Thursday 4th November 2021
‘Dan is the Founder of Playtra and will talk about his studio and how and why he founded it
Playtra is an independent game studio based in London.Our mission is to create games that define a generation.
Playtra believe games have the power to change everything. Great games have been inspiring people since the dawn of humanity, and we will still be playing games when we're all living inside asteroids, in the depths of space.
Games push the boundaries of what is possible in technology and art. Playtra wants to create those games.’
Background:
"Black, queer teenager gamer in the Brazil of the 80/90s" Dan would distract himself with books and game. He couldn't afford a console though so he'd pass houses that had them and then go home and drew them on paper. He found it interesting that no one in the games looked like him. He saw that representations matter in games - someone who isn't from a background of minority might not understand this. Tied with the history of the game industry (usually have problems with queer or ethnic backgrounds). Reflection of people who create the games.
It isn't just about race, religion or sexuality - entering the industry is really difficult for everyone.
The industry embraced the aesthetics of diversity but not the philosophy of diversity
You can't tell diverse stories without diverse teams
Skillset:
-Type of skillset: I (usually know one thing but you know it very well) vs T (broad knowledge, skills cover a lot but you are very good at one specific thing) vs V (curious people, not trying to specialise in anything, merge techniques together)
-Genre specific (fps, open world etc. finding which genre you like best)
-Hard vs Soft (managing a team/sharing your vision etc. requires a lot of soft skills)