Inside Black Girl Gamers: A Conversation with Founder Jay-Ann Lopez

1. The Origin Story

Waste: For many people working in games, especially those from underrepresented groups, it’s often a personal experience that drives them to build something bigger. Was there a particular moment (or pattern) you saw in the gaming space that made you say, “I’m starting Black Girl Gamers”?

Jay-Ann Lopez: When I was in university, there were two guys in my friend group and we often talked about games. But when watching them they often used AAVE to create online personas, whilst not being anywhere remotely connected to African American culture. They would also make jokes that, from time to time, had misogynistic punchlines. I wasn’t a fan of that, nor of many of the online personas of gaming content creators at the time. It felt fake and I felt disconnected, and lonely. I had met a few other Black women gamers on Twitter but I knew there were others out there that I could relate to so I created Black Girl Gamers. I was tired of only seeing and experiencing gaming without the sense of community or representation. 

2. Building More Than a Platform

W: You’ve built something much bigger than just a gaming community — from consultancy and content to talent brokering and brand partnerships. Was that scale always the vision from day one, how did it evolve as you navigated the industry and spotted the gaps?

J-A L: No, it really wasn’t something I envisioned but whenever myself or my team sees opportunity, we jump on it because we know someone in our community or ecosystem would benefit from it. With that said, I have always maintained that I wanted Black Girl Gamers to be a progressive space– keeping the community safe isn’t enough– I wanted Black Girl Gamers to impact the industry in whichever way it could. 

3. What a Safe Space Actually Means

W: The phrase “safe space” gets thrown around a lot. But in gaming (across Twitch, Discord, and beyond) racism, misogynoir, and online harassment are still a global issue. What does it really take to build and maintain a space where Black women feel protected, seen, and celebrated across different regions, cultures, and platforms? (Especially with Black Girl Gamers operating across countries and communities, each with their own challenges and contexts.)

J-A L: There’s two parts to creating a safe space–curating a positive and inclusive space and protecting it. Curating the space takes patience, discipline, a global world view and a lot of sacrifice. Though it’s such an impactful tool, social media has warped people’s perception of community and within marginalised groups, there are also bad actors.  As a Community Leader, you have to set boundaries and stick by them for the good of the space; we’re not averse to removing members. Being a good community leader also means recognising that though your community have this one thing in common, they are all extremely different and the community rules have to account for differences while not  permitting discrimination. Setting inclusive rules and ensuring new members understand– not only the rules but the consequences of breaking them– is key

Protecting the space is the second part and, in addition to things I mentioned before, this requires rigor. For some reason Black women having a safe space to themselves threatens people. Many people over the years have tried to infiltrate our safe space with malicious intentions, so being rigorous about the security of the space is important.

4. If the Industry’s Listening…

W: If you had the full attention of the global games industry (publishers, studios, platforms, all of them) what would you want them to hear about the experience of Black women in gaming? (And do you see key differences across regions? What’s happening in the US, UK, Nigeria or elsewhere that the industry still doesn’t grasp?)

J-A L: There are several things I’d say. The first thing I’d say is that the discriminatory experiences marginalised people have to face in the industry are the direct consequence of the behaviours and strategies of publishers, studios and the media; and they have a duty to correct them.  Their efforts in 2020 were admirable, but it takes constant effort to create equitable spaces for all. 

The second/third thing I’d say is “stop being cowards” and “indecision is a decision”. The industry has a penchant for brushing discrimination under the carpet, Gamergate 2.0 and the industry’s inaction is a great example of that. There should have been an industry-wide campaign addressing and denouncing the behaviours from gaming audiences, but many platforms and publishers often do nothing in fear of backlash from an audience that feels marginalised after a brief shift in focus, though they’ve been catered to, and considered, as the core gaming demographic since the 1980s.  I find it fascinating that studios will cancel games to avoid causing racist backlash, it reminds me of Frankenstein– fearing the monster you’ve created.

5. Reality vs. Representation

W: We’ve seen more Black characters on-screen in recent years. What is your opinion: are studios telling authentic Black stories, or just changing skin tones and calling it diversity? (Are there any examples you’ve seen — whether in AAA or indie — that got it right in terms of representation? And why do you think they landed so well?)

