Hello!
I am Marijam Didžgalvytė [mʌrɪja:m][dɪdʒgʌlvi:tɛ] (don’t worry, just Marijam Did is perfectly fine!), and I’m a Lithuanian-Tatar games industry critic dissecting the intersection between videogames and IRL politics.
My work has been published by the Guardian, VICE, GamesIndustry.biz, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung and others. In the past I was a Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, and am currently a Senior Marketing Executive at a Bafta-winning videogames studio. I’m the author of “Everything To Play For: How Videogames Are Changing The World” published by Verso Books in 2024. The book has received multiple awards and translations and I’m very proud of it - you’re probably here because you’ve heard of the book!
In the past, I served as the Chair of Communications Committee for Game Workers Unite International - an organisation that assisted the global push for unionisation in the videogames industry; she also co-founded GWU UK - the first legal trade union that has come out of the movement. My expertise lies in researching historical materialism and Fine Art criticism and applying them to the developments in the gaming sphere.
Get in touch in case you think we could collaborate together in one way or another!
Out NOW with Verso Books.
Lithuanian Translation here, Spanish here, Traditional Chinese here, French here, 4 more languages in the making!
New Books Network - Book of the Day
Participated in Book Launch for 'Speculative Communities'
'Games in the Times of Adversity' speech
Listen, Gamer! For radical play and playful radicalism
Wholesome Games, Escapism, and the Reproduction of the Status Quo
Participant at Crystals of this Social Substance: The Conversation at Serpentine Gallery
Interviewed by Egalité Magazine
Appeared on Jon Boud's 'All The Rage'
Extended conversation on videogames and society on PixelPolitics
Featured in WIRED Magazine
Interviewed by German radio Detektor.fm
Gave a talk at BLON - Animation and Games Festival
Gaming During COVID-19? Show Game Makers Some Love!
Appearance on the Intersection of Things
The Political Cases AGAINST and FOR Gaming in Self-Isolation
Making Waves: A Political Defence of Gaming Streams
Appeared on Fréquence Paris Plurielle
What Would Situationists Think of Videogames?
The UK Games Industry has an Issue with Class