Meg Jayanth

Meghna Jayanth is a video game writer and narrative designer.[1] She is known for her writing on 80 Days and Sunless Sea. Jayanth worked at the BBC before becoming a freelance writer,[2] and has also written for The Guardian on women and video games.[3][4]

Meg Jayanth
Jayanth at the 2019 Independent Games Festival
OccupationWriter
Known for80 Days
Notable work
Sunless Sea, Horizon Zero Dawn

Early life

While growing up Jayanth lived in Bangalore, London, and Saudi Arabia, attending a total of 12 different schools.[5] Her first gaming experiences included Disney's Aladdin, SimTower, and Civilization II.[6] Jayanth studied English literature at the University of Oxford, where she directed The Oxford Revue, following which she worked at the BBC in the department responsible for commissioning video games.[6]

Jayanth first became interested in writing for video games via online text-based roleplaying games in which she built worlds and characters.[7] The first playable game she wrote was Samsara, a choice-based narrative game set in Bengal in 1757, which she has yet to finish in full.[5][6] Jayanth is particularly interested in writing stories which explore "unexpected perspectives and unheard voices", including under-represented people and cultures.[7]

Career

Jayanth was the writer of 80 Days, for which she wrote a total of more than 750,000 words, contributed to the writing for Horizon Zero Dawn, and was a writer for Sunless Sea. In addition to other accolades, 80 Days was nominated for a BAFTA Game Award for Story in 2014, and Meg won the UK Writers' Guild Award for Best Writing in a Video Game.[5]

In 2019 Jayanth hosted the Independent Games Festival awards, where she used her opening speech to encourage the video game industry to reject hatred and create a welcoming and safe environment.[8] In May, she announced the formation of a "boutique narrative label" called Red Queens alongside Leigh Alexander.[9]

Jayanth is currently working on Boyfriend Dungeon and Sable.[10][11]

References
  1. "Here's where to watch the IGF & Game Developers Choice Awards next week!". Gamasutra. 14 March 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  2. "Interview with Meg Jayanth, Writer of 80 Days". Nerdy But Flirty. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  3. Jayanth, Meg (September 18, 2014). "52% of gamers are women – but the industry doesn't know it | Meg Jayanth" – via www.theguardian.com.
  4. De Nucci, Ennio (2018). Practical Game Design. Packt Publishing. p. 31. ISBN 1787122166.
  5. Sawant, Nikita (13 June 2018). "In conversation with video game writer Meg Jayanth". Femina. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  6. Horti, Samuel (28 February 2020). "The Coronation of Meghna Jayanth". EGM. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  7. Parkin, Simon (10 January 2016). "Meg Jayanth: the 80 Days writer on the interactive power of game-play". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  8. Sinclair, Brendan (21 March 2019). ""If we make room for them, then there is no room for anyone else"". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  9. "Leigh Alexander, Meg Jayanth forming Red Queens". gamesindustry.biz. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  10. Smith, Adam (19 October 2017). "Date your sword in Boyfriend Dungeon". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  11. Meer, Alec (12 June 2018). "Sable makes a strong case for being the prettiest game of E3". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 30 August 2019.

Meg Jayanth on Twitter

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