Name: Shawn Alexander Allen
Age: 32
Profession: Artist, writer, focused on game design, video game activist
At 6’5″, video game activist Shawn Alexander Allen is a gentle giant. While he has a passion for video game design, he’s especially focused on diversifying the landscape in the gaming world.
Allen grew up in New York City’s East Village in the 80s. But as the child of a single mom on public assistance, he felt that the odds were already stacked against him. He wanted to be a painter, a scientist, and even a sculptor when he was a kid. And he played video games, which were just becoming popular at the time, but working with them hadn’t even crossed his mind.
Then he landed his first job working as a part-time salesperson at EB Games. Something clicked and Allen sensed he was going in the right direction. He loved giving customers feedback on some of the hottest games in 2003, and why certain games were selling. In 2007, after graduating from NYC’s School of Visual Arts with a bachelor’s degree in computer art, Allen landed his dream job working at Rockstar Games as their gameplay capture artist. He worked on their trailers, web clips, and even did a few voiceovers. It wasn’t until four years into the job that Allen started to wonder, Where are the people of color? “I’ve worked at big gaming companies, and I realized that you could count how many black people were there on one hand,” he reflected.
Around the same time Allen began to view the lack of diversity in the gaming field as a problem, he also felt he’d reached a glass ceiling at Rockstar Games. So he decided to take matters into his own hands. He quit his dream job and began grassroots activism to change the flat, homogenous landscape of the gaming world, and he created his own video game. “I just don’t want to keep talking about race. I want race to be organically there,” Allen tells BE Modern Man. “They’ll be okay with not being a part of the industry. They’ll be okay being in the industry but not being a creator or top level until you say, ‘Why isn’t this a part of what you do?'”
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Allen created his gaming company, Nu Challenger, in 2012 and has a big vision of what he wants the company to be for video game aficionados and novices. “When someone is waiting for you [in the gaming world], its like ‘a new challenger awaits.’ It kind of has grown in
to this metaphor—just constantly having to get past expectations and break down new barriers,” Allen explains. “As a whole, I want Nu Challenger to help marginalized people who aren’t often seen in the game space. I want to grow my studio to a place where we can have paid internships for people to learn art and game design.” In the meantime, Allen is still fulfilling his dream of creating his own game—Treachery in Beatdown City. In a setting that includes racism, profiling, and gentrification, the main character—President Barack Obama—is kidnapped by Ninja Dragon Terrorists in East Fulton, Manhattan.When it comes to those who want to get their start in the gaming world, Allen advises them to always practice what they love. “We need your thoughts and your talents,” Allen says. “And even though the industry doesn’t look like you, you can’t let that be a detractor.”
–written by Paulana Lamonier