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TechCrunch

Wicked Saints is making Pokémon GO for young activists

“Jess Murrey isn’t your typical founder. After ten years working in nonprofits to train young activists, Murrey and behavioral change researcher Alicia Clifton decided that mobile gaming could be an unexpected way to broaden their reach. And so, Wicked Saints was born.

“American teens care very deeply about the planet, equality and mental health, but the problems often feel so big it’s paralyzing,” Murrey told TechCrunch. “We wanted to activate them to take whatever the world throws at them, and the best way to do that was with games.””

Press Release

Underrepresented Founders Raise Oversubscribed $3.5 million Seed Round to Launch New Genre: A Real Fantasy Mobile Game, Where Real Life Quests Power In-Game Play

“Medford, Oregon – September 13, 2023 – Wicked Saints, the Black female-led video game studio that utilizes behavioral technology to create interactive games empowering Gen Z, today announces $3.5M in seed funding co-led by Riot Games and Oregon Venture Fund, with participation from a collective of angels and funds who bring creativity, diversity of thought, deep gaming expertise and more. With pre-seed funding, a total of $4.6 million in funding puts CEO and cofounder Jess Murrey into a rarefied group of Black women who’ve raised more than $1 million. ”

CNBC

Pokémon Go maker Niantic invests in Black game developers to close diversity gap

“Niantic’s multi-million dollar commitment comes as a follow to the company’s pledge of support after the killing of George Floyd last summer.

“We think the next area where we can make a powerful, scalable impact is through the culture, ideas and role models we help to create,” said Hanke in an internal memo issued in June of 2020. “To achieve that, we are going to fund projects from Black creators and will bring the best of those creations to a mass audience where they can shine a light on characters, story, and points of view that validate the lives and experiences of the Black community.””

Yahoo, Built By Girls

How I Started in STEM with Wicked Saints Studios CEO Jess Murrey

“So I think even the word inclusion is interesting because what happens is it often expects exclusion. And so when people are like, Hey, like let's, let's make sure we include them. It's like, NO, I'm not just a side dish - I'm the main meal. And so I think that there's like a reframing that when we have different perspectives, that is a gift. It's not a chore to like, oh I guess we need to include them. You know? Which feels like a chore. It's like, no, they're going to present a gift because with diversity comes looking at things from all different angles.”

Foreign Policy

America’s Identity Crisis:
Race and reconciliation lessons from a Black international peace builder

“For the past seven years, I have worked for Search for Common Ground, the world’s largest peace-building organization. Their local peace builders tackle everything from reconciliation after genocide to countering violent extremism to the prevention of mass atrocities. It is the idea from Zechariah made real: “For they will sow in peace: the vine will yield its fruit, the land will yield its produce, the sky will yield its dew.””

GamesBeat

Unity unveils Humanity Grant winners for 2023

“Unity unveiled the winners of its Unity Humanity Grant program in recognition of games that have the potential for social impact.

After reviewing almost 500 projects, the maker of the Unity game development engine has shared the seven winners of the 2023 Unity for Humanity Grant program.”

Press Release

Black/Women-Led Gaming Studio Closes Oversubscribed $1.1M Pre-Seed Round

“March 4, 2022 – First to emerge from Niantic’s (makers of Pokémon GO) BDI incubator, Wicked Saints Studios closed an oversubscribed pre-seed round, raising $1.1 million to begin testing the world’s first adventure activism game. With an all-female, majority-Black C-suite, Wicked Saints joins an exclusive group of startups helmed by one of under 100 Black women founders who have ever raised $1 million or more.”