audiences at Exient, Well-Played Games and Netspeak Games.
With a grounding in user research, she aims to increase awareness and integration of UX into development teams to advocate for ethical player-centred development.
She's also a member of BAFTA Crew Games, was a juror for the BAFTA Young Game Designers Awards and a regular speaker at industry events like EGX and EGX Rezzed to demystify how to get into games.
Des Gayle
Des is the founder and producer of Altered Gene, a remote games studio currently working on their next title, The Analyst. Before starting his own development studio, Des built up a wealth of experience on both the publishing and development sides of making video games having got started over 20 years ago.
He has worked with a number of the games industry's leading products: at Microsoft he worked on the launch of the original Xbox, he helped EA for five years supporting their development teams, he managed R&D at Crytek’s European offices and was also the producer for Square Enix Collective. His breakout project was working on the first Life Is Strange series that won a BAFTA and other awards.
Des is a board member of the UK trade association for video games, UKIE. The chair of the umbrella charity, GamesAid and an ambassador for SpecialEffect. He was also recently elected to the BAFTA Games committee.Des is passionate about inclusion and loves building and running effective, diverse teams. He is particularly interested in forging links between the games industry and education to inspire the next wave of game creators.
Dr. Satish Shewhorak
Satish Shewhorak ran moShine, a diverse animation studio where he produced work for MTV, the Beijing Olympics and The Great North Run. He has previously supported games studios in the North of England through the trade association GameHorizon and ran the Animex Games Festival in 2018 including Animex Live, a concert of video game music.
Satish has a PhD in motion capture and games animation and is a Senior Lecturer at Teesside University teaching performance capture and games business and marketing. He has also been supporting Konsoll, the Norwegian games developers conference including helping to launch Konsoll Connect, a day dedicated to supporting local indie developers. Most recently he has launched a fully funded scholarship programme for underrepresented games students to attend the Games Developers Conference.
Jodie Azhar
Jodie is the CEO of Teazelcat Games, a studio creating inclusive story-driven games, and is currently directing their unannounced debut title.
Prior to founding Teazelcat in 2018 she spent a decade working as a technical artist at various games studios, most recently as the Technical Art Director for the Total War franchise at Creative Assembly.
She has received several award nominations throughout her career, including winning the Game Development category of the DevelopHER Awards 2017, was listed as part of GamesIndustry.biz 100 Future Talent and in 2016 was one of BAFTA's Breakthrough Brits.As well as being an advocate for diversity and inclusion within games she works as a STEM Ambassador to inspire future generations of potential game creators.
Jade Leamcharaskul
Jade “JDWasabi” Leamcharaskul (She/Her) is a composer, sound designer, performer and general all round audio-adventurer.
She primarily works in games and has also worked in film, podcasts, art exhibitions and theatre.
She is the Co-Founder of Game Dev London, a mentor at Code Coven, and her works include Dragon Fin Soup (PS4) and Asian Pirate Musical (musical theatre).
Sitara Shefta
Sitara is Head of Studio at No Brakes Games, the developers of Human: Fall Flat. During her career, she has contributed to a number studios from AAA to indie, including EA and Sumo Digital, where she worked on titles including LittleBigPlanet 3, Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Snake Pass.
In 2016, she was awarded the Women in Games Hall of Fame award and in 2018, she won the Game Development award at the DevelopHER ceremony. She has also been featured in Develop’s 30 under 30 (2017), The Gamesindustry.biz 100 Future Talent (2018) and The Gamesindustry.biz 100 Top Influential Women (2019).
Moo Yu
Moo is the co-founder and programmer of Foam Sword, makers of Knights and Bikes. Before starting his own studio, he worked at Media Molecule on LittleBigPlanet, Insomniac Games on the Ratchet and Clank Series, and Mind Candy on Moshi Monsters.
Moo has served roles varying from programming to game design to product management in console, PC, mobile, and social gaming. He is also currently sitting on the BAFTA Games Committee.
FAQs
Why does POC in Play exist?
The video games industry in the UK is the biggest single entertainment industry, however it has 10% from ethnic minority groups working in it, resulting in low representation both on screen and behind the scenes. There are many reasons why we need to address this;
The industry has a fundamental skills shortage which needs to be filled by people with the ability to take on current and future roles in games.
Problematic and inaccurate representation of culture in video games can be addressed by diversifying the creative teams behind them.
Diverse input and stories are some one of the easiest ways to keep games content fresh, dynamic and reduce the over-reliance on existing tropes, ideas and models.
What makes POC in Play Different?
Not only do the founding members all have deep connections in the video games industry, we all have lived experiences that are highly beneficial to understanding the barriers faced by POC in the industry and the potential solutions to address this. With that we will proactively push and implement initiatives to achieve these goals.
Do I need to be POC to get involved?
No. Whilst this organisation focuses on the specific issue of representation and access for people of colour, this movement is for everyone who wishes to address the issue. We invite you to attend meetings that are open for all and to offer your support and services where possible to help build a stronger, more inclusive games industry.
Will there be POC only events?
Our main industry meet-up will always be open to people of all racial and ethnic groups. We may from time to time add specific sessions or initiatives designed to help POC with specific access issues, such as a workshop or careers session but this will be made clear. We also support affiliate organisations that may more specifically target people from specific ethnic groups.
Why does this organisation focus on POC? There are many areas of diversity that need to be tackled.
Racial & ethnic diversity is a specific topic that requires targeted solutions that differ quite dramatically from many other diversity initiatives. However, factors around diversity do not exist in confinement. At POC in Play we sit at the intersection of race, gender, class, disability and many other aspects that affect everyday people simultaneously. Therefore we seek to collaborate on tackling these issues.
Is POC in Play UK only?
Not as such. Whilst we have a UK base we wish to reach all corners of the globe by collaborating with those who feel this cause resonates with them. Diversity & inclusion in the video games industry is an international issue. We are open on social media. International events and appearances are a possibility in the future.
Can I donate money to POC in Play?
Soon! We are now registed as a community interest group and will be opening up opportunities donate to us soon. If you are able to offer targeted sponsorship, platforms, materials, time etc. to help with our activities that would also be very helpful. Please contact us to discuss.