Ensemble

Showcasing BAME talent in UK video games

Meet Ensemble

Ensemble showcases BAME UK video games talent and champions game developers from a broad spectrum of roles and a wide variety of backgrounds.

Led by Games London and supported by the British Council and Mayor of London, Ensemble spotlights and showcases inspiring stories in the workforce to promote diversity, advocate for new voices, and change perceptions.

Ensemble launches and refreshes each year at London Games Festival, with a programme that includes a touring exhibit, talks and workshops, representation and a network of new voices.

Curated by Sharna Jackson with photography by Joshua Fray

Exposure through the programme has encouraged many of its talents to start their own businesses. Meanwhile its striking showcase materials are helping inspire the talent of tomorrow.

Curated by Sharna Jackson

“Ensemble aims to inspire the next generation of game developers from all backgrounds, offering a fresh angle on game development as a creative process. Diverse talents and perspectives are vital for building more diverse digital worlds and creating the games of the future.”

Ensemble 2020 – click here to see this year’s show

Ensemble 2020

Abubakar Salim

BAFTA-nominated Actor/Producer launching his own games studio

Adrian Hon

CEO of Six To Start who lead design on the groundbreaking fitness adventure game Zombies Run!

Catherine Unger

Freelance 2D Artist/ Art Director who has worked with Nintendo, State of Play and Broken Rule

Corey Brotherson

Writer, editor and creative consultant for games, comics and TV

Elle Osili-Wood

Editor-in-Chief for Glass House Games and and presenter of video game content for the BBC.

Nida Ahmad

UX designer and researcher integrating scientific user research and UX processes in mobile games and advocating for accessible and player-centered design.

Nihal Tharoor

Interactive writer and co-founder of Electric Noir Studios, working on BAFTA-nominated interactive crime drama Dead Man’s Phone

Rosemary Buahin

Games Category Lead for Xbox, Vice Chair of BAME in Games and a board trustee for Into Games

Ensemble 2019

Anisa Sanusi

A UI/UX designer with credits on indie games and triple-A titles including Planet Coaster and Elite: Dangerous

Brenden Gibbons

Freelance narrative designer who has worked on projects ranging from adventure puzzle games to kids’ AR titles

Luciana Nascimento

A 2D artist who developed the art style for Wargroove by Chucklefish before co-founding indie studio Bunnyhug Games

Malath Abbas

Creative Producer and founder of the Biome Collective, a creative studio and co-working space for experimental games projects

Quang Nguyen

Veteran developer who originally taught himself to program for the Game Boy, forming his own studio Asobi.tech in 2018

Ranjani Natarajan

A former stock trader turned Games Producer working on award-winning titles for London developer Six To Start

Shay Thompson

Streamer and presenter for major clients including Xbox and McLaren, and founder of Glass House Games Media in 2019

Zi Peters

Level Designer for Sumo Digital who worked on the bestselling Hitman series which is renowned for its unique approach to level design.

Ensemble 2018

Chella Ramanan

Journalist-turned-developer working at Massive and making her own narrative titles as part of 3Fold Games

Des Gayle

BAFTA-winning Producer, formerly EA and Square Enix, now running his own studio

Jade Leamcharaskul

A composer who created the soundtracks for numerous indie games and is about to launch her own games music label

Jodie Azhar

Former Lead Technical Artist at Creative Assembly on the Total War who founded her own studio, Teazel Cat Games.

Meg Jayanth

Writer of the critically acclaimed 80 Days and contributor to major titles including Horizon Zero Dawn and indie hit Sunless Sea

Moo Yu

Ex-Insomniac and Media Molecule programmer now Foam Sword co-founder, creator of handpainted adventure game Knights On Bikes

Nadir Miheisi

Self-taught programmer who founded his own VR studio, Funky Gorilla, and is working with narrative game studio Electric Noir

Wei Xing Yong

A games and film animator, formerly of Ubisoft Reflections and Framestore – he also worked on the Oscar-winning film Gravity