Iconic computer games characters reimagined to celebrate Black culture

Teesside University staff and alumni have been involved in a unique project to reimagine well-known computer game characters and help shine a spotlight on diversity within the games industry.

The Reimagined as Black campaign saw prominent British black artists reinventing iconic characters, such as Lara Croft and Harley Quinn, to change their skin colour, clothing, armour and cultural designs, to celebrate authentic black culture.

The collaborative initiative, celebrating Black History Month 2023, was commissioned through POC in Play, an independent organisation which works to increase the visibility and representation of people of colour within the video games industry.

The artists were directed to reinvigorate each character’s costume, art direction and backstory by Chella Ramanan and Dr Satish Shewhorak from POC in Play.

Teesside University BA (Hons) Computer Games graduate Jason Williams, who completed his studies in 2017, reimagined Dante, a well-known character from the game Devil May Cry.

Usually portrayed with very pale white skin and bleached hair, Jason reimagined Dante as a Haitian demon hunter. He also incorporated African influences in the creation of his character, using Congolese masks and patterns in the artwork design.

Jason, who was born in Guyana and moved to the UK when he was 14, was inspired to pursue a career in concept art from his teenage interest in computer games.

He said: “The Reimagined as Black campaign is a celebration of culture, and it has been important to reflect this in the context and history of the characters, so they are identifiable and don’t just represent a surface-level change to their skin tone.”

Jason added: “There is a minority of people of colour in the games industry and in the past, black characters in games have often been limited to supporting characters, or been stereotypical and caricaturised, as opposed to being relatable and having authenticity.

“POC in Play is about inspiring people from all backgrounds to see themselves in these industries, and to realise these opportunities are there and that people like them are already in these roles and having success. From a gameplay aspect there is much more work that can be done for representation. Hopefully, with growing interest, bigger studios will support more projects outside of the Eurocentric lenses we're so used to.”

Since graduating from Teesside University, Jason has spent over five years in the industry, initially as a 3D Artist at Kuato Studios in London, and now as a freelancer.

Teesside University games animation lecturer, Dr Satish Shewhorak, said: “The Reimagined as Black campaign demonstrates the viability for game developers to reinvent characters such as these, to not only be more inclusive to underrepresented players, but also to breathe new life and cultural authenticity into them.”

Chella Ramanan, of PoC in Play, added: “After previously highlighting prominent game developers for Black History Month, Satish and I wanted to do something more creative this year to celebrate Black British artists and how they would interpret these iconic characters.

"This initiative highlights how diverse creative teams bring a fresh perspective. We'd love to see more game studios follow suit.”

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