Using a participatory action framework, the research team spent four months brain storming, designing, and producing a game that addressed issues encountered by those in the LGBTQIA+ community. Lead researcher Nathan Thompson will be joined by indie game developer, Chad Comeau and some of the project’s youth participants in order to reveal and discuss the game they created. They will also reflect on the process of participatory video game production, its potential for generating community engagement, and the impact the game had on those who have played it.
About the presenters
Nathan Thompson is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of New Brunswick, Canada (UNB). His doctoral research project is using participatory action research to engage LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults in the production of a video game that addresses issues of representation and marginalization often encountered by LGBTQIA+ people in video games and video gaming communities. He is also part of a team of researchers and game design professionals at UNB who are in the beginning stages of starting the first Games and Culture Research Lab in Atlantic Canada.
Will be joined by:
Chad Comeau is an indie game developer based out of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. He is interested in self-expression and empathy building through games, tackling subjects such as linguistic minorities and disability in his creations. He also loves giving talks and workshops to encourage youth to make their own games.