JC Lau

Yeah it has def been a while, but I do remember you posting from the start! That said, it only happened intentionally as a tradition when it came back with in-person GDC in 2022, but it’s been going strong since then :)

Oh nooooo

Surely even you can see that that is a question in bad faith

Yeahhhh it was definitely a whole thing; I don’t know if it was just that year when they were super aggressive but other women, people of color, and people visiting GDC from overseas also reported experiencing something similar. :(

I was also there in 2018! I was pretty early career at the time so we could have been ships passing in the night.

A lot of scary things are going on in the world, and I hope that by taking part in #WhatAGameDevLooksLike next week you can create a little moment of camaraderie and joy. It's a tiny act of resistance. Despite all the nonsense in this industry, you belong here and you deserve to be celebrated. 💜

All you have to do is share a picture of yourself and what you do in games with the tag #WhatAGameDevLooksLike. We have a feed on Bluesky for it too. The connections for marginalized devs is wonderful too! It's the week I see the most Black and Brown and Queer game devs on socials all year.

I started #WhatAGameDevLooksLike the next day. It was mostly for myself, but it became a lovely demonstration of how diverse all facets of our industry actually are. It challenges standard expectations of who makes games and it’s an easy way to celebrate and amplify the diversity in our industry.

In 2019, I created #WhatAGameDevLooksLike after I was stopped by security 3(!!) times while picking up my speaker badge. I’m a small Asian woman with pink hair, and I guess I didn’t visually meet their expectations of a speaker.

Ironically, I was at GDC to speak about inclusive studio cultures. 🫠

November @postoctobrist FRANCE: we're fancy WORLD: ok FRANCE: a fried ham sandwich is our national lunch WORLD: FRANCE: a fried ham sandwich with an egg is its wife 1:27 PM · Feb 18, 2017

had occasion to remember this one

The world could be such a nice place if we allowed it. It's all so goddamn unnecessary. There's no need for any of it. It's so beautiful here. It should be so cool to be alive

Oh yeah I’m aware. It feels very much like a “we have regime change at home” situation 🥲

Hey America, if you’re doing all this shit for regime change, how about you start with yourself 😊

ONE. THIRD.
and countless lives destroyed because of it.

This is cannibalism

Game dev has become incredibly hard and risky, as has working in games media. Our medium brings delight to millions but the benefits get funnelled to a few. We need to stick together.

I’ve been working on sth to bring back hope. More news soon. In meantime, follow these folks.

go.bsky.app/97XoMfb

Oh my god this is so real

I had a stop sign I would hold up in meetings for when people said that

Okay but legit where did you get this picture of me 😭 😂

a black and white photo of a group of cartoon dogs standing next to each other on a wooden surface . ALT: a black and white photo of a group of cartoon dogs standing next to each other on a wooden surface .

Listen we can HEAR phrases like that and “wouldn’t it be cool if…” and we are immediately summoned

What is it like to be a game producer

Close those damn jira tasks! Add a definition of done to help you! If you need to make a new task in the future closing your current task does not prevent you from doing that!

Yeah! At the very least, we deserve to celebrate and have nice things 🥰

Heck yeah it’s an awesome feeling!!!!!

(A quick backstory if you’re not already aware: JC started the hashtag #WhatAGameDevLooksLike after security guards at GDC stopped her from picking up her speaker badge since she visually didn’t fit the profile of a stereotypical GDC speaker.)

I’m so glad to hear it! 😊 It’s one of my favorite parts of GDC week haha

Also I say “social media” for #WhatAGameDevLooksLike but really it’s here on Bluesky and not Twitter/X because fuck that trash place 🫠

So anyway, I hope during GDC week in March you participate in #WhatAGameDevLooksLike! It's been a tough year, and we deserve some joy and a bright spark for our industry. Also, to make it easier, we have a feed on Bluesky! bsky.app/profile/drjc...

And YES this applies regardless of your industry role, background, or current employment status. You can do #WhatAGameDevLooksLike if you're a student or a hobbyist. You don't have to be at GDC or employed to participate.

Corporations do not make you a game developer, you do.

2026 will be SEVEN(!) years since I started #WhatAGameDevLooksLike. Somehow the industry is worse, and we continue to see open, active hostility to DEI. In this way, #WhatAGameDevLooksLike is a small act of resistance. Fostering community and connection are so critical. You are not alone.

#WhatAGameDevLooksLike started as a way to celebrate and amplify the diversity that exists in the games industry and shine a light on those who are often unseen. All you have to do is post a picture of yourself with the tag during GDC week, say a bit about what you do, and then repost other devs!