Hi! My name is Bug, and I have been playing video games since the young, tender age of 6. I hold many art forms close to my heart, but video games were passed down to me like a birthright. I have decided that a lot of video game discourse leaves out marginalized voices like mine, and thus I have decided to create Easy Mode. Easy Mode is a podcast for both gamers and non-gamers that make hard concepts often gatekept by the gaming community easier to access and understand. My goal is to start conversations that some people shy away from because the gaming community can be inflammatory and bigoted. Safe spaces are necessary and are unfortunately not often found in gamer spaces. People of color, disabled people, and the LGBTQ community are ostracized and targeted in these spaces because of the largely white male audience that video game companies pander to. Easy Mode is meant to question the overall gaming culture, how it got this way, and what we can do as active community members to make sure marginalized gamers are able to enjoy gaming as much as their counterparts. Being a young black queer person in gaming has been terrifying for me. I’ve encountered racism that has made to stop playing certain games. I have seen my friends tolerate bigotry and even participate in it for the sake of fitting in. The video game industry has long been complacent in supporting a culture that exploits both players and creators and I refuse to turn a blind eye to it any longer.
BUG: Easy Mode
