I grew up in Kazakhstan (Almaty) in a Korean family but under the influence of a wide range of post Soviet cultures: Korean, Kazakh, Russian and more. Among other things, this meant a lot of pressure to perform and succeed, from school studies to a long list of extra-curricular activities. On top of that was a key social pressure – the drive to start a family young. This left precious little time for self-expression and discovery. Now I’m lucky enough to lead a different life, one where I can make my own decisions about how to spend my time without fear of social disapproval or judgement, one where I can choose my own path. I will never take this for granted. In my youth it seemed perfectly natural that people lived without freedom, without democracy, surrounded by corruption – it’s a life I could never go back to again. To be able to live a life without fear, expressing myself freely and contributing to a wider society of freedom and acceptance has been an incredible change, and one which I want to spread to all of those who have yet to experience it. I believe that games are an incredibly powerful way to encourage that change – a cultural medium for the 21st century. Lesser Evil believes that too.

Coming from a military family, war was ever present when I was growing up. My father was stationed on Cyprus, in Northern Ireland and as part of a tank battalion in the Gulf War. I spent my childhood growing up around heavy weapons, checking underneath the family car for bombs and going months without seeing my father. This upbringing instilled in me an understanding that military preparedness and armed conflict unfortunately are a reality of achieving peace and that we can’t wish away war with slogans. We all need to fight to preserve peace every day.