This past week, I spoke with different black professionals in the games industry.

In talking about how few African-Americans were in the games industry, a few interviewees suggested that the QA department was a good way to break in.

Today’s interview is with Shana Bryant, someone who actually works in Quality Assurance — a Manager of Compliance QA in Midway San Diego to be exact. I met Bryant at GDC in February at the IDGA minorities gathering, where she told me she was going to try to count how many other black women she saw during the conference.

In an e-mail interview, I asked the 28 year-old what she thought about people who think there’s no need to make any major changes to diversify the industry:

“There’s nothing wrong with a little change. Our industry can either accept what we have and rest on its collective laurels while our capacity for creating a new and exciting game development experience silently plateaus, or we can continue to move diligently toward improvement, champion good design, and reward the risk-takers. A world without games like ‘Katamari Damacy,’ ‘Okami,’ ‘Psychonauts‘ or ‘Ico,’ regardless of their sell-through numbers, is a world that is decidedly more drab, in my opinion. This is not to knock the ‘Bioshock’s or ‘Call of Duty 4’s of the world, but it’s important to note how the sleepers can also help define the direction of our industry.”

Continue reading to see her thoughts on being a minority in terms of race and gender and just how many other black women she saw at GDC…

Multiplayer: Tell me about your career and how you got to where you are.

Bryant: I’m currently the Manager of Compliance Quality Assurance down in Midway San Diego. I manage a team of twelve Technical Standards Engineers and Technical Standards Analysts across three studios. We provide Standards testing services to all of Midway’s Product Development teams.

I’ve always wanted to be in the games industry. I’ve loved games since back in the day, when there was no such thing as a “game design degree” and when colleges still looked at video games as a bothersome sidequest on the way to “real” software development.

I got a four-year degree in CompSci. I’d fallen out of love with coding some time during my senior year, but programming was still the most publicized way to get into the industry, so that’s what I stuck with. I actually wound up entering the industry through the Quality Assurance department, and now five years later, I’m managing a group that spans three studios and provides testing support to six studios.

QA has given me a solid understanding of the game development cycle. I have additional aspirations to move into design and production and a five-year plan in which to reach them. Overall, not too bad, I think.

Multiplayer: Have you ever felt that your race or your gender has presented any challenges during your career?

Bryant: The university I attended had a pretty low minority population in its Engineering College. In college courses, I was typically one of maybe four black students, and I was certainly the only black female. In the industry, the makeup is pretty much the same. It’s intimidating at times. I’m one of a handful, but I don’t let these things hold me back.

Multiplayer: If so, what do you do to cope? Do you have advice for others?

Bryant: Well, it’s definitely an unusual profession for a woman, let alone a *black* woman, to choose. At my previous job, all we made were sports games, and more often than not, I felt like I was sitting in the locker-room of one of those sports teams. There were times when I felt like the perception was that just because I was a “girl,” I couldn’t play games or test games or lead a team of guys who were sports gamers. Even if I could do any of these things, I certainly couldn’t be good at it. I wasn’t expected to succeed, and when you encounter that kind of resistance, it can lead to a very stressful environment.

But I love a good challenge.

So when people say I can’t do something, I do my best to prove them wrong, especially when their biases are based on silly things like color or gender. And that’s the same advice I’d give to others. There’s no “coping” in this industry. It’s competitive by nature, and you really have to love it if you are to truly thrive. I’ve seen both men and women of all shapes and colors wash out because it was too much. I don’t blame them. Sometimes, the industry *asks* for too much. I have no idea if that will change, but I love being a part of the process, so I go from day to day with no regrets.

Multiplayer: Do you feel that your race has presented any particular advantages or disadvantages? What about your gender?

Bryant: I’ve chosen an industry that’s predominantly male and predominantly white, and I know that, but I think the key is to use it to your advantage. In my previous industry job, I was one of two females working alongside 250+ men. Everyone knew my name. Everyone knew my face, and I liked it that way. I recognize that there are ways in which it could be a disadvantage, and sometimes it’s a struggle, but overall, I just try to look at it as another way of making an impression.

Multiplayer: When we met at GDC, you were telling me a funny story about how you were trying to count how many black women you saw there. How many did you end up seeing?

Bryant: The grand total was six, including myself, and I hear that GDC had an attendance of over 18,000 this year.

