Marketplace Morning reports new Skin in the Game series explores what we can learn about

money and careers from the $300 billion video game industry. Plus, here how an Oakland-based

program helps young people get the skills they need to break into this booming industry.

Listen to Skin in the Game and more from the Marketplace Morning report wherever you get your

podcasts. Video games, fun, yes, but some of the best ones can deliver so much more.

From American Public Media, this is Marketplace Tech. I'm Lily Jamali.

The artist, producers, designers and others who make your favorite video games have the

technical chops to make it in the industry. But they also bring their personal stories and

experiences to the job and they're able to take players along. A non-profit based in Oakland,

California called Gameheads is teaching the next generation of developers how to do that,

encouraging them to incorporate themes from their own lives, from gentrification to mental

health into the games they create. Today, we hear from Lizette Tea Tree Montgomery,

a veteran art director in the games industry and a Gameheads instructor about how she got started

and why she's helping others break into the business. It kind of happened by accident. I was

in high school. I saw the first toy story. This isn't flying. This is falling with style.

And a light just went off on my head and I was like, that's what I want to do.

So I moved to California with two suitcases and a computer I built for myself and my first job

was in games and I fell in love with it. I went from being a passive viewer to an interactive

and player and I'm still in love with it. There are a few things about Gameheads that keep me coming back,

primarily community, too. I really just believe in a place where particularly

youth of color can play in a safe space and more importantly, they can create for that space.

We try to encourage them to learn the craft of games by evoking an emotion or an experience

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