Interview

Beyond the Final Boss: How the games industry is fighting back against bullying

Byron Atkinson-Jones reveals all

Beyond the Final Boss: How the games industry is fighting back against bullying
As detailed in our GDC wrap up, one of the best talks at this year's San Francisco splash was one titled Beyond the Final Boss.

Delivered by two chaps who head up an organisation of the same name - indie dev Byron Atkinson-Jones and SCEE's Shahid Kamal Ahmad - the idea behind the venture is to reach out to kids currently suffering at the hands of bullies.

All of those involved have themselves been on the wrong side of bullies growing up, with the idea being that, by detailing their stories (and their success within the games industry since), they can illustrate to kids being bullied today that it's possible both to survive and, longterm, flourish.

We caught up with one of the organisation's founders – indie dev Byron Atkinson-Jones – to find out how Beyond the Final Boss came about, and where the body can go next.

Pocket Gamer: How did Beyond the Final Boss come about?

Byron Atkinson-Jones: It started as a Twitter conversation between Mike Bithell [the man behind Thomas Was Alone] and myself.

Mike had made a comment about how he was bullied as a kid and I just joined in saying that I was too. Unknown to us, Shahid was watching this conversation and contacted both of us to ask if we would be okay to write something for a blog post he was going to do about it.

We both did and, the next thing we knew, it had grown into a dedicated website.

You seem to have already strung together a number of accounts from different people across the industry. Have people just come to you?

It was mostly through Twitter.

People got to hear about the site and it stuck a chord with them and they contributed. It's also been featured by MSNBC in the US.

How easy was it for you personally to detail your own experiences?

Very hard. I had totally underestimated how many bad memories it would bring back.

I think I had developed a wall behind which I had hidden all the bad stuff. It was even harder pressing send on that email and, once I had done it, there was no getting to sleep that night or, indeed, for the rest of the week.

Does it surprise you how many people working in this industry suffered at the hands of bullies while growing up?

I'll admit it does. It seems bullying is far more universal than we thought, and this is kind of the point of the site.

When you are being bullied it feels like you are completely on your own, and I think the site shows that you weren't - there are many who went through hell and not only did they survive but they came out the other side as winners.

That's the message we need to get to kids currently being bullied. You can survive and you can win.

What would you say are the aims of Beyond the Final Boss?

Its primary aim is to be a message and an inspiration to kids currently being bullied. I also hope that those doing the bullying read it and realise what kind of impact they are having on lives.

We have to let them know that it's not unique, others have experienced this and if we can get through it and rise to the positions we have then they too can do so.

It's about giving hope. It's not enough to live, you have to have something to live for.

At the end of your talk at GDC, someone asked whether you're interested in people working within the industry who are still being bullied now. Do you think that's commonplace?

I'm not positive that people who are bullies really realise that's what they are. I like to think it's not a conscious choice they've made.

I'm pretty sure that this kind of negative behaviour does not stop at just being a kid and that it can go into adulthood. I've certainly come across people who use their positions of responsibility in the game industry as a form of bullying - again, maybe not consciously, but that doesn't diminish the act.

What's different is that there should be structures in place within companies to stop this kind of action. I've left at least one company because it became clear to me that the bully was far more important than I was and there was not going to be any change.

How pleased were you to be asked to talk at GDC, and what kind of impact do you think it'll have?

I was honoured beyond ways I can describe. I'd never been to GDC before and now I was going for the first time and not only that I was going to be speaking at it.

We didn't have a big turnout, but then again it would have been unrealistic to think that we would have done since it was a human-interest lecture rather than something about game design or PS4 - but this is early days, it can only get bigger now.

As for impact, I had people come up to me after the talk to say how much it meant to them - many were in tears. As long as we help one person, that to me is a success.
Thanks to Byron for his time.

You can find out more about Beyond the Final Boss on the organisation's website.

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.