I’m a professional black woman who chose to pursue a career in an industry in which you don’t see too many blacks or women. Without going off too much on a tangent, there are struggles and situations in which I’ve found myself in my short industry career, and I’m sure those other five women have as well. I think it’s important to be able to form connections with people whether that be in actual conversation or just momentary eye-contact amongst the swirling crowd. Chances are they’ve probably had to overcome the same challenges and obstacles as I have.

Incidentally, I was surprised to see that there was actually a line at the women’s restroom at GDC this year, and judging from the conversations I overheard, so were others. As silly as it seems, we were all pretty encouraged by it.

Multiplayer: Do you think that there are more black women and men over the years going into the games industry?

Bryant: Absolutely. The industry is growing and changing, and I think that’s important. Once upon a time, video game development was the software development industry’s pariah. Now, it’s a multi-billion dollar industry that takes in more annual revenues than film. You see commercials on TV about how to get a degree “making games” practically every other minute. It’s a pretty big accomplishment in just 20 years time.

Multiplayer: Although it’s apparent that many African-Americans play games, it doesn’t seem that there’s many making them. Why do you think that is?

Bryant: I think we see that there’s something missing from the way African-Americans are often represented in a lot of the games out there, but yet and still, we have no idea if we’ll be able to make an impact. “Will I be able to make the kind of game that I think should be made?”

And beyond that, I think a lot of folks are just now starting to see it as a career choice. Young people are starting to realize that game development is something you can make a real living at. It’s not like running off to join the circus. There are curriculums that are centered specifically around it, and the industry is looking for talent above all else.

Multiplayer: Is diversity important in the video games industry?

Bryant: Very. I constantly see article after article about how the games industry is starting to run into the same problem as the movie industry – making the same thing year after year. We need a new influx of talent and creativity to help us create that new genre or capture a new audience.

Multiplayer: If yes, what do you say to those people who think the industry is doing fine as it is (particularly in terms of revenue)?

Bryant: I say there’s nothing wrong with a little change. Our industry can either accept what we have and rest on its collective laurels while our capacity for creating a new and exciting game development experience silently plateaus, or we can continue to move diligently toward improvement, champion good design, and reward the risk-takers. A world without games like “Katamari Damacy,” “Okami,” “Psychonauts” or “Ico,” regardless of their sell-through numbers, is a world that is decidedly more drab, in my opinion. This is not to knock the “Bioshock“s or “Call of Duty 4“s of the world, but it’s important to note how the sleepers can also help define the direction of our industry.

Multiplayer: What do you think of the way African-Americans have been presented in games?

Bryant: I think the lack of diversity in game design/development teams is pretty apparent when you consider the way in which black people are typically featured. If and when we do appear, we are often uniformly portrayed as acting a certain way or speaking a certain way. There’s typically some criminal element in the game’s storyline, or they’re just over-the-top obnoxious characters.

Oh, and they’ve probably had an arm sawed off and replaced with a gun.

I attended a roundtable at GDC regarding minority-inclusion in game development, and it was pretty thought-provoking. It’s true that there is still a certain artistic vision that has to be maintained in a game. For example, I don’t think it would necessarily be an improvement if we had black Gorons running around the world of Hyrule, but I don’t think it has to be as blatant as that. There are a number of games in which inclusive design — of both women and minorities — would constitute a significant improvement. It’s something as simple as including ethnic characteristics in a character creation engine instead of just offering a palette swap or allowing someone to create a female player in a sports title. In a lot of cases, there’s very little overhead, and the payoff is noticeable.

Multiplayer: What kind of games would you like to see for African-Americans? Would you like to see more games starring black protagonists and characters?

Bryant: I think the key is to design and market games with an inclusive model. Game companies don’t always have to actively target a particular demographic; they just have to be aware that that group is also part of their consumer base during design and development. And yes, some games are developed specifically with the “males aged 14 to 34″ tag in mind. However, as minority and female populations grow both in the development and consumer categories, this might one day change.

Over time, the more diversity we introduce in games and game development, the more rich and satisfying our game experiences will be. One of the reasons “Beyond Good and Evil” got people’s attention was its inclusion of an ethnic protagonist. Should that have been as dynamic a factor as it was? Maybe not, but until decisions like this become more commonplace, and diversity is considered more often than not, it’s still an important discussion that needs to take place within our game development communities.

Got thoughts on Shana’s interview? Let us know. You can also read previous interviews with Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal, Crystal Dynamics’ Morgan Gray, Nerjyzed’s Brian Jackson and Sony’s Felice Standifer.