Talk

The power of the playthrough for the ‘Gamer Without Games’

We’re exploring how social platforms like Twitch and YouTube have enabled people from limited backgrounds to experience video games.

We both come from working class homes, and watching ‘let’s plays’ is how we kept up to date with the latest games as we were not able to afford them. Additionally, we’ll be touching upon other reasons why audiences have a limited gaming experience, such as due to being ‘time poor’, having a disability that makes easy play difficult, as well as not having access to hardware.

We aim to shed a light on the gaming phenomenon that’s taken over video-sharing platforms; nowadays more folk decide to watch influencers play games rather than immediately jumping to play themselves.

Bio

Shay Thompson is a video games host, streaming for Xbox Interactive and presenting panels for Bafta, Interactive Futures. Interests include romancing alien squadmates, spending too much time in the character creator and trying to pet all the cats.

Shay is also the founder of Level Up Link Up, an event aiming to make the games industry a more diverse place.

@moodsgaming