Kirsty Fraser

We spoke with Kirsty, a junior programmer at VooFoo Studios.

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

Kirsty: I am a programmer at indie studio VooFoo Studios. I graduated Abertay University in the summer of 2016 and have since been working in the industry.

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

Kirsty: 13 months, and worked on Mantis Burn Racing, supporting it after release last year.

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

Kirsty: My joint love for video games and programming. It took me a while to understand that I wished to pursue a career in it and wasn’t until I was in my second year of doing IT that I wanted to change lanes and move towards video games.

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.

Kirsty: After playing Life is Strange, I was always in awe of Chloe. I felt a lot like Max who tries to do the best in every situation whereas Chloe is a lot more free and I feel she has more of a sense of who she is and doesn’t care what people think.

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?

Kirsty: By hiring more queer people into our development teams and have them contribute to games. I think a wider understanding of queer people and what queer means to us could happen to not only allow developers the chance to represent queer characters in the best way possible but to also allow queer devs to feel safe while they're at work.

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.

Kirsty: I have some experience in helping first year students while I was at uni. This was for two hours each week while they were learning C++. It was good for me, as I could let them know what I had learned through my four years and give them extra nuggets of information that perhaps hadn’t been given in class. I also ran a game development society while at uni where we encouraged students to make games and practise game development and enhance their skills. Again, this was rewarding seeing their progress throughout the years and seeing where that's leading them to.

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?

Kirsty: Be strong to anyone that is not respectful of you. You're amazing and can make a change in this industry if you put your mind to it. Hopefully together we can make it a more queer inclusive space where everyone can feel safe.

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You can find Kirsty at @kirstysays.
You can check out Rainbow Jam, a game jam about diversity that Queerly Represent Me is working on with Kirsty, at @RainbowGameJam.