1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Support for today's podcast comes from Cricket Wireless. Are you 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: looking for a way to end summer on a high note, 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:11,160 Speaker 1: They've got just the thing. Get ready for unlimited smiles, 4 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: unlimited times four. Get four lines of unlimited data for 5 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: a hundred dollars a month. Please note that Cricket Core 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: is required on four lines. Datas be limited to three 7 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: megabits per second. Cricket may slow data speeds when the 8 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: network is busy. Additional fees, usage and restrictions apply. Now 9 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: let's get into our show. Welcome to the Therapy for 10 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: Black Girls Podcast, a weekly conversation about mental health, personal development, 11 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: and all the small decisions we can make to become 12 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: the best possible versions of ourselves. I'm your host, dt 13 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: A joy Hard and Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. 14 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: For more information or to find a therapist in your area, 15 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: visit our website at Therapy for Black Girls dot com. 16 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: While I hope you love listening to and learning from 17 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 1: the podcast, it is not meant to be a substitute 18 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: for a relationship with a licensed mental health professional. Hey y'all, 19 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,199 Speaker 1: thanks so much for joining me for session one sixty 20 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,840 Speaker 1: six of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. I don't 21 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: know about you, but something I've picked up in order 22 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: to soothe myself over the past couple of months is 23 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: video games. I just couldn't resist all the cute pictures 24 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: I saw online of people hanging out on their animal 25 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 1: crossing islands. So I had to see what the hype 26 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: was about, and now I totally get it. This led 27 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: me to think about the relationships that other black women 28 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: had to gain and how they've been able to build 29 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: community in this space. For this conversation, I was joined 30 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: by Dr Melissa Boone. Dr Boone is a senior Research 31 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 1: manager on the Xbox Research Team, a team that conducts 32 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: research to provide feedback and insight from our players around 33 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: the globe. Melissa earned her BA in psychology at Spellman 34 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: College and a pH d in Social psychology and public 35 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 1: health from Columbia University. Since joining Team Xbox, Melissa has 36 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: worked on titles within the Halo and Mine Crayft franchises. Currently, 37 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: her work at Xbox focuses on managing research across Project X, 38 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: Cloud Mixer, and Ninja Theory. She also drives xboxes research 39 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: on accessibility, diversity and inclusion. Dr Boone and I chatted 40 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: about why so many of us have turned to games 41 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: like Animal Crossing during the pandemic, the evolution she's seen 42 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: in terms of making gaming a more inclusive space, tips 43 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 1: for parenting your young gamers, and she shared how our 44 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: experiences as a social psychologist have made her uniquely suited 45 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: for the work she does currently. If you find something 46 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,799 Speaker 1: that resonates with you during our conversation, please be sure 47 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: to share with us on social media using the hashtag 48 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: TBG in session. Here's our conversation. Thank you so much 49 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:30,920 Speaker 1: for joining us today, Melissa, Thank you for having me. 50 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 1: I'm super excited to chat about this me too. So 51 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: can you just tell us a little bit about your background, Melissa, 52 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: how did you find space for yourself and gaming? Well, so, 53 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: I've been playing games my entire life. I mean literally 54 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: as soon as I could hold a controller in my hand. 55 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: I've been playing with my cousins uh in my aunt 56 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: Spaceman's mostly fighting games. We passed the controller around tournament 57 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: style and eventually evolved to playing other games with my siblings. 58 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: Growing up. I have a brother in a sister, and 59 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: I think the invention of the Nintendo sixty four is 60 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: probably the greatest thing that ever happened to us, because 61 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 1: it allowed all three of us to play at the 62 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: same time, which most other consoles didn't do before then. 63 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: My daddy used to get used consoles at electronics stores 64 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: and rerank games from Blockbuster, and we'd all play together, 65 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: and my mom and dad used to watch us, sometimes 66 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 1: partially keep an eye on us, but also partially because 67 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,039 Speaker 1: they were just curious and interested about games and gaming. 68 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: They were both geeks. They loved comics and all kinds 69 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: of things like that. But I never actually imagine myself 70 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: working in games. I never really thought about the people 71 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: who behind the games, who actually made them. So I 72 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 1: actually intended to become a researcher, a public health researcher, 73 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: and work either in academia or the federal government doing 74 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: health research that was gonna advance programs that would help 75 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: support people of color and people from l g B, 76 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:56,119 Speaker 1: t q I communities, substance abuse, starke use, and mental health. 77 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:58,480 Speaker 1: And so that's actually how I started my career. I 78 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: went and got my PhD in a field called socio 79 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: medical sciences, which is a combination of social psychology and 80 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 1: public health, and I did that research for a while 81 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: I looked at drug use and mental health and people 82 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: of color, I looked at HIV risk behavior, and I 83 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,159 Speaker 1: enjoyed answering these questions that helped people like I loved 84 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 1: being able to ask and answer my own questions that 85 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: I thought would really have a difference and make a 86 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 1: difference in the communities of color that were like heavily 87 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: impacted by some of these issues. But one of the 88 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: things that always nickeled at me a little bit was 89 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: the amount of time that it took for the research 90 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: insights that I came up with to turn into action. 91 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: If you've ever interacted with academia, you know that you 92 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:42,599 Speaker 1: know it can take a couple of years to go 93 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: from the beginning of a research project even to just 94 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: a paper, much less any kind of program that come 95 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: out of it. And I wanted to see more immediate 96 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 1: impact of my work, So I started looking for other 97 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: careers where I could use my skills as a researcher 98 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: but have a more immediate impact that I could see 99 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: coming out in like days or weeks, rather than in 100 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 1: in measure in years. So I started looking into user 101 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: experience research and technology. But again I didn't really focus 102 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: on games specifically, I was just looking at tech in general, 103 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: and I found this job at Xbox on the Microsoft websites, 104 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: literally just by chance. I didn't know anybody at Microsoft. 