Womenize! – Inspiring Stories is our weekly series featuring inspirational individuals from games and tech. For this edition we talked to Linnea Sebastian Ejersbo, Game Developer at Betula Games. They speak about how their love for interdisciplinary, emotionally rich storytelling led them from visual arts to founding Betula Games, where they create diverse, feminist narratives like Dødsbo; they stress that meaningful industry change comes through collective effort and urge aspiring developers to stay authentic, inclusive, and balanced while pursuing values-driven careers. Read more about Linnea here:
Hi Linnea! You’ve worked on games from Dead Pets Unleashed to Dødsbo and Tarogue. Looking back, what drew you to interactive storytelling in the first place, and how has your journey through these projects shaped the way you create meaningful stories today?

Saying I have an artistic background seems a bit generous, but I did start out working with visual storytelling at The Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark at their youth education. That meant trying my hand at creating graphic novels and 2D animations. I felt a strong creative pull with that work, but it never really clicked for me.

I’ve always felt really split between working with visual arts and working in a moretechnical/scientific field. When I realised that making video games is a “real job”, I was instantly enamoured! I started pursuing a Computer Science degree at Dania Games inGrenaa, Denmark.

Video games are highly interdisciplinary. That’s what really struck me. It requires collaboration between so many different areas, like programming, art, writing, audio design, and in some cases psychology, history, and many more. And that’s just to cover the creation- we haven’t even touched selling the game! Games also vastly differ from most other media because of their interactability. It cancomplicate the classic narrative models that we know from writing novels or screen plays, but love the changes it provides. Dynamic narratives means the audience (the player, in thiscase) is participating! Their actions and choices shape the experience. That allows me, as avideo game developer, to create much more immersive experiences. I have a bit of a soft spot for non-linear narratives and games with consequences and branching.

This is what nurtured my passion for pursuing a career in video games. Since then, I’ve worked on several different projects at different companies. I still do some Programming and 2D Art here and there – but I’ve also taken on a lot of Writing and Producing.
Working at Triple Topping Games making Dead Pets Unleashed was my first job in the industry. Triple Topping Games was a fairly prominent, feminist, and diverse company in Denmark, and Dead Pets Unleashed is a punk, management-lite, slice-of-life game with aheavy narrative focus. I felt like the position was so out of my league, that I never expectedto be hired. But I ‘went for it’ because of a small section in the job advertisement; Don’t beafraid to apply, even if you feel like you don’t meet the requirements. So I did. And working with all the brilliant people there will stay with me forever! The company unfortunately went under, but luckily the game is still getting released by Akupara Games, who swooped in and saved it.
After this, I’ve assisted in some different productions, but mostly I’ve been working with thewonderful people at Lunch Money Games. We made Calcium Chaos: Derailed together, which is a wacky, co-op game for children. Especially attending showcases, and seeing 100s of families enjoy the game and connect with the characters. We also won the Danish awardfor Best Kids Game. Hugely rewarding work.

And now I’ve finally started my own company, Betula Games!
We’re based in the co-working space IdeasLab in Aarhus. Denmark, alongside some other really cool start-ups. Betula Games and three other companies from here have been chosenfor the Filmby’s accelerator course, which gives us a bit of early stage funding and some great mentorship opportunities. We also attend industry events together – and having familiarpeople around is always such a comfort. I love our little rag tag group of entrepreneurs. One of the other companies is Lunch Money Games, who’ve supported me so much with my newcompany. We’re still collaborating on projects and they’ve helped me a lot in landing on myfeet with such a huge endeavour. At Betula Game, we’re creating narrative-driven games with emotional depth. So I’m back tomy roots of making games that are chock-full of vibes and have a story to tell. We also subscribe heavily to the notion that everyone deserves to see themselves in video games, which is why we have a strong focus on diversity and accessibility. We’re a feminist company and we’re transparent about our moral values. Right now, we’re making Dødsbo – a game that I’m truly passionate about – but Betula Games is also about creating a company that can grow sustainably and ethically. And aboutcreating one more safe place in the industry.

Dødsbo is a casual game about death. It has a story centered around grief in a dysfunctionalhome combined with a ‘cozy’ backwater town mystery. There’s a focus on dialogue, broken up with some satisfying packing minigames. The game deals with some heavy subject matter, but it’s told in a cynical tone with a heavydose of existential comedy. Intermingling comedy aspects is important for me, since it makesintimidating themes more accessible. Personally, I often feel a little ‘allergic’ to games whereyou’re meant to really sit and stew in your feelings. That makes it more difficult for me to connect with meaningful stories. With Dødsbo, I draw a lot of inspiration from my own life and from the developers and writershelping me out. It’s a game largely based on stories from real people here in Denmark.

