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Up-and-coming video game developers share their dream jobs

Video games have already grown bigger than a couple of other entertainment industries combined.
Students at the nonprofit Gameheads in Oakland, California spent the summer developing new video games. The group behind one called Project: Black Cat pushed the limits when it comes to making an online multiplayer game. Pictured here, from left to right: Trevor Cardoza, Jude Herbert, Matt Zhang, Melissa Romo Martinez, Jordon Dabney and Ryan Ramos.
Kelly Silvera/Marketplace

How video game training can boost employee performance

A recent study by Harvard and Columbia universities finds "gamified" training can lead to better business outcomes.
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What video games can teach us about economic decision-making

Jul 24, 2023
Researchers use some video games to learn about spending behavior and how players respond to economic crises.
A screenshot of EverQuest II. Dmitri Williams, a professor at the University of Southern California, said he uses that title and other video games to study real-world behavior.
Courtesy EverQuest II

Tomorrow's tech disruptors learn how to raise their game

Jul 17, 2023
The video game industry has a diversity problem. This Bay Area mentorship program has solutions.
"Marketplace Morning Report" host David Brancaccio speaks with mentees at Gameheads. The program aims to give students in the Bay Area the skills, connections and confidence to break into the tech industry.
Kelly Silvera/Marketplace

For public good, not for profit.

Sideshow culture gets the video game treatment

Jul 10, 2023
Google heard about the games, "HighSidin’" and "HighSidin’: Hyphy Edition," and gave the student developers a grant.
Gameheads is a nonprofit mentoring program in Oakland, California, that teaches students how to create video games.
Marketplace

This video game teaches players about gentrification

Jul 3, 2023
At the Oakland-based nonprofit Gameheads, people go from playing video games to making them, drawing from lived experience.
From left to right, Rogelio Lara, co-creator of the "Here's Your Change" video game, chats with "Marketplace Morning Report" host David Brancaccio.
Kelly Silvera/Marketplace