The number of Black video game developers is small, but strong

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/20/ [login to see] /video-games-creators-developers-indie-industry
In many ways, it all started with Jerry Lawson.

The trailblazing engineer helped lead the team that developed the first home video gaming system with interchangeable cartridges, which opened up a whole new world of playing games at home in the 1970s.

The move paved the way for future systems like Atari and Super Nintendo, and by the time Lawson died in 2011, his legacy was imprinted on the video game industry.

It was rare to see Black engineers working in tech decades ago, but Lawson wasn't alone. Ed Smith was another Black engineer who reimagined consoles in the early days of at-home gaming, working on the very first hybrid video game/personal computer, called The Imagination Machine.

These two pioneers showed that Black people have a place in the multibillion-dollar video game industry. And yet, while the industry employs hundreds of thousands of people around the world, Black people are in the minority. Of the respondents to a 2021 survey from the International Game Developers Association, only 5% were Black while close to 80% were white — suggesting the enormous gap that exists in the industry.