Heather

• Role: Game artist
• Location: France
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* Heather’s name and interview has been anonymised to protect her identity.

QRM: Can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do in the games industry?

Heather: I am a transgender woman working as a game artist. My job is to make 2D and 3D assets for the games I am working on. I get to create characters, vehicles, environments, animations, special effects, and so on. Sometimes, I'm also involved in game design and level design.

QRM: How long have you been involved in the game industry, and what projects have you worked on? What are you working on currently?

Heather: I have been working in the game industry for 3 years. Even though I am still considered a junior, I worked on quite a handful of released games. From casual mobile games to larger PC titles... and even a Wii U project!

Although I am not willing to give names for privacy matters, I will say that I always stuck to small studios and indie teams.

QRM: What inspired you to get started in the games industry?

Heather: It might sound a bit cliché, but videogames were always part of my life. They taught me to write and count when I was a kid. They taught me English before the teachers did. They taught me of history, strategy, management and economy. They taught me of good and evil, of loyalty and friendship.

As a child, I was never comfortable with socializing. However, games made it easier. They made for great discussion subjects too. It felt like games were always a bit more than rules and systems: they made us dream, made us proud, made us feel powerful.

I first started making my own card games in elementary school. Then, I opened some RPG forums. I started digital drawing and 3D modelling in middle school. I wanted to share worlds for others to explore, to create games for people to enjoy. This was my way of taking part in the community.

I joined a game development school after graduating high school. Then, I got my first internships, and I started working for good. Here I am now…!

QRM: In what ways do you feel your experiences as a queer person manifest in the games you work on, and influence the work you do?

Heather: As a transgender woman, I am of course sensitive to gender diversity and equality matters. I try to make my work reflect this, even though I am not always allowed to.

For instance, I like to dress my characters in non-sexualised and non-gendered clothing. I also avoid pink and blue color codes. Sadly, I don't always have the authority to do so, and my initiatives have already been frowned upon many times.

However, I am free to do as I please in my personal projects. I keep hoping that, someday, I'll be able to publish my own queer-friendly creations.

QRM: Do you have a favourite queer character—in games or media more generally? If so, what is it about them that makes them your favourite?
Question asked by @kamienw.

Heather: I actually don't. I did play several games allowing same gender relationships, but none of them really involved a true leading queer figure. Queer game characters seem to be very discreet, if not totally overlooked.

As for general media, I'm afraid I was never truly committed enough in series or movies to decide.

QRM: Have you ever encountered roadblocks in trying to include queer characters in games? What do you think is preventing greater diversity within games?
Question asked by @dustinalex91.

Heather: The first lesson you learn when joining the game industry is that game-making is team work. You will get to work with a lot of people: some will be your colleagues, some will be your superiors. And sadly, most of them don't understand marginalized groups’ issues. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia... you'll see it all for sure. My point is that hostility in the industry is not directed towards queer people in particular, but towards diversity in general.

Therefore, it can be very challenging to make any changes on a project that you know is flawed. Frustrating, even.

One day, I was asked to make a bard character. Since there were absolutely no non-white characters in the entire game, I decided to make him black. The next day, my superior informed me that they went through my work to make corrections. These "corrections" mainly involved making the bard white.

It was so obviously racist and unfair that I stood dumbfounded. Yet nobody seemed to care. It was normal to everyone. I grew up thinking that injustice was always pointed out and punished. I was wrong. The game was released with an exclusively white cast. No news article, no scandal.

Nowadays, I am employed in another studio. Our current project is a sci-fi game aimed at children and young adults. One thing you should know, however, is that all the bad characters in this game are either robots, monsters, or black people. The only good, black-skinned character in the game is later revealed to be a traitor. Once again, it seems so obviously wrong, right? Well, so far none of my coworkers have ever admitted that the game is racist as hell. The project is to be released by the end of 2017. I expect no news article, and no scandal either.

Of course, I also ran into sexism. I had to apply heavy make-up to most of my female characters. Had to make their clothes more revealing for no reason. Had to make them slimmer, sexier. Men can say horrible things when they think you're a man as well. I opposed these things, but no one ever joined in, and as a junior artist, most of my claims fell short.

So there you have it: it's already [incredibly] hard to convince your white, male coworkers to include decent non-white and female characters in your games... Knowing this, you can imagine how suggesting queer characters would be.

Yes, roadblocks are all too common. It just goes to show that having a feminist, anti-racist queer employee won't stop a company from releasing disrespectful titles. As long as we are alone, we won't make much of a difference.

QRM: Why do you think it is important that queer audiences are able to see themselves represented in the games they play, and in the developers who make the games they see? What can we do to improve the industry for queer audiences and devs?

Heather: The reason why queer visibility is important is the same reason why we need black dolls in toy stores, or female superhero movies. We are part of the world, we deserve a place in society as much as anyone else. We all need to feel like we are part of the story, we all need to feel empowered.

Moreover, it's important that people from dominant groups realize that they are not the center of the world. They have to understand that sometimes, things are not about them. We can all benefit from diversity.

There are many ways to help queer devs with their work. You can buy queer-friendly games of course, but you can also give them visibility on the internet. Be vocal about it, tell your friends, write reviews, make videos...! Anything that can support our claim that diversity is of utmost importance.

On the other hand, you can also point out flaws in non-inclusive games, be they racist, homophobic, sexist or whatever. There are so many studios that are being violent towards marginalized communities, and many of them wouldn't listen to their own employees. Maybe they would get the message if the players were the ones warning them.

QRM: Have you ever mentored somebody in your role in games, or been mentored? If so, what made these experiences worthwhile for you?
Question asked by @pepelanova.

Heather: I had several senior superiors teaching me things about the job, and most of the time it was worth it. I also got to monitor interns a few times. But it never had anything to do with me being queer or about diversity in our games. Only technical things.

QRM: In what ways can non-queer folk increase and support queer diversity present within games, as well as in the industry more broadly? How can we all work to support intersectional approaches to diversity, and why is this important?

Heather: Non-queer people can of course be great allies in this battle for equality. First, you can do all that was indicated above: buying queer-friendly games, supporting queer-friendly studios on social media, promoting projects, etc.

You can also help by NOT supporting games that are obviously hostile to diversity. Vote with your wallet. Make game creators understand that intolerance is not okay. Show them that they have no choice but to change their ways, or to face bankruptcy.

Talking about an issue is one thing, acting about it is another entirely. Right now, people already know about diversity problems in the industry, but only a few are willing to actually do something. This is might be our chance to turn the tables.

QRM: Is there a message that you would like to share with the queer game players, game studies researchers, and other interested folks who comprise the Queerly Represent Me community?

Heather: I am most certain that diversity and respect towards all communities will eventually prevail someday. Be it within the players, the global entertainment industry, or the entirety of society. But we need to act in this regard if we wish to witness it ourselves.

There are people out there that are working hard on it. Game devs that face their hierarchies daily so they can give visibility to their community. Studies and researchers that support our claims. Vloggers that promote our games. Players that endorse our projects.

This is only the beginning. We can all make it happen.