Never Alone drew attention to stories of indigenous people.
Never Alone drew attention to stories of indigenous people.
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Alaska Natives join game devs on Never Alone game to spotlight cultural traditions

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 5 min

[Update: We modified the wording in this story from “Native Alaskan” to “Alaska Native” people. The term Alaska Native represents 11 distinct cultures and languages, and 22 different language dialects. A native Alaskan, on the other hand, is any person born in Alaska.]

The makers of Never Alone want to make it an unforgettable experience not only for video game fans but for the Alaska Native group whose mythology it captures.The rare collaboration of video game veterans and the Iñupiaq Alaska Native group is aimed at preserving the culture of a native people and communicating it to its youngest members as well as the larger world.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.