105 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: I you know, didn't have any like network, my way 106 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 1: in or anything. The closest connection I had and I've 107 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:26,719 Speaker 1: seen somebody speaking a panel and American Psychological Association conference 108 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: who was on my team, and I was like, Wow, 109 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 1: that job sounds awesome. I want to do that, but 110 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:33,920 Speaker 1: they'll probably never hire me because I'm coming from a 111 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,799 Speaker 1: completely different field. But I was wrong. They did hire me, 112 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: and that's how I ended up here. It was kind 113 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: of a wending path and a little bit of a 114 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,599 Speaker 1: non traditional one, but I'm really loving and enjoying the 115 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: experience of being able to make gains and see what 116 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,479 Speaker 1: I call like my fingerprints on all of these different 117 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: projects and games that I've gotten the chance to work on. 118 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: That is such a cool story, and you know, really 119 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: speaks to why I often describe psychology as like this field. 120 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: It really opens all these other doors for you, because 121 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:05,840 Speaker 1: I feel like it just leads itself to doing that 122 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: only one thing, but lots of different things. Yep. I 123 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: think that's absolutely true, and I do volunteer college admission advising, 124 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 1: and that's what I tell the students that I work 125 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: with all the time. I'm like, you determine where you 126 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: go and you can learn lots of different skills and 127 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: other things that will help you get into the field. 128 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: But there's lots of different ways that you can interpret 129 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: lots of different majors, and there's such a need for 130 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: people who understand social science and how people think and 131 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 1: behave and interact with each other. M hmmm. So I'm 132 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: curious to hear a little bit more about how your 133 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 1: mental health background now informs the work that you do 134 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: in gaming. Yeah. Absolutely. So there's kind of two sides 135 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: to it. There's the research method side and then there's 136 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: the actual content of mental health. So briefly, a lot 137 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: of the methods that I learned in graduate school that 138 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: I used when I was doing research on mental health, 139 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: I now use the same ones when I'm doing research 140 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: on video games and people's behaviors. All that research training 141 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: that you get is going to be useful no matter 142 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: where you go, and it's even useful when I'm not 143 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: doing direct research because it influences the way that I 144 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: think about things. I take a scientific lens to approach things, 145 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: but specifically when talking about mental health. Mental health is 146 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:16,239 Speaker 1: all about people's well being. It's about how we make choices, 147 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: how we handle stress, how we relate to others, and 148 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: all of that is inherent in gaming. It's part of 149 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: the reason why people game gaming is a social endeavor. Now, 150 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: even if you're playing a single player game by yourself, 151 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: lots of people join online communities to connect with each 152 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: other to talk about that game or share screenshots, to 153 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 1: share cool things that they've done in the game, and 154 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:40,079 Speaker 1: all of that is about social interactions, is about how 155 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:44,199 Speaker 1: people think, and the way that our emotional well being is, 156 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,640 Speaker 1: our psychological well being is will impact the way that 157 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:49,400 Speaker 1: we interact with other people as we play games. So 158 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,199 Speaker 1: it's it's really important and useful to have that lens 159 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 1: and bring it to my work. Yeah, I'm glad you 160 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 1: mentioned the idea of how social it is it has 161 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,240 Speaker 1: become because you know, my story in terms of like 162 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:02,200 Speaker 1: gaming is much like yours. Like I did not have 163 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:04,440 Speaker 1: the Nintendo six before. I'm a little older than it, 164 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: so I had the original Nintendo um by Me Mario Brothers. 165 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: But I feel like the social part was really like 166 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: just me and my cousins. Right, it wasn't like that 167 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: I was connecting with people all over the world, and 168 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: now it is so much more of a community thing, 169 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:22,400 Speaker 1: and there is a whole identity really related to gaming. 170 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit more about that gaming identity. Yeah, absolutely, 171 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 1: I mean I completely agree with you. That's the way 172 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:30,959 Speaker 1: I grew up to with like most of the social 173 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:33,440 Speaker 1: a theirs of the people I was related to, and 174 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: gaming where people I was you know, people I was 175 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 1: actually blood related to, like my cousins and my brother 176 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: and sister. It used to be just limited to who 177 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 1: you could physically connect with, and then when online multiplayers started, 178 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: you could hear the gamers and talk to them, but 179 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:48,480 Speaker 1: you were still kind of limited to finding people randomly 180 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:51,760 Speaker 1: or maybe randomly stumbling across people online. But one of 181 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: the things that I've seen consistently, both in the research 182 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 1: that we've done and also just an anecdotal conversations with people, 183 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: is that those early exp rances have formed really strong 184 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: identities as like a gamer, a person who plays games, 185 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:08,200 Speaker 1: somebody who enjoys playful experiences. When I interact with other 186 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: folks who started gaming, no matter when they started, where 187 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: they started with the d s like you and I, 188 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: whether they started with the ANT sixty four, whether they 189 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:18,959 Speaker 1: started with much later on in the ecosystem, there's this 190 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,200 Speaker 1: like joy and identity that talking about gaming brains. I 191 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: always joke that it's like this grand unifier. I can 192 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: talk to a person who seems to have nothing in 193 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 1: common with me and it's completely different from me. But 194 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: if we hit on a game that we've both played, 195 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: we can just go off on a bench and talk 196 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,720 Speaker 1: for like many hours about that specific game and go 197 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 1: off into other topics that are related to it. So 198 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,080 Speaker 1: it really brings people together and it forms this important 199 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: part of people's identities where gamers and just something they do. 200 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 1: It's something that they are, it's something that they live, 201 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 1: it's a part of them. Mm hmmm. Yeah. And I 202 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:54,840 Speaker 1: think we often have like a negative connotation associated with gaming. 