#OnTheRise
The world of gaming is diverse. But it’s not a lot of melanin in it. Minnesota native and Jules Porter wants to change those odds as she works to become the first Black woman to develop and launch games for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox.
The University of St. Thomas graduate and lawyer is the founder of Seraph 7 Studios, a video game development company, with the desire to bring a more diverse lineup of games to every major console. She built Seraph 7 Studios on the idea of togetherness and diversity. As an avid gamer herself, Porter noticed the lack of representation in games. And if there are people of color, the characters are depicted as gangsters, mobsters, and thugs.
Porter believes people especially children, deserve to see themselves in positive roles and being heroes in their games. Currently, she is on working on her first game, Ultimate Elder Battle Royale.
As an independent developer, Porter is taking a risk, but it allows her more creative freedom. Her Kickstarter fundraiser for Ultimate Battle Royal has raised nearly $3,800 out of her $175,000 goal.
According to Porter, about 70 to 80 percent of people of color play video games and only 3 percent actually represent people of color. Porter plans to change that with Seraph 7 Studios and launch diverse and fun games with positive representation.
Outside of games, Porter is also using her company to create STEAM courses for high school students in Dakota County who have an interest in video game coding and programming.
