Earlier this year, Xbox supported Black History Month by showcasing Black creators and sharing stories of diversity at Xbox Studios. Today, Xbox has announced a new endeavor supporting National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week that hopes to encourage more Black students to get into the video game industry.
Xbox noted in today's blog update that despite being 13 percent of the general US working population, only two percent of professional video game developers are Black. So to help "close this gap," Xbox has announced Project Amplify, "a video series that aims to magnify Black voices within Xbox to inspire, educate and motivate youth across the U.S. to aspire towards careers in the gaming industry through real-life storytelling from Black leaders and employees across the Xbox ecosystem."
Project Amplify will tell the stories of 14 Black Xbox employees. They'll share advice, provide insights, and recount highlights from their careers. The idea is to educate prospective students on the diversity of roles at Xbox while also showcasing some of the Black people working in them.
"Growing up I didn’t have much of a vision for what my career would be. I decided to go to college because I thought it was a way to 'get a good job' and escape poverty, but even as a freshman Computer Science major, I still had a very shallow knowledge of the opportunities that the tech industry presented me," recounted Q Muhaimin, product manager and co-lead of Black Communities at Xbox.
"Throughout my college experience and with internships, I learned more about how big the world is – how many companies, careers, and pathways exist for you to find or create a job that you love. I want more people to know that they have options, nothing is impossible or out of reach for them and encourage those to start chasing their passions early."
You can watch a teaser of Project Amplify on the official ID@Xbox YouTube channel, but the big kickoff will happen at the 2022 Revolt Summit in Atlanta Georgia this weekend. Xbox has also provided a list of free resources for learning about coding, game design, and game engines over on Xbox Wire here.