203 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: Like I feel like a lot of the stories you 204 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: often hear, at least historically, have been related to people 205 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 1: feeling like people spend too much time playing games, or 206 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 1: you know that there are negative experiences related to gaming. 207 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 1: And it definitely feels like there's a bit of a 208 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: transition in some of that information. Now, Yeah, definitely when 209 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,240 Speaker 1: I first started playing actually working in the industry, I 210 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,199 Speaker 1: remember hearing the stereotype that black people didn't play games, 211 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: and I was like, this is brand new information to me. 212 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:23,440 Speaker 1: I never knew that there was a stereotype about this 213 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: because everyone that I grew up with playing games with 214 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 1: was black. So I was like, I don't understand where 215 00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 1: this actually came from. I think a lot of people's 216 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:34,520 Speaker 1: imagery of a gamer is like someone stuck down in 217 00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:39,600 Speaker 1: their basement, probably white, probably male, probably young, playing games 218 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: you know, online, or maybe first person shooters or something 219 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 1: like that. But all of the research that we've done 220 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:46,679 Speaker 1: in gaming and all of the experiences I have just 221 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: pointed that that's not true. Half of the people who 222 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,680 Speaker 1: play games are women. There are lots and lots of 223 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: people of color who play and stream and talk about 224 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:57,199 Speaker 1: games and even create them. It's just a much more 225 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:00,320 Speaker 1: diverse role than I think most people expect, and once 226 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: you start to really engage with that world, you start 227 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,600 Speaker 1: to see the broad strokes. The only thing that makes 228 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: someone a gamer is that they play games. That's pretty 229 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: much it, and people can be diverse in all kinds 230 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:16,160 Speaker 1: of other ways. And I guess, like many things, you know, like, 231 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:20,080 Speaker 1: especially in this country, like idea of most things is 232 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:22,839 Speaker 1: like maybe a white guy. And so you know, when 233 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 1: we thought about gaming, like that is who we thought 234 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 1: played games. But like you said, like we have all 235 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: been playing games, But I don't know that I would 236 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 1: like necessarily describe myself as a gamer. So I wonder 237 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:34,199 Speaker 1: if there's a point of it that feels like that 238 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 1: culture is for somebody else, even though I might casually 239 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 1: play games. Yeah, it's so interesting that you say that, 240 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: because I remember having the same experience even when I 241 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: was applying to this particular role that I'm currently in. 242 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,960 Speaker 1: I remember that the original job at either specifically use 243 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: the word game or alluded to being a gamer, And 244 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 1: I remember thinking to myself, am I a gamer? Like 245 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:56,720 Speaker 1: what they consider me to be a gamer? Even though 246 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: at the time I was probably spending like ten to 247 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:02,280 Speaker 1: twenty ours a week playing games, and I played like 248 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:04,720 Speaker 1: the games that people consider to be in the core 249 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:08,079 Speaker 1: you know of of game types of RPGs, open world 250 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:12,199 Speaker 1: action adventures, even some first person shooters. So it's so 251 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:16,079 Speaker 1: interesting that people have different definitions of what gamer means, 252 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:19,680 Speaker 1: and it tends to all narrow towards this really narrow 253 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:22,040 Speaker 1: definition of a gamer, and a lot of people who 254 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:24,640 Speaker 1: play and love games, even if they consider themselves casual, 255 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: which I put in scare quotes, we'll often say, no, 256 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 1: I don't think I'm a gamer because gamers for someone else, 257 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 1: that identity is not for me. Yeah. And it feels 258 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 1: very much like people who like would maybe describe themselves 259 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 1: as athletes right that they are people who are passionate 260 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: about it and it's been a significant amount of time 261 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,600 Speaker 1: doing it, and it feels very much like gaming is 262 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,480 Speaker 1: the same way. Yeah. I think that's a really good analogy. 263 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: There seems to be the separation that people have between 264 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 1: like the behavior like I run versus like I am 265 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: a runner. It's the same thing in gaming, like a 266 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 1: game versus I am a gamer. And I think there's 267 00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 1: a lot of work that we can do in the 268 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: industry to change that perception and bring more people in. Yeah. 269 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 1: So you said that half of the people who play 270 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 1: games or women. So I'm curious to know if you 271 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,400 Speaker 1: know any like stance related to black women in gaming 272 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 1: and just how they maybe have been able to develop 273 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:17,640 Speaker 1: communities around gaming. It's really interesting. There aren't a lot 274 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: of stats, like hard quantitative data on that and it's 275 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 1: a lot of it is because the recognition of intersectionality 276 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: is only begetting to grow in the gaming industry. I 277 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 1: think we've sort of surmounted amountain of Okay, we need 278 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: to start counting and looking at race, and we start 279 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 1: looking at gender, and we need to start looking at 280 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 1: disability status and all of these other things. But we're 281 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: only starting to get into the idea of thinking about intersectionality. 