The video game industry is grappling with existential questions — how will AI affect game production and creation? Will massive consolidation (and layoffs) alter the work culture? How can the industry handle an exponential growth in audience base, and what will be the effects of industry regulations?

With a lifelong love of video games and a decades-long career in tech, business, and gaming, Alejandro Marin Vidal, ’06, will tackle these questions and more Monday, April 8 at 5 p.m. in Milstein Auditorium in Milstein Hall. The Cornell alum will also discuss his academic and creative path at Cornell, and his trajectory from computer science to film, to an MBA at a Paris business school, to a PhD in consumer behavior, to his most recent position as the former Director of Strategy and Business Intelligence at Activision Blizzard, where he was the founder and co-chair of the Latinx @ Activision diversity network.

The Q&A will be moderated by Andrew Campana, assistant professor of Asian studies in the College of Arts & Sciences, whose research surrounds contemporary Japanese literature and media. He is currently working on a project on conceptions of digitality in video games, poetry and disability arts in current-day Japan.

“Alex Marin Vidal has had a fascinating career arc, navigating the many intersections between the sciences, humanities, fine arts, and business,” Campana said. “I’m really looking forward to hearing his thoughts on the video game medium and the game industry at a time where both are in the midst of a turbulent transition.” 

The event, sponsored by Cornell’s Milstein Program in Technology & Humanity, is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a reception.