Show notes
Caro Solari, the Head of Marketing at Affogata was the host in this episode and she had the pleasure of interviewing Mickael Dell'ova.Micka is a Senior Player Experience Designer, currently working on Alan Wake 2 at Remedy. Micka has a strong belief in what video games should be: a safe place for all, a refuge where everyone must be represented, be themselves, and enjoy the same quality of experience beyond their gender, their sex orientation, their culture, their social background or their physical and mental abilities. Micka has 15 years of experience in different fields like graphic and web design, ergonomics, accessibility, Game Design, UX design, Diversity & Inclusion.What will you listen to in this episode?1. Minute 06:16 - We asked Micka how he became an accessibility diversity and inclusion specialist and Micka shared his background with us. He also mentioned that the video game industry is making progress in this regard, but still, the main problem is unconscious biases and preconceived ideas.2. Minute 10:50 - Micka shared with us games that are doing a good job of representing minorities such as Last of Us, Overwatch, or Dead by Daylight.3. Minute 14:21 - Micka also emphasized what the LGBTQ+ community is looking for in video games. "The idea is to move away from the usual stereotypes that have been served to us for years and I'm not saying that we should all represent gay men in this way. Just that is refreshing to be reminded that identities are diverse and that stereotypes and unconscious biases are frequent."4. Minute 15:14 - We shared with Micka a few mentions that we found through Affogata from people talking about inclusivity in video games in the open share and we asked Micka his thoughts about these comments.5. Minute 20:26 - Lastly, Micka told us about a new event he is working on for everyone around the creation of video games but integrating all the ethical and social topics in the design process. "The name is the 'Vertical Game Jam', and the goal is to bring together participants to create a video game around an ethical theme by including constraints of inclusion, representation, and accessibility and the teams will be guided by mentors and final jury members, who are prestigious diversity champions from the video game industry."