282 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: And so I don't know actual numbers for that, But 283 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,240 Speaker 1: what I can talk about is the identity and the 284 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: gaming and the community is that black women often form 285 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,520 Speaker 1: around this. There are lots of black women gamers out there, 286 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: and a lot of times they're in gaming groups or 287 00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: they're in close communities for a lot of different reasons, 288 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: but a lot of the rise and new technology and 289 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: gaming like streaming, like clubs, like online guilds, like social 290 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: media have allowed people to form communities and find each 291 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 1: other in ways that they never have before. And so 292 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: you know, back in you know, when I was playing 293 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: in a ten of sixty four, there was no way 294 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:18,200 Speaker 1: for me to go online and find like a group 295 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: of black girl gamers, and it was probably hidden in 296 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:23,200 Speaker 1: some corner of the internet. But now there's so many 297 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: different networks and platforms where you can do that, and 298 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: that allows us to really see each other and recognize 299 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 1: how many of us there actually are out there and 300 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:33,000 Speaker 1: start to wonder, like, are there more of us? Let's 301 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: go find them and bring them into this space as well. 302 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 1: Let's talk about the things that are really important to us, 303 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 1: and let's also publicize those things so that the folks 304 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 1: in the industry know, like, what are our concerns, what 305 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:45,600 Speaker 1: are pain points, what are our delighters, and how can 306 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 1: people make things better for black women gamers? Mm hmmm. Yeah. 307 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: And I know that one of the things that often 308 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: comes up is related to like harassment in toxicity in 309 00:15:56,040 --> 00:16:00,280 Speaker 1: gaming spaces, particularly around women, especially for black men. And 310 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,200 Speaker 1: I know you've done a lot of research around this. 311 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: Can you talk more about some of their research and 312 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 1: what it looks like. Yeah. Absolutely, We've done a research 313 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 1: on my team in a couple of different ways. We've 314 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: done some interviews, we've done some survey works. We have 315 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: both these rich qualitative stories as well as this broad 316 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:20,560 Speaker 1: quantitative measure as well. And what we've found is that 317 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: because of that reluctance that people have to kind of 318 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 1: call themselves a gamer sometimes or that identity that they have. 319 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: A lot of times, people feel like in order to 320 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: play online they have to have what's called the thick skin. 321 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: When we did interviews, people almost universally use this phrase 322 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 1: thick skin, like in order to play online because harassment 323 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 1: is inevitable and there's no way to prevent it and 324 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: it happens all the time, you have to have a 325 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:46,480 Speaker 1: thick skin to protect yourself, and people put the onus 326 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:50,120 Speaker 1: on themselves. They take this responsibility on themselves rather than 327 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:54,000 Speaker 1: putting it on gaming networks or games to actually control 328 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: how they react to harassment. But what that often means 329 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: is that they create these scripts, these behavioral patterns to 330 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 1: protect themselves, which sometimes means that they exclude themselves from 331 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: entire genres of games. I've talked to people who are like, 332 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:11,879 Speaker 1: I don't play games and the first person shooters, or 333 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: I don't play games and this other genre because there's 334 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:16,119 Speaker 1: too much toxicity there and I just don't want to 335 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 1: experience that, so they exclude themselves from the narrative. I 336 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:22,720 Speaker 1: also know lots of black women who say things like 337 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: I never play on Mike because whenever people turn on 338 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,360 Speaker 1: voice chat, that's when I'm gonna get harassed. I've heard 339 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 1: people say that they get harassed fifty of the time 340 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,040 Speaker 1: where they go online. There's no hard numbers for that, 341 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:36,760 Speaker 1: but this is just kind of people's perceptions, and one 342 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:39,960 Speaker 1: of the things we know is psychologists that perception is powerful. 343 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: Even if I told someone low it's only thirty percent 344 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 1: of the time, that doesn't change the way that they 345 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: feel and experience these kinds of events. So that often 346 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,479 Speaker 1: means that people are withdrawing from our ecosystems before they 347 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 1: even really get deeply embedded in them, and they're withdrawing 348 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:56,679 Speaker 1: from different ways that they can engage and interact with 349 00:17:56,680 --> 00:17:59,159 Speaker 1: other people in line to their detriment and also to 350 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,520 Speaker 1: the industries ttment as well, because we lose those really 351 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: engaged and serious gamers who love the craft. So can 352 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: you talk about any efforts then maybe are being made 353 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,920 Speaker 1: to kind of combat is yeah. Absolutely, So We've learned 354 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,880 Speaker 1: a lot from doing some of this research, and at 355 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:18,199 Speaker 1: Xbox and other people across the industry as well have 356 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: made a lot of changes in the last couple of 357 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: years to try to make gaming online a safer place 358 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:26,399 Speaker 1: for everyone to play, So specifically with an Xbox, some 359 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: of the things we've done, we've noticed that when you 360 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: talk to people and you tell them what not to do, 361 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,199 Speaker 1: it actually just makes what not to do more salia 362 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 1: in their minds. Right, So we actually splip the script 363 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:38,640 Speaker 1: a little bit and talked about what we want people 364 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: to do, how do we want people to behave, what 365 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: are we expecting from people, because we and other gaming 366 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:47,199 Speaker 1: companies have done some research to find that when you 367 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: tell people what you expect of them, they want to 368 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 1: rise to that occasion. It's almost like a challenge, especially 369 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:56,239 Speaker 1: with gamers who love challenges and are very competitive. So 370 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:58,680 Speaker 1: there's been some positive work done both an Xbox and 371 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: a couple of other companies about being intentional about telling 372 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 1: people how we'd like them to behave and what we 373 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:06,639 Speaker 1: think the stand statific good community are. Some of the 374 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:08,880 Speaker 1: other things that we've done are making it actually more 375 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:13,240 Speaker 1: easy for people to report experiences that they've had. We 376 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 1: made a small change in the place that the button, 377 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,439 Speaker 1: the report button is located on the Xbox platform, and 378 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:23,960 Speaker 1: that created a vast increase in the number of reports 379 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 1: that we got, but it did not decrease the accuracy. 380 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: So what that said to us is that before we 381 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:31,680 Speaker 1: were missing a lot of people who wanted to report 382 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 1: some of these events that were happening, but they couldn't 383 00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: because they didn't know where the button was. So that 384 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,719 Speaker 1: allowed us to get a better view of what's actually 385 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: happening on our ecosystem and then to put in some 386 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,440 Speaker 1: other things preventatively to prevent some of those experiences from happening. 