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Manveer Heir

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Manveer Heir
Heir in 2019
NationalityAmerican
OccupationVideo game developer
Years active2005–present
Notable workWolfenstein
Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect: Andromeda

Manveer Heiris a Punjabi-Americanvideo game developer.After working atBig Huge Games,Raven SoftwareandBioWare,Heir co-founded his own studio, Brass Lion Entertainment, in 2017. Heir is known to be outspoken on issues related todiversity in video games.

Career

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Heir grew up in Rockville, Maryland and attended college atVirginia Tech,graduating in 2004 with a degree in computer science and a minor in mathematics.[1][2]He interned atBig Huge Gamesaround 2005[1]before moving toRaven Software,at the time a subsidiary ofActivision.At Raven, he worked for about four and a half years on the 2009Wolfensteingame, initially as a gameplay programmer before moving to be a game designer for the title.[2]He had been named as lead designer on another unannounced product, prior to a period of financial difficulty at Raven that resulted in Activision ordering multiple layoffs and cancellation of the unannounced project for the studio to focus on support for theCall of Dutyseries.[2]Heir, while still employed there, was disappointed in Activision's decision to take away any work on newintellectual propertyand offload it toBungie,and decided to quit the company.[3]Heir subsequently moved toBioWare Montrealaround 2010, where he worked as a gameplay designer onMass Effect 3(2012) andMass Effect: Andromeda(2017).[4]

Heir stated that, during development ofAndromeda,he and other colleagues from the development team attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to convince the project leads to remove a perceivedcolonialistslant to the player's forcible colonization of alien planets.[5]Heir became the subject of harassment by theGamergate movementshortly before the release ofAndromedain 2017, after they claimed that parts of the game, such as the appearances of female characters, forced a "liberal agenda" on players.[6]An online petition was started to try to have Heir fired from BioWare, though BioWare backed Heir.[6]However, after the development was completed but beforeAndromedashipped, Heir left BioWare, citing that he had become weary over the last twelve years after enduringcrunch time,and grown tired of being told to keep quiet over his concerns about games, as well as being put off by the attitudes from the Gamergate movement.[7][5]

Brass Lion Entertainment

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After leaving BioWare, Heir established a new game development studio to focus on games relating to race and diversity based on his own experiences. He reached out to Bryna Dabby Smith, a former production crew member fromElectronic ArtsandActivisionwith work on games such asSleeping Dogs,about assisting with the business side of this studio. Word that Heir was establishing a new studio reached Rashad Redic, a game world designer withBethesda Game Studioswith work inThe Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimandFallout 4,who expressed interest in supporting the two.[7]The three co-founded Brass Lion Entertainment in 2017 after establishing the vision of this studio over phone calls.[8]Heir had wanted to call the studio Big Mouth Games, reflecting his outspokenness, but found this conflicted with the programBig MouthonNetflix.[4]Because of the studio vision on diversity, they wanted to be more inclusive in their hiring practices, bringing in minorities and others from underrepresented backgrounds.[7]

The studio remained quiet over the first two years as they developed their first title. Heir formally announced the studio in November 2019 along with their first game,Corner Wolves,an action role-playing game set in the 1990s inHarlemwith the protagonist Jacinte as a youngafro-Latinothat is caught in the midst of thedrug warwhile she searches for her father's killer.[7]Race is planned to play a major role in the game, with different non-player characters reacting differently to Jacinte. The game is also envisioned to have short jobs like theShenmueseries though the types of jobs available will depend on player choice and their relationships with other characters.[4]The game's release will be preceded by a narrative podcast to establish Jacinte's story, being developed by Loud Speakers Network and Marginal Mediaworks.[9]

Views on diversity in video games

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Heir has been outspoken on the need for video games to present better diversity of characters when it comes to race, gender, and other cultural alignments. Heir has said his views are not about achievingaffirmative actionwithin the video game industry, but believes better stories and gameplay can be had by considering underrepresented minorities as main characters, moving away from the typical "male power fantasy" that many video games present.[10][11]

One of his more recognized statements on diversity was given at the 2014Game Developers Conference(GDC) in his talk "Misogyny, Racism and Homophobia: Where Do Video Games Stand?" where he challenged game developers to include more minority representation in video games, including women and LGBTQ people, asserting that the industry is afraid to focus games on such characters.[12]Heir questioned claims that games featuring underrepresented minorities sold fewer than those featuring male and Caucasian characters, and pointed toAssassin's Creed III: LiberationandPapers, Pleaseas games that effectively dealt with race and culture.[13][14]Heir's speech was considered one of the most important talks given at that year's GDC,[15]andPolygonnamed Heir one of their '50 admirable gaming people of 2014' for it.[16]

References

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  1. ^ab"Manveer Heir - Lead Designer - DICE Summit".Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.RetrievedFebruary 13,2020.
  2. ^abcMonokona (January 28, 2010)."Unseen Interview: Raven Software's Manveer Heir".Unseen64.RetrievedFebruary 13,2020.
  3. ^Heir, Manveer [@kingcurrythundr] (January 10, 2019)."I remember when I quit Raven Software..."(Tweet).RetrievedFebruary 13,2020– viaTwitter.
  4. ^abcIp, Chris (February 12, 2020)."The making of a diverse game studio".Engadget.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
  5. ^abWawro, Alex (October 20, 2017)."Andromeda dev chalks up some of the game's problems to a lack of diversity".Gamasutra.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
  6. ^abBorkowski, Alex (May 17, 2017)."'Mass Effect: Andromeda' conspiracy theories show Gamergate is as big of a problem as ever ".Mic.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
  7. ^abcdKato, Matthew (November 15, 2019)."Standing Up".Game Informer.Archived fromthe originalon November 15, 2019.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
  8. ^Grubb, Jeff (November 5, 2019)."Brass Lion is a new diverse studio from Mass Effect 3 and Skyrim devs".Venture Beat.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
  9. ^Kato, Matthew (January 7, 2020)."Corner Wolves Coming First As A Thriller Podcast".Game Informer.Archived fromthe originalon January 8, 2020.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
  10. ^Sheffield, Branden (August 5, 2011)."Moving Forward On Race In Games: Manveer Heir Speaks".Gamasutra.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
  11. ^Alexander, Leigh (August 4, 2010)."In-Depth: No Female Heroes At Activision?".Gamasutra.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
  12. ^Heir, Manveer (March 19, 2014)."Misogyny, Racism and Homophobia: Where Do Video Games Stand?".Game Developers Conference.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
  13. ^Hall, Charlie (March 19, 2014)."Mass Effect developer makes emotional plea to eliminate social injustice in games".Polygon.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
  14. ^Parkin, Simon (March 24, 2014)."Four things we learned at GDC 2014".The Guardian.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
  15. ^Senior, Tom (March 24, 2014)."Why Manveer Heir's attack on stereotypes in games was the most important moment of GDC 2014".PC Gamer.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
  16. ^Campbell, Colin (December 30, 2014)."Polygon's 50 admirable gaming people of 2014".Polygon.RetrievedFebruary 12,2020.
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