NYX Professional Makeup speaks to Symoné about redefining games for Queer People of Colour
ADVERTORIAL, BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY TIFFANNIE MERSADES VIA WE ARE SOUL
When you think of a game designer, it’s likely that one image comes to mind: a white, cis, straight man. More often than not, the gaming world can feel incredibly exclusive. But Symoné is here to change that, one game design at a time.
Symoné is the founder of Melanin Power Up, a supportive space for LGBTQIA+ people of colour to learn more about experimental game design and playable art. Through these workshops and meetings, Melanin Power Up also brings new conversations to the table about representation, the game industry, and inclusion.
Melanin Power Up is one the trailblazing organisations that have been spotlighted by NYX Professional Makeup’s Proudly Pro-You brand initiative. Partnering with UK Black Pride and Stonewall, NYX Professional Makeup’s initiative aims to platform and support LGBTQIA+ people of colour, alongside amplifying the powerful work that LGBTQIA+ people of colour are doing in our community. The initiative was launched in 2022, aiming to uplift, amplify and support LGBTQIA people of colour community in the UK.
With the help from UK Black Pride’s Community Action Fund supported by NYX Professional Makeup, Melanin Power Up has been able to help Queer gamers of colour feel seen.
“In the mainstream games industry there’s not a lot of representation,” Symoné tells NYX Professional Makeup. “It’s very often white male developers making these games. When I go to conferences, because I’m a queer Black woman, I feel belittled. I don’t feel like I belong there.”
Symoné is also trying to tackle the assumption that all games have to be violent or simply about earning points. Melanin Power Up is here to showcase the beauty of games and the way they can impact us for the rest of our lives.
“Disrupting how games are designed is so important to me,” Symoné adds. “We’ve been developing these workshops to make games together, to tell stories that they’re interested in, that feel completely out of the norm of what games usually are in the mainstream.”
The power of being seen in a game cannot be underestimated. Members have told Symoné that they didn’t even know games could be artistic or challenge stereotypes. “I could see that world opening up within them,” Symoné continues. “It’s really inspiring to see others interested in disrupting what a mainstream game is and disrupting who the audience is.”
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