Empowering MENA and SWANA Developers: Rafif Kalantan's Vision

The London Games Festival's Ensemble initiative showcases the work of underrepresented games professionals in the UK. This year's cohort includes Rafif Kalantan, a narrative and game designer from Saudi Arabia. Kalantan's journey began with studying computer science at Effat University, where she took a game development course that sparked her interest in the field. However, she faced challenges finding a career path in Saudi Arabia after graduation. Kalantan notes that it's difficult for people from the Middle East and North Africa to be taken seriously by larger studios. She decided to pursue her master's in games design and development at the National Film and Television School in the UK. Her final year project, Eros Xavier's Love Solutions, won the BAFTA Student Award for Games at the Yugo BAFTA Student Awards 2023. This achievement marked several firsts, including being the first female director, non-European, and Arab to receive the award. Kalantan is now part of the Ensemble cohort and is working on a project to provide support and resources to developers in the MENA and SWANA regions. She co-founded the Gamedev Initiative for the Global South (GIGS) with Ashraf Abi-Said, which aims to provide mentorship, education, and support to budding developers in the region. Kalantan believes that the industry can better support underrepresented talent by providing more opportunities for freelancers from abroad and creating a more inclusive application process. She hopes to use her platform to tell narrative-driven stories infused with the mythology and culture of her region, and to promote a more nuanced representation of the MENA and SWANA regions in games.