Zakia Abdullah is a Senior Character Artist who has worked in the video games industry for several years. Her work has been on AAA games and mobile titles such as Sea of Thieves, Fall Guys and Destruction all stars. She has worked for companies such as Lucid games, Rare (Microsoft), Mediatonic (Epic), and Natural motion (Zynga) on both PC, Console and mobile platforms. Often her commercial work will revolve around the prototyping, execution, and implementation of characters for games; while her more personal work involves communicating and inspiring others though her own curiosity and life experiences.
Outside of games, Zakia has appeared on the BBC Three Counties radio and has judged and served as a jury for the BAFTA’s 2023 'multiplayer' and 'artistic achievement' awards. - “It was interesting to observe a position in the reverse of what is defined as the 'gaming experience', to be a judge and see things from both an objective and analytical point of view”. As a British Muslim, South Asian women, Zakia has been on panels and has been part of BAME in games which champions diversity and inclusion within tech and games space. Recently being nominated for the Develop; ‘diversity star’ award.
Whether that be on a digital or in real life, her work has paved the way for the next generation of gamers as well as diverse thinking.
Academic qualifications
- BA (Hons) 3D Games Art, University of Hertfordshire