Redefining the default: Gordon Bellamy
Gordon Bellamy, professor of the practice of cinematic arts, has been in the business of video games for 30 years. Across leading positions at organizations like Electronic Arts, the International Game Developers Association, Tencent and, now, USC, Bellamy has worked to redefine perceived defaults and “help people get from point A to point B who don’t know how.”
The Daily Trojan sat down for an interview with Bellamy to discuss his career and efforts to uplift underrepresented voices across the industry.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Daily Trojan: When and how did you decide to go into the games industry?
Gordon Bellamy: I’ve always loved games, and I guess more than just loved games … I’ve always identified with games. Because, especially … as a Black person, and as a gay person, you navigate rules as you move through society. And in games, we all share a set of rules, so, games are a wonderful place where people of all unique backgrounds can be default and share time together in an experience which is that game, or, in single-player games, where we can have the same experience as each other, much like reading a great book or seeing a great film, where we’re given at least the same set of parameters. Just like you may read a book differently than someone, or you may enjoy a film differently than someone, you may enjoy and create a game experience that’s different. But you’re sharing an experience, undeniably, that … makes you closer as people and, maybe, reminds you that we have so much more in common than we have different.
DT: What was your first job, and how did it compare to school?
GB: I went to college as an AT&T Bell Labs Scholar. So, every summer, I would intern at a laboratory, exploring technology, which was great for learning also because it enabled me to buy my first Sega Genesis. That’s what I really remember. My first paycheck, I went directly to the video game store and bought a Sega Genesis of my own. But my first job professionally, I took a gap year during college to go to Electronic Arts, and so I was the global rookie of the year for Electronic Arts before I finished college. Then I went back to school, finished my GEs, as they’re called at USC, and graduated. And then went back to work.
My first job was about learning the difference between individual achievement and collaborative creation. Games are a collaboration at the end of the day, between you as the developer and your team, you and the player, you and whoever is distributing your game. I think you, usually, historically, get into school because of your individual achievement and you’ll say, “these are my grades, these are my test scores, this is my community service, this is my experience with this critical thinking, so on and so forth. Pick me.” Right? And actual work, like your first job, is really about, “How well do you work with other people? How well do you bring yourself as an additive person to something bigger than yourself?’ … That’s what my first job [at EA] was like, and it was thrilling. We had the biggest game in the country [Madden], and so it was exciting to have something that you could share with so many people as a lived experience. And even now, we’re talking about it … So, that is one of the greatest gifts of my first job, is working on something that I’ve gotten to share with people for the rest of my life.
DT: Could you tell the story of how you got the graphics of Madden to reflect the actual player demographics?
GB: I love talking about this. Let me contextualize: There were a couple of intersecting features that we brought into the design of Madden that year. For me, the core feature was actually create-a-player. Because I, in my uniqueness, wanted to bring myself and my friends into the game. I love football, and I love watching it, but part of the fantasy was that we could be in the NFL playing alongside our heroes. So, we devoted a lot of energy to creating a player and being able to add yourself to the universe.
The second question, which was just as important, was, “What is a default player?” And for underrepresented people, often, you have to toggle to find yourself in a game, if you’re even available in this game. And whether that be across gender, or socioeconomic, or race or orientation, you have to toggle, toggle, toggle and, hopefully, find a representation, or make a representation, of yourself. In the NFL, the default player is African American. Majority of players, it’s what they are. And so when I was in a position to define the default player, that’s what I did. And I did it because it was right, but also for myself and so that other young people could see themselves as default when they’re growing up, and even people who weren’t African American could be like, “Oh, there’s other defaults. Let me begin to look for places where I’m default. That I can be the hero.” At the time, I imagine Tomb Raider was also just emerging. That’s one of the first action games where there was an empowered female default character who was not being rescued in the castle, who was not the object, but was the protagonist with weapons, solving puzzles, doing all the things that people who identify as female have done throughout history, as default, no changing.
I feel as though the Madden players [were] another meaningful step for a lot of people because it was in the most popular game. That was my role as lead designer. It’s exciting just to talk about because now, here in the games program, there’s so many dimensions across which you have the opportunity to center characters and narrative … “Will we think about not just usability but accessibility so that everyone can center themselves in playing?” It’s so great, like a generation later, that there’s so many ways that we can explore default spaces for people to play.
DT: Other than EA, what do you think your favorite job has been?
GB: It’s so interesting when you ask me to summarize my career. I’ve been in games now for 30 years … We actually had our own studio, called Z-Axis, where I was creative director … We made a bunch of extreme sports games and ended up being acquired by Activision, and that was super meaningful. I’ve run both trade organizations for the game industry, so I’ve led the IGDA, the International Game Developers Association, and the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, which is like the Oscars for games. I lead business development for Tencent, which is the world’s largest game company that makes a number of games that people love through their subsidiaries, like League of Legends and Fortnite and Clash of Clans and many others.
What unifies them, what sort of has meaning for me, why I teach in fact, is that I find purpose in helping people get from point A to point B who don’t know how. So, whether it be through designing gameplay, or through creating opportunities in business development, or through leading trade organizations, or through teaching, I love when people have dreams that I’m able to help them get closer to, with my knowledge, with my contacts, with my perspective, whatever it may be. That motivates me. And that’s, I hope, what defines my career.
I had the privilege — I was the first Jerry Lawson award-winner … I won the 2020 Vanguard Award from Games for Change. So, it’s interesting to have the work recognized, but there’s so much work to do … I also lead the Gay Gaming Professionals. We have a 501(c)(3) focused on empowerment, expertise and entrepreneurship for all in the games industry, and we do scholarships, we do incredible YouTube content, we do events and tradeshows. [It’s] all about celebrating everyone’s excellence as default and cultivating that as they move forward through their careers, across gender, socioeconomic, neurodiversity, orientation, all of it.