387 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,120 Speaker 1: So it's kind of an ecosystem. There's multiple different things, 388 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: and we're continuing to work on it and do a 389 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:52,479 Speaker 1: lot of research across the industry to find out more 390 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: things that will help promote healthy gaming environments online. Mm hmmm, yeah, 391 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,199 Speaker 1: And I know, you know, I've seen recent like news 392 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,680 Speaker 1: stories about like platforms like Twitch, like banning people from 393 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,680 Speaker 1: the platform in different things like that. So are they're 394 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:09,680 Speaker 1: typically like real time moderators kind of like paying attention 395 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 1: to what's happening as people are playing online. Yeah, it 396 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: depends on the kind of play that you do. So 397 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:17,959 Speaker 1: for example, if you're on a streaming service like Twitch, 398 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,400 Speaker 1: a lot of streamers, do you have moderators that actually 399 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:24,959 Speaker 1: are in the chat and they're carefully moderating that community. Um, 400 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:27,160 Speaker 1: And what we find when we do interviews with streamers 401 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 1: and we talk to them a lot of them, especially 402 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,480 Speaker 1: as their communities are starting to grow. I think moderation 403 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: is like one of the key things that allows them 404 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:36,320 Speaker 1: to build a community because it allows them to set 405 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:39,400 Speaker 1: the standards for what behaviors are and actually enforce those 406 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,359 Speaker 1: with their community as well. So there's lots of moderation there. 407 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:45,439 Speaker 1: And then there are other places where we have different 408 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 1: kinds of moderation, maybe not the traditional kind that people 409 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:50,280 Speaker 1: would think of. So for example, at Xbox, we have 410 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: our Xbox and Passadors program, which are Xbox players who 411 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:57,480 Speaker 1: are there to help other people and support them as 412 00:20:57,520 --> 00:20:59,880 Speaker 1: they play in their journey. So that might be things 413 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: like helping a new player figure out how to navigate 414 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 1: the Xbox ecosystem, bringing people into games, and supporting them 415 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,280 Speaker 1: along that, answering people's questions about how to interact with Xbox. 416 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: So it's really like a supportive community, and we find 417 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,320 Speaker 1: that folks are motivated to join that program because they 418 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,960 Speaker 1: want to do that community support mentorship. So there's lots 419 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,920 Speaker 1: of different ways that people participate in this, like community 420 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,480 Speaker 1: stewardship aspect of gaming, where they feel like they're a 421 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:26,639 Speaker 1: leader and they want to make their community is a 422 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 1: better place. Well, Lissa, I'm wondering if you can talk 423 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 1: about any maybe other mental health efforts that have been 424 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:34,680 Speaker 1: kind of put in place by some of the companies. 425 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:37,880 Speaker 1: So we know that, like, especially younger people will sometimes 426 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: like stay up until all hours of the night playing games, 427 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 1: or you know, will miss meals because they don't want 428 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:44,919 Speaker 1: to like miss something in the game. And so we 429 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,040 Speaker 1: know the importance of like self care and like taking 430 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,240 Speaker 1: time to eat and you know, healthy sleep other things 431 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 1: like that that have become more prevalent in the gaming communities. Yeah, 432 00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: I would say those are growing recognition of the need 433 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:00,879 Speaker 1: to help people balance their time amongst a variety of 434 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 1: different things, and so there's different tools that people can 435 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: use for that. So there's lots of different apps that 436 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 1: you can use to measure how much time you spend 437 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:10,879 Speaker 1: doing specific kinds of things, so that you can be 438 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 1: really aware of like how much time you actually spend 439 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 1: online and when you're most active in things and and 440 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,439 Speaker 1: implement positive behavioral change if you really want to do 441 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:20,520 Speaker 1: that or need to do that. There's also a lot 442 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:22,480 Speaker 1: of tools that have been deployed for parents to help 443 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:24,919 Speaker 1: do that as well. So, for example, Xbox as the 444 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: Xox Family App, which we just released not too long ago. 445 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: Other gaming companies have similar apps. But that allows you 446 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,640 Speaker 1: to see all of this data about gameplay and your family, 447 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:37,200 Speaker 1: from your children and from yourself, like how many hours 448 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,959 Speaker 1: are people playing, when are people playing, what times are 449 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,119 Speaker 1: your children playing these games, and also to set some 450 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,760 Speaker 1: good limits for them as well. Of course, we always 451 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 1: encourage people to have conversations with their children about these 452 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:50,120 Speaker 1: kinds of things, um, but that allows the extra enforcement 453 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,800 Speaker 1: to make sure that you're supporting them the best way 454 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 1: and helping them make healthy decisions about how long to play, 455 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:57,920 Speaker 1: and when to play and when to take a break. Yeah. 456 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:00,200 Speaker 1: I'm glad you talk more about like the Paro self 457 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,119 Speaker 1: control because we know that that, of course is a 458 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,919 Speaker 1: hot topic. But I'm wondering if there are other things, 459 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,120 Speaker 1: you know, given the amount of research that you've done, 460 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:09,960 Speaker 1: that you can offer in terms of parents setting their 461 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:13,439 Speaker 1: kids up voice success as they started online gaming. Yeah, so, 462 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: I mean parental controls is probably one of the bigger 463 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,680 Speaker 1: things that we talked about in the industry. Most consoles 464 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 1: online gaming systems have different ways that parents can set 465 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 1: things to restrict screen time, update their content restriction so 466 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: that you can limit your children to playing things that 467 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:29,840 Speaker 1: you know are going to be good for them developmentally, 468 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:32,399 Speaker 1: to look at their gaming activity. So there are different 469 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,040 Speaker 1: tools that you can use to do that, but from 470 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:37,639 Speaker 1: working with children and parents and from the research that 471 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: we've done and that others have done, honestly, the most 472 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: important thing it's talking to your kids about the games. 473 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 1: I used to work on a title called Minecraft. It's 474 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,280 Speaker 1: one of the most popular titles amongst young children, and 475 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:52,919 Speaker 1: I talked to so many kids who absolutely love Minecraft. 