With Playtopia, the annual destination of Indie Games & Immersive Arts festival and conference set to return in 2023, GIA has partnered with the event to share insights from the crop of supremely talented creators in attendance. The first out of a series of speaker interviews is South African writer – Jon Keevy.

Would you kindly provide some background into who you are, your entry into the games industry and how you came into your current position?

Hi, I’m Jon Keevy and I’ve lost track of how I got here. It started with voracious and precocious reading, falling in love with stories, and a lot of daydreaming. Then it detoured through theatre for 20 years, during which I wrote a sexy sketch comedy. That got me hired to write penis jokes for Free Lives’ project Genital Jousting. Like most things I am involved in, it got out of hand. Jokes became an absurd narrative about toxic masculinity. Which got nominated for an IGF award for excellence in narrative – unfortunately Lucas Pope also released a game that year so… A few years later and I’ve been bouncing around the local games industry writing jokes, marketing copy, and research docs. Currently I’m at Nyamakop writing dialogue for their next release. (No details, sorry. Hush hush, etc.) How did I get here? Curiosity, humor, showing up, and a little talent.

What exactly does a game specific writer do and could you give examples of how that setup has worked across the games you have worked on?

Games can need a much wider range of writing than other media. It can demand dialogue, prose, marketing copy, or research. The stories you tell may be linear or branching. You might write in spreadsheets, plaintext, final cut, or a language like Ink. Almost every game I’ve worked on has been unique. So a game writer has to be versatile, and you need to love learning new skills.

What sort of support infrastructure exists for budding writers in the gaming space locally and cross continentally?

In my opinion this is an area that would be an easy win for advocates of transformation in the gaming sector. There are so many talented storytellers working in theatre, film, TV, animation, and literature. And they are FAR more diverse than the games industry which overwhelmingly skews white and male. This is why I started Ravel. It’s a project to get writers making games with fast-prototyping tools and then networking with game devs in a 10 day game jam. Ravel had a very wobbly trial run earlier in the year and will be back in February with support from the National Arts Council and generous local game companies.

As an award-winning writer based out of South Africa, how difficult was it to establish yourself as a writer globally?

I wouldn’t say I’ve been established globally, I’ve waved my hands and gotten a little attention and that’s due to the calibre of the companies I’ve worked with. I couldn’t have gotten that if I’d been solo. In my theatre career I benefited from multiple international incubators (such as the Kennedy Center New Visions / New Voices), and I would love to see programs like that for games writers.

Are there any other writers in South Africa and the continent you work with or look to for inspiration?

Too many, so I’m going to answer a slightly different question… which South African & African writers do I want to see writing for games? Bill Masuku – who has the double crown of also being a great illustrator, Sam Beckbessinger and Dale Halvorsen – who just released an absolute banger of a horror novel, Kerstin Hall – the most incredible worldbuilding I’ve seen from a fantasy writer in years, and Mitchel Luthi – a great blender of action and horror.

What are your expectations for Playtopia with regards to what you do?

I’m going to listen to talented people reveal their secrets, hunt down the zeitgeist among the demos and showcases, and meet people who love games.

What advice would you give to an aspiring writer in the gaming space?

Game devs respect prototypes, so don’t pitch an idea rather let them play your pitch. The local community is incredibly supportive and they love people who tinker and experiment.

Check out the full program and consider joining Playtopia, which will run from December 7th to 9th December 2023 in Cape Town.

Tickets can be bought here.