Meg Jayanth

Meghna Jayanth
Jayanth at the 2019 Independent Games Festival
Born (1987-02-06) 6 February 1987 (age 37)
OccupationWriter
Known for80 Days
Notable workSunless Sea
Horizon Zero Dawn

Meghna Jayanth (born 6 February 1987) 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]

Early life

Meghna Jayanth was born on 6 February 1987.[5] While growing up, Jayanth lived in Bangalore, London, and Saudi Arabia, attending a total of 12 different schools.[6] Her first gaming experiences included Disney's Aladdin, SimTower, and Civilization II.[7] 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.[7]

Jayanth first became interested in writing for video games via online text-based roleplaying games in which she built worlds and characters.[8] The first playable game she wrote was Samsara, a choice-based narrative game set in Bengal in 1757, which she has yet to finish.[6][7] Jayanth is particularly interested in writing stories which explore "unexpected perspectives and unheard voices", including under-represented people and cultures.[8]

Career

Meg Jayanth speaking at the 2017 Game Developers Conference

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.[6]

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.[9] In May of that year, she announced the formation of a "boutique narrative label" called Red Queens alongside Leigh Alexander.[10]

As of August 2019 Jayanth was working on Boyfriend Dungeon and Sable.[11][12]

Works

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Meg Jayanth.
  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 (18 September 2014). "52% of gamers are women – but the industry doesn't know it | Meg Jayanth". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  4. ^ De Nucci, Ennio (2018). Practical Game Design. Packt Publishing. p. 31. ISBN 978-1787122161.
  5. ^ Jayanth, Meghna [@betterthemask] (6 February 2023). "36 today and entering my young morticia addams phase" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 December 2023 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ a b c Sawant, Nikita (13 June 2018). "In conversation with video game writer Meg Jayanth". Femina. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Horti, Samuel (28 February 2020). "The Coronation of Meghna Jayanth". EGM. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b Parkin, Simon (10 January 2016). "Meg Jayanth: the 80 Days writer on the interactive power of game-play". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "Leigh Alexander, Meg Jayanth forming Red Queens". gamesindustry.biz. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  11. ^ Smith, Adam (19 October 2017). "Date your sword in Boyfriend Dungeon". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  12. ^ Meer, Alec (12 June 2018). "Sable makes a strong case for being the prettiest game of E3". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 30 August 2019.

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