476 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:56,119 Speaker 1: And you can ask them a single question like show 477 00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: me what you're building, or talk to me a little 478 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: bit about what you're doing in Minecraft, and they can 479 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:02,240 Speaker 1: just go on and on and on about what they're 480 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:04,879 Speaker 1: doing because they love the game so much. So I 481 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: think that that's a great entry way for parents and 482 00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: other adults who love children in their lives to actually 483 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:13,119 Speaker 1: show them that they care about what they're doing, but 484 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: also to understand a little bit more about how to 485 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,359 Speaker 1: protect them is to just enter the conversation in a 486 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,200 Speaker 1: really open ended way and just saying, show me a 487 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: little bit about where you're building, or where you're going, 488 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:24,640 Speaker 1: or what you're doing in this game. Or sitting down 489 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,159 Speaker 1: with your children and actually watching them play, or watching 490 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 1: a stream with them to understand more about the game 491 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:31,920 Speaker 1: and its mechanics. Because the more that you understand about 492 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 1: the game, even if it's just a basic understanding from 493 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:36,640 Speaker 1: a couple of hours of watching, the better able you're 494 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:38,840 Speaker 1: out to have conversations with their kids about what they're 495 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:42,040 Speaker 1: doing in the game and how to protect themselves. M Yeah, 496 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 1: my little guys are all into Pokemon and so so 497 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 1: many questions about what they're catching. It was the next 498 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:55,600 Speaker 1: challenge and it's hilarious though, but I also recognize like 499 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,800 Speaker 1: how it has kind of helped like develop their vocabulary. Um, 500 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:03,200 Speaker 1: not just like playing the game, but then they're also 501 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,160 Speaker 1: like watching other tutorials of other people playing the game, 502 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:08,639 Speaker 1: and I mean, there really is this whole world created 503 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: around the game. It's so true. I was talking to 504 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:13,200 Speaker 1: my nine year old cousin a couple of weeks ago 505 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:16,000 Speaker 1: about Minecraft, and he started talking about this ravine that 506 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: he had found, and I was like, how do you 507 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,240 Speaker 1: know the word ravene? Like, but he had learned it 508 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,120 Speaker 1: from Minecraft. He had learned so many You hear kids 509 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: talking about bios and bioluminescence and all of these and 510 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 1: they find out that they've learned these words from Minecraft, 511 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,199 Speaker 1: and the team is very intentional. I love working with 512 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:35,639 Speaker 1: the Minecraft team because they're very very intentional about doing 513 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: that and they think about it as a way for 514 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:39,360 Speaker 1: children to learn those kinds of skills in the game 515 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:43,000 Speaker 1: as well. Can you say more about that, like the intentionality, 516 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:45,159 Speaker 1: Like how long does it take in what kinds of 517 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: like research and you know, all of those touches. Does 518 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:51,919 Speaker 1: it go into like bringing games and market Yeah? Absolutely, 519 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 1: I mean, especially nowadays when games have much higher graphics, 520 00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:00,359 Speaker 1: fidelity and technological requirements. A game and development into several 521 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: years to make I think sort of the general average 522 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:05,399 Speaker 1: a lot of people throw around it's about two to 523 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: three years, but it can be a lot longer than 524 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: that depending on the game. But as a researcher, what 525 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 1: my role is is actually bringing people into our research labs, 526 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,080 Speaker 1: either in person or right now virtually, to gather feedback 527 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,560 Speaker 1: from them about the game and some insight. So that 528 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 1: can be things as simple as the controls and the 529 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: mechanics of the game. So how do people hold the 530 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,200 Speaker 1: controller naturally? Where do their fingers reach the buttons? Does 531 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:30,840 Speaker 1: this control layout work? For the game, to how the 532 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,199 Speaker 1: characters feel, to move them around, to the music and 533 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: the sound effects, the environment, like, all of these different 534 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:39,240 Speaker 1: pieces come together to create the feeling and the atmosphere 535 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:41,480 Speaker 1: of a game. And we test all of those in 536 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,440 Speaker 1: variety of different ways by bringing folks and having them 537 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 1: play the game and give us their feedback. But specifically 538 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:49,920 Speaker 1: with the intentionally a reality around the Minecraft team and 539 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:52,320 Speaker 1: a lot of other teams that we work with. Um 540 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: it's about knowing your audience and knowing who's playing your game, 541 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 1: and that's a lot where the mental health and the 542 00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:59,560 Speaker 1: social psychology come in. We do a lot of audience 543 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,680 Speaker 1: research with our teams to help them understand who's playing 544 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:04,720 Speaker 1: their game, who's going to be attracted to this game, 545 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:06,760 Speaker 1: and one are the kinds of things that they're looking 546 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:08,680 Speaker 1: for as they play and that they need for them. 547 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:10,520 Speaker 1: And one of the things that Minecraft is very well 548 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:13,199 Speaker 1: aware of is that they have an audience that spans 549 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,560 Speaker 1: a wide range of ages. Children. A lot of children 550 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 1: play Minecraft, a lot of adults play Minecraft too. It 551 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: just spans across I think the average ages around twenty 552 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: eight actually, and so because of that, there's a lot 553 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:26,160 Speaker 1: of thought that the team puts in that we work 554 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:28,720 Speaker 1: with them to think about. Okay, so we know we 555 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:30,400 Speaker 1: have a lot of children playing this game, how can 556 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 1: we establish some things that will keep them safe. I'll 557 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,280 Speaker 1: also letting them have fun. Even things down to the 558 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:38,399 Speaker 1: number of words that we show up on the screen 559 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:41,080 Speaker 1: and what kind of reading level people are required to 560 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 1: have in order to read through things like tool tips 561 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:45,719 Speaker 1: and tutorials. All of those different details are thought of 562 00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: when games are being made. So there's a lot of 563 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,359 Speaker 1: different things. That's why I tell people, if you ever curious, 564 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:53,399 Speaker 1: go watch the credits of the game and look at 565 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,320 Speaker 1: how many people were involved in the making of that, 566 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:57,680 Speaker 1: and look at how many roles there were that contribute 567 00:27:57,680 --> 00:27:59,479 Speaker 1: to that. There's so many different ways that you can 568 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,840 Speaker 1: get involved in the industry. Software engineering is very important, 569 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:05,160 Speaker 1: but there's tons of other roles as well. Yeah, and 570 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:07,520 Speaker 1: how do you find out about information like that? Like 571 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:09,720 Speaker 1: I'm thinking, you know, like back in college, like I 572 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 1: don't remember anybody from like the video game places, like 573 00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:15,400 Speaker 1: being able to talk about like all the different ways 574 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:17,679 Speaker 1: you could get into gaming. So what would be your 575 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 1: tips for people who may be interested in like exploring 576 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,360 Speaker 1: these different options? Of course, So first of all, I 577 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:25,879 Speaker 1: completely agree with you. I don't remember anyone at my 578 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,639 Speaker 1: college is doing that either, but that is changing, and 579 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 1: so we are doing a lot of recruitment on college 580 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:34,480 Speaker 1: campuses and sending people from Team Xbox, and a lot 581 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:37,080 Speaker 1: of our colleagues from different companies across the industry do 582 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 1: that as well. So I went to a historically black 583 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:41,880 Speaker 1: college for under Guard, I went to Spellman College, and 584 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:43,800 Speaker 1: so I've gone back there a couple of times on 585 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,440 Speaker 1: recruiting trips to talk to students about getting into the 586 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,719 Speaker 1: gaming industry. Um. We also go to different kinds of 587 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,320 Speaker 1: events as well. So, for example, Team Xbox goes to 588 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 1: the National Society of Black Engineers conference to talk to 589 00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:58,840 Speaker 1: some of the engineering students there about what it's like 590 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:01,479 Speaker 1: to work in gaming. And we also go to big 591 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:05,480 Speaker 1: gaming events. So the Game Developers Conference, which usually happens 592 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:08,240 Speaker 1: every year in San Francisco, is one of the biggest 593 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 1: industry events, and that's where you know, all of the 594 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,840 Speaker 1: big companies and most of the small ones go not 595 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:16,840 Speaker 1: only to do business and to trade ideas with each other, 596 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 1: but also to recruit. And there are lots of people 597 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 1: who come from all over the world who integrate with 598 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:25,960 Speaker 1: a lot of those companies communicate with them and look 599 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 1: for open roles. And if you're wondering, like, okay, so 600 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:31,080 Speaker 1: conference is expensive, how do I get there? There are 601 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:34,480 Speaker 1: actually lots of scholarships that are offered to send students 602 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,640 Speaker 1: and young professionals to places like the Game Developers Conference, 603 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: and so you can look around for g DC scholarships. 604 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: I know we offer some through a variety of different programs, 605 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 1: and there are a couple of other places that do 606 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:47,720 Speaker 1: as well. So that's one good way to to get 607 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:51,560 Speaker 1: connected to folks within the industry, got it? Okay? So 608 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 1: I know, very early only quarantine, you know, I would 609 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:57,280 Speaker 1: see all over my timeline and we just heard a 610 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: lot about people getting into game mean, like even myself. So, 611 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 1: like I told you, I played Nintendo Mario Brothers and 612 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:07,240 Speaker 1: Mike Tyson's Plunge Out and all those things um as 613 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,239 Speaker 1: a little person, but probably have not like picked up 614 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:13,160 Speaker 1: a game like since then. And then I started seeing 615 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,520 Speaker 1: all of these pictures of people playing Animal Crossing, and 616 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,040 Speaker 1: so the little pictures were just so cute that I 617 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:22,479 Speaker 1: found myself like lured into that. And I feel like 618 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:24,760 Speaker 1: a lot of people like picked up things like Animal 619 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 1: Crossing in the SIMS as a way to kind of 620 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 1: create a different world than the one that we are 621 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:34,240 Speaker 1: currently living in. Um I'm curious to know, like any 622 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:36,640 Speaker 1: research that kind of supports that are just your kind 623 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:40,000 Speaker 1: of general perceptions about why people kind of ranto gaming 624 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:44,400 Speaker 1: in this time. Yeah, I I absolutely love Animal Crossing 625 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:46,400 Speaker 1: like I had a countdown timer to when a Kado 626 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:50,760 Speaker 1: because I love it so much. But I think it's 627 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,160 Speaker 1: it's exactly where you're hitting on it. It was escape 628 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,520 Speaker 1: fist in this current cultural moment that we're in the game, 629 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,600 Speaker 1: and all Crossing specifically is about building a community and 630 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:02,120 Speaker 1: took place for you to live and for others to live. 631 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:05,040 Speaker 1: And that is just like the heart and the core 632 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:06,880 Speaker 1: of what a lot of people are thinking about right 633 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:09,640 Speaker 1: now in this time, right about how do we interact 634 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:11,880 Speaker 1: with each other and relate to each other. So it's 635 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,000 Speaker 1: an escapest way to do and it's also a way 636 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:16,760 Speaker 1: that you can choose how much time you put into it. 637 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:18,800 Speaker 1: One of the reasons that I love Animal Crossing and 638 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 1: that a lot of other people do as well, is 639 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: because you can spend fifteen minutes in the game where 640 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:25,600 Speaker 1: you can spend ten hours playing in the game, like, 641 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:28,560 Speaker 1: it just really depends on you, and it's built for 642 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,320 Speaker 1: these short interactions where you can say, Okay, I only 643 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:33,160 Speaker 1: have twenty minutes today to go in, but I'm going 644 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:35,000 Speaker 1: to just redecorate my house today, and that's what I'm 645 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,360 Speaker 1: going to focus on, right, And there are also lots 646 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:39,880 Speaker 1: of different other ways to interact and play with others, 647 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:42,560 Speaker 1: so you can invite people into your island, you can 648 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:44,600 Speaker 1: take screenshots of what you're doing. People have made lots 649 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,200 Speaker 1: of silly videos of like the little animals dancing and 650 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:49,800 Speaker 1: make musing and Animal Crossing, right, So it's just a 651 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,400 Speaker 1: fun way for people to laugh at other people's creations 652 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:55,120 Speaker 1: and share together in this joyful way of like creating 653 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 1: a community around something. And I think that because it's 654 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:02,840 Speaker 1: not competitive and it's colorful and bright and like it's 655 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 1: really focused on community, I think that had a lot 656 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:07,080 Speaker 1: to do with the uptake of it. I mean, Animal 657 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:09,840 Speaker 1: Crossing has always been a popular franchise, but it was 658 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,400 Speaker 1: extraordinarily popular this time around. I think the moment that 659 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 1: we were in had a lot to do with that. 660 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:17,600 Speaker 1: M Yeah, I think a lot of people and again 661 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:19,920 Speaker 1: I didn't even know that there were previous iterations of 662 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 1: animal crossing. So I know the long time fans have 663 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 1: been waiting, but I think the timing of when this 664 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:28,160 Speaker 1: new version was released really kind of just cool insided 665 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:33,160 Speaker 1: perfectly when everybody had a little bit more time anyway. Absolutely, yeah, yeah, 666 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:36,160 Speaker 1: So what is next for you, Melissa? Can you talk 667 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:38,640 Speaker 1: about maybe some of the you know, new research you 668 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:42,320 Speaker 1: might be engaging in specific around like diversity and inclusion 669 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:47,520 Speaker 1: in gaming. Absolutely. So. I am actually the research lead 670 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:51,600 Speaker 1: for accessibility across Team xox now um and so this 671 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:54,920 Speaker 1: is the area that I'm really delving into and building in, 672 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: and it's an area in which I was able to 673 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,200 Speaker 1: uncover a large area of privilege of in myself, an 674 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:04,160 Speaker 1: ignorance of myself. UM. I started working full time and 675 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:07,840 Speaker 1: accessibility about a year ago, and as I began to 676 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:11,600 Speaker 1: do research in the area and interview players with disabilities, 677 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:16,200 Speaker 1: I started to learn so much about the unintentional ways 678 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:18,760 Speaker 1: in which we exclude people from gaming just by the 679 00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 1: way that we make games. Um. And in most of 680 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:23,640 Speaker 1: the cases, it's not malicious, it's just out of ignorance. 681 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:25,440 Speaker 1: We just didn't think about it because we have the 682 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:28,080 Speaker 1: privilege not to. But part of the work that I'm 683 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:31,760 Speaker 1: doing across the studios and Xbox and across other services 684 00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 1: as well, is actually starting to bring some of those 685 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:37,440 Speaker 1: voices into the conversation work with teams on accessibility, and 686 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:39,720 Speaker 1: one of the things that I love about working at 687 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:42,400 Speaker 1: Xbox is that diversity inclusion is an actual thing that 688 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:45,400 Speaker 1: people embrace. It's not just a buzzword that people say, 689 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:48,520 Speaker 1: they actually do want to make games for everyone. Every 690 00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:50,240 Speaker 1: studio that I've talked to you, out of all of 691 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,880 Speaker 1: the sixteen studios represented with us, as well as all 692 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:55,520 Speaker 1: of our services and platforms, have been all in and 693 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:59,280 Speaker 1: super enthusiastic about making our games more accessible. The question 694 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:02,480 Speaker 1: is not what what, but it's it's how right, And 695 00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:04,160 Speaker 1: so that's a lot of the research that I'm doing 696 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:07,640 Speaker 1: right now is focusing on what features and things do 697 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:10,000 Speaker 1: we need to including games to make them accessible to 698 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:12,560 Speaker 1: people of all different ability levels, and how do we 699 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:15,319 Speaker 1: include more representation for them in our games as well? 700 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:19,400 Speaker 1: How do we authentically and responsibly and ethically represent these 701 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:22,080 Speaker 1: folks in our games and include features that allow them 702 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:23,560 Speaker 1: to play it. So it's a big part of the 703 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:26,520 Speaker 1: work that I'm doing now nice well, we will be 704 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:29,120 Speaker 1: looking forward to all of those updates and you know, 705 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:35,520 Speaker 1: being having gaming become even more inclusive for additional groups. Yeah, 706 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:37,839 Speaker 1: me too. I'm super excited to see the work that's 707 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: happening in the field right now. We're working on it, 708 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:42,640 Speaker 1: but so are many other companies as well. And one 709 00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:45,640 Speaker 1: of the coolest things about it is that most companies 710 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:49,120 Speaker 1: don't see accessibility or inclusion as a competitive advantage. We 711 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:52,640 Speaker 1: trade tips with each other um and guidelines and advice 712 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:54,759 Speaker 1: and best practices so that we can continue to make 713 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:57,279 Speaker 1: our games more inclusive spaces. So it's wonderful to see 714 00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:00,520 Speaker 1: the industry working together on something like this. That is 715 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:03,239 Speaker 1: I'm glad to hear that. Well. Is there anywhere for 716 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:07,040 Speaker 1: people to connect with you online, Melissa? Yes, absolutely so. 717 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:10,000 Speaker 1: You can follow me on Twitter at the Ruby Valkyrie, 718 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:12,359 Speaker 1: and you can also find me on LinkedIn. I'm black 719 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:14,000 Speaker 1: girl with purple hair. I'm pretty sure I'm the only 720 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:17,839 Speaker 1: one with that name, so I easy to find perfect Well. 721 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:19,840 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for sharing with us to day, Melissa, 722 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:22,160 Speaker 1: I really appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Dr 723 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:27,040 Speaker 1: Joy I'm so glad Dr Boone was able to join 724 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:29,919 Speaker 1: us this week. Don't forget to visit the show notes 725 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:32,759 Speaker 1: at Therapy for Black Girls dot com slash Session one 726 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:36,680 Speaker 1: sixty six to connect with Dr boone, don't forget to 727 00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:39,080 Speaker 1: share your takeaways with us on social media using the 728 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:43,240 Speaker 1: hashtag tv G and session, and please text two sisters 729 00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:46,399 Speaker 1: in your circle right now encourage them to check out 730 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:49,600 Speaker 1: the episode as well. If you're looking for a therapist 731 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:53,160 Speaker 1: in your area, check out our therapist directory at Therapy 732 00:35:53,239 --> 00:35:56,799 Speaker 1: for Black Girls dot com slash directory. And if you 733 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,680 Speaker 1: want to continue digging into this topic and connect with 734 00:35:59,719 --> 00:36:02,200 Speaker 1: some other their sisters in your area, come on over 735 00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:04,680 Speaker 1: and join us in the Yellow Couch Collective, where we 736 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:07,440 Speaker 1: take a deeper dive into the topics from the podcast 737 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:10,480 Speaker 1: and just about everything else. You can join us at 738 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:13,239 Speaker 1: Therapy for Black Girls dot com slash y c C. 739 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:16,520 Speaker 1: Don't forget that. If you're looking for a way to 740 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:19,759 Speaker 1: end summer on a high note, Cricket Wireless has got 741 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:24,720 Speaker 1: just the thing. Get ready for unlimited smiles, unlimited times. 742 00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:28,440 Speaker 1: For Get four lines of unlimited data for a hundred 743 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:32,720 Speaker 1: dollars a month. Cricket Core is required on four lines. 744 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:36,960 Speaker 1: Data speed limited to three megabits per second. Cricket may 745 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:40,840 Speaker 1: slow data spees when the network is busy additional fees, 746 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:45,680 Speaker 1: usage and restrictions apply. Thank y'all so much for joining 747 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:48,360 Speaker 1: me again this week. I look forward to continue in 748 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:52,000 Speaker 1: this conversation with you all real soon. Take it care, 749 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,920 Speaker 1: n b WO