The Cook Inlet Tribal Council of Alaska has founded Upper One Games, with Gloria O’Neill as President and CEO. The announcement was made at the Games for Change Festival. The company will produce both commercial and educational titles that “to engage young people in fresh, vibrant ways” and use the games to teach about culture. The company will be the first indigenous-owned video game company in the United States. The first two titles are scheduled for next year:

“a commercial ‘cinematic platform’ game and a digital history curriculum modeled after Historia, a series of tabletop games developed by a pair of Texas middle-school teachers.”

Upper One Games will be partnering with E-Line Media to release these titles. The commercial game will be based on traditional stories from Alaska, and according to Alan Gershenfeld from E-Line, it “will appeal to players who like games such as Journey, Braid, Limbo and other small-scale, personal games.” O’Neill said, “What I love about it is that we can take our stories and our voice and it can live in the digital world. This is a tool to help us evolve as a people.” She also noted that the company will explore more cultures going forward. “This is not just about making video games for Alaska natives. It’s about making video games for a global audience.”

I can’t wait to see what games are created by Upper One Games! Watch for developments on their official website.