My family consists of several complex family units. When people ask me “How many siblings do you have?” my real-life-dialogue options are quickly reduced to “Lie” or “Let me draw you a diagram”. In media, we often see the classic “one dad + one mom = 2,5 kids” formula. It’s easy to explain, easy to understand, and it leaves room for any kind of narrative withoutspending extra effort on family dynamics. In Dødsbo, I want to take the time and energy to show a family constellation that reflects my own. Two homes, different sets of parents, siblings who share all/some/no blood – and how little that matters when deciding who’s family.

Dødsbo is a very personal project to me. It’s a way of exploring experiences that many have,but don’t talk about. Everyone has or will experience loss – whether it’s through death,estrangement, a break-up, or something entirely different.It’s a game meant to encourage communication, broaden perspective, and processemotional baggage. And with a game, unlike a movie or comic, you can collaborate with theplayer to create that experience.

As an intersectional feminist and advocate for inclusivity, what impact do you feel you’ve
already made in your work and collaborations, and what change do you still hope to bring to the
industry in the years ahead?

I don’t think change is something we do alone. It’s work we do together. In Denmark we use the proverb “Mange bække små gør en stor å”. It means many small streams make up a large stream. Similar to “It takes a village”. As a queer and neurodivergent person just existing in the video game industry and taking upspace is already hugely impactful. And the more of us there are, the more we’ll normalize diversity – in and out of games.

At Triple Topping Games, I worked with a diverse team and I had a lot of amazing people to lookup to. That made a huge difference for me as a newbie in a huge, scary, new world.
I already identified as queer and nonbinary at that point, but I wasn’t very public about it. I felt way too old to be nonbinary. It’s still a very debated identity under the transgender umbrella – both inand out of the LGBTQ+ community. So I had kind of resigned myself to the reality that only teenagers are allowed to muck about with alternative gender identities. At Triple Topping, I encountered a person I respect greatly both personally and as an industry professional, who usedgender neutral pronouns. That visibility was a huge factor in encouraging me to be more unapologetically myself.
Now I identify openly as a trans individual and I use they/them pronouns. Most people I meet aren’t openly hostile about this. But the vast majority of people either ignore my pronouns or just avoid referring to me at all. That can feel very excluding. Gender neutral pronouns are a huge hassle and it often feels like more trouble than it’s worth. But every once in a while, I get to be that person for someone else – the person who creates representation for marginalized groups. Or just the person who’s part of creating a safe place.

I also identify as a woman in the industry. I know that to some people it feels a bit like I want to eat my cake and have it too, by identifying as both a woman and nonbinary. But I promise you, I’m not doing it to reap the benefits of the few channels and grants that focus on lifting women andgender marginalized people up.
I choose to identify as a woman because that’s how I was socialized and that’s how I’m still perceived. That’s not the case for many nonbinary people, but being female-presenting is a huge part of how I move in the game industry. Women are heavily underrepresented in the work force, even though they make up almost 50% of all gamers! But just using my Computer Science program as an example, men outnumbered women by nearly 10 to 1. I’m very used to entering a meeting or a game event, where a woman will come up to me and say “Oh, thank goodness you’re here – I was the only woman till you came in”. I’ll never be upset about being representation for women, while they’re also heavily underrepresented. And thankfully the industry has already changed so much, just in the last handful of years. There’s a huge improvement in diversity for who’s on the floor at events, who’s on stage, who’s inthe speaker chair.

Personally, I’m also getting more involved in doing talks and I’ve been around to somedifferent schools and events. It’s always super rewarding and I especially love all the little chats and connections that come after the talks!I’m also slowly beginning to dabble with mentoring. This is a whole new world for me, and I’m still getting mentored myself – but I’m excited to dive into it. Seeing new developersprojects in early stages and following their journey always feels worthwhile to me.

Alongside diversity in the industry, there’s also diversity in the games we’re making.In 2024 more than 18.500 games were released on Steam – and less than 2000 of those hadthe Female Protagonist tag. That’s an impressively low amount. In my game Dødsbo, the main character is Pil, who’s the middle child but eldest daughter. She has all the parentification and responsibility of being the oldest, but is overlooked andovershadowed like the typical middle child. I’ve put a lot of love into her and all the othercharacters, and I’m absolutely thrilled anytime someone says they can relate to them!

These are some of the elements I’m focusing on. It’s doing more of what really made adifference for me. And it’s being visible, open, and honest!

For aspiring developers who want to make games that challenge, comfort and include, what
guidance would you give them on finding their voice and building a career that reflects both
their creativity and their values?

It’s often an uphill battle, but it’s worth it!
Being a minority in the video game industry or wanting to challenge the norms is a lot of work. Bewary of outside pressure to do more or less. Don’t be afraid to follow a mix of your own moral compass and your business sense.
Some people are more commercially minded. They might suggest you ‘tone down’ the feminism,stop using weird pronouns, and avoid having public political opinions. This will make you more appealing to a general audience.
Some people are the complete opposite. They might encourage you to be very public about youri dentity and your political opinions. To say that silence is being complicit and any moment you’re not fighting is morally corrupt.
You’ll have to find