Digital Media Students Launch Different Games Collective to Foster Diversity and Inclusivity in Gaming Community

Posted February 2, 2016

Two graduate students in the Digital Media program in the Georgia Tech Ivan Allen College School of Literature, Media, and Communication are collaborating with Ivan Allen College alumni and graduate students at other universities to make the gaming community more inclusive in Atlanta and beyond.  

The Different Games Collective was co-founded this summer by doctoral student Sarah Schoemann and masters student Michael Vogel along with collaborators in New York and Chicago, as well as local Georgia Tech alums Dannielle Del Rosario (CM ‘13), and Jordan Kilpack (CS, ‘12). As a grassroots, volunteer-run organization, Different Games Collective aims to create community resources and events to support diverse voices in the do-it-yourself and independent game world.

While this fall marked the launch of the collective, IAC students have been collaborating on Different Games since 2013, helping to organize an annual, Brooklyn-based conference with collaborators in New York City and Chicago. The Different Games conference features panels, workshops, and playable games from perspectives not typically supported by the commercial industry. Previous panels and workshops have explored a range of topics — from games and mental health to global game development. The fourth annual Different Games Conference will occur April 8 - 9, 2016, at NYU’s Media Arts and Games Network (MAGNET) center.

“Underrepresented people in games aren’t necessarily seen as ‘gamers,’ but the games community is actually extremely diverse. Statistics even suggest that current, women outnumber men as players,” Schoemann said. “By launching the Different Games Conference, we created a space for broader, more inclusive discussions of games and game cultures.”

Now as Different Games Collective, the organization recently launched its first major local project in collaboration with Atlanta’s feminist bookstore, Charis Books and More, the oldest store of its kind nationwide. With the guidance and support of Ivan Allen College professors Ian Bogost and Anne Pollock, students created Dear Games, an event series aimed at supporting diverse participation in video game development and culture. Through lectures and hands-on workshops, Dear Games will explore connections between game design, feminism, literature, and identity at Charis.

“Dear Games was started by the Tech student members of Different Games, as a way to build connections between our community at GT and this historic feminist institution. It’s our hope that in the next few years, we will get more Georgia Tech students and faculty involved to continue building the relationship between our campus and important local organizations, like Charis” explained Vogel.

According to Aby Parsons, director of Georgia Tech’s LGBTQIA Resource Center and one of the supporters of the Different Games Collective, “Sarah, Michael, and their team members have helped to increase Georgia Tech’s presence in the gaming community, especially at a time when diversity in gaming and digital media is a huge issue across the nation.”

Vogel said his involvement with the Different Games Collective has opened his eyes to a multitude of conversations surrounding advocacy for inclusiveness and diversity in games.

“Who gets to participate in games culture? Who is thought of as someone who plays games? Who is thought of as someone who makes games?” Vogel said. “These conversations are so much more fundamental than I realized in the past.”

Georgia Tech students and game designers interested in showcasing their games at the 2016 Different Games Conference arcade can submit an application by Jan. 22, 2016, at www.2016.differentgames.org. To learn more about the Different Games Collective and/or attend an upcoming event, visit www.differentgames.org.