J-A L: Gaming has changed a lot in the last 10 years. Black Girl Gamers was one of the prominent voices highlighting the lack of accurate representation for Black women characters from 2016 onwards (if there was any at all). I do believe things have massively improved, more authentic stories are being told from both indie and AAA studios. Excellent examples of representation have emerged e.g. Miles Morales, (Spiderman: Miles Morales)  and Hazel Flood (South of Midnight), but there are still characters whose lore, appearance or dialogue make it glaringly obvious that the character’s scaffolding is mainly made up of stereotypes and there was no consultation on the character e.g. Deejay from Street Fighter 6. Though consultation organisations like ours exist, I still think some studios feel they can craft Black characters without any, or very little, cultural consultation or input.

6. Events That Actually Feel Different

W: From the Online Summit to Pass the Pad, Black Girl Gamers has redefined what a gaming event can be. What’s your approach to curating spaces that centre Black culture, while still feeling open, engaging, and welcoming to a wider audience? (How do you strike that balance between cultural specificity and broader community impact?)

J-A L: Having a large discord with other Black women doesn’t hurt haha. I am a marginalised gamer so I know what I want and what I feel is missing, but regardless of that fact, we speak to the community to understand their pain points and desires.  We also speak to, and collaborate with, others who share similar goals. When you focus on understanding the most marginalised communities, recognising the intersections within that group, and endeavour to making them all as comfortable as possible, everyone else will feel just as welcome because you’re honing in on inclusivity. With that said, not all the events I create center around Black culture. Gamer Girls Night is an event focused on femme and non-binary gamers that combines gaming, beauty and fashion. Over the years we attracted brands such as 2K, Riot, YouTube, EA, NYX Cosmetics and more, because the event caters to an intersectional audience that is often overlooked and attends events built from the male lens. When we surveyed our attendees from Gamer Girls Night In the lowest score was 4 out of 5, with many of the comments saying it should be longer. 

7. Brand Collabs (The Good, The Bad, The Performative)

W: You’ve worked with major studios and brands. What makes for a genuinely valuable partnership with Black Girl Gamers — and what are the red flags you won’t ignore?

J-A L: A genuinely valuable partnership is one with a brand that understands community marketing. Community marketing doesn’t operate in the same way an influencer marketing does, it’s less focused on vanity metrics and more on connection. Also brands sometimes fail to realise that you can work with communities beyond the lens of content, there’s first party insights, playtesting, events, education opportunities PLUS content. Some of these approaches can sometimes take longer in comparison to say…sponsored content, but when a brand seeks to work with us –a community with a 10-year standing with our community– there’s immediate trust. The best collaborations have been when a brand has been giving, they’ve trusted our knowledge of our community, they’ve approached with a focus on longevity and been open to options that include but don’t solely focus on content.

8. Power to the Players Behind the Scenes

W: We know there’s still a long way to go when it comes to Black representation behind the scenes — in dev teams, narrative rooms, leadership roles and beyond. In your view, what needs to be prioritised at different stages of the pipeline to actually shift the needle? (Whether it’s education, hiring practices, leadership development or something else, where do we start if we want to see real change?)

J-A L: I think there are a number of things that can contribute towards a more diverse workforce in gaming. A key element is diversification of the talent pool. The next generation of industry hopefuls need encouragement that gaming can be a solid career choice; their parents need a contemporary education on the industry so that outdated perceptions don’t deter their children and students need to be exposed to the multitude of career roles within the industry from narrative and audio, to HR and finance.

Though I’m really excited by the fact that indie studios are making waves, I do think it’s going to be hard to change the industry as drastically as we’d like because the old guard is still in place and whether they say it or not, I believe many of them are comfortable with the way things are.

9. Game Time (Quickfire)

W: The game(s) that made you fall in love with the medium?

J-A L: Crash Bandicoot, Street Fighter, Starfox, & The Sims

W: A character with a story arc that felt authentic?

J-A L: Though the game has an element of dark gothic fantasy, Hazel Flood felt really well crafted.

W: A game you’d reboot — with full creative control?

J-A L: Enter the Matrix