Xbox Launches “Project Amplify” to Support Black Youth Interested in Gaming Industry Careers

An updated survey was conducted by HBCU ConnectAccording to Microsoft’s survey, 95% of HBCU alumni and college students expressed an interest in a career within the gaming industry. Of the 200 responses, 34% stated they were particularly interested in Programm Management, 24% in Engineering and 16% in Gaming Development. This week marks National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week in the United States, which occurs annually in September, an initiative led by the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), to recognize these institutions’ contributions to the U.S and to commemorate HBCUs’ impact on American Culture.

Gaming is a leading form of entertainment, but to date – Only 2% are Black professionals working in the videogame industry, while 13% of American citizens are.. Xbox has partnered with Black Community members to improve this statistic. They are also looking at closing the gap through the promotion of pipelines for Black youth in the gaming sector. Project Amplify – Introduction – 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 AmplifyThe video series features fourteen Black Xbox employees. They each give advice and share their insights about their roles. This series was created to help youth understand the many roles in the gaming industry and the Black individuals who work there every day. The Black Communities at Xbox co-leads spoke out on behalf of their own personal journeys into the game industry.

• “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. 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.” – Q Muhaimin, Product Manager
• “In my early years I was more focused on what not to do ComparableWhat I can be.  It wasn’t until my adult years that I learned to leverage my passion for games into a career. Now, I’m incredibly grateful to have celebrated 10+ years of my dream job and I look forward to the next 10. Project AmplifyPeople are inspired to take action and dream big. As my coaches & mentors would say, “play to win instead of playing to not lose.” – James Lewis, Senior Business Development Manager

To launch this initiative, Xbox is partnering with the 2022 Revolt Summit x AT&T for a 2-day event (September 24-25) to reach students and gaming enthusiasts through on-site industry panels and networking opportunities with members of the Black Communities at Xbox.

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The following tutorials teach programming fundamentals, C# and other topics.

• Introduction to C#: Written tutorial with sample projects that takes you from “hello world”, to numbers, loops, some basic data structures, and OOP concepts like inheritance.
• C# 101Video series that follows the same guidelines as the written tutorial.

After you are comfortable with C# and the fundamentals, take Unity classes:

Get the tutorials and download Unreal Engine basics:

Learn about game design:

These presentations are very inspiring and informative for game designers, according to Xbox Game Studios.

Discover the process of game development.

To get you started, use these narrative tools:

• TwineOpen-source software for interactive and nonlinear storytelling

Art Tools for getting started:

• GIMPOr KritaThere are many great, free resources available to help you learn how to use texture
• Use this tool to get started 3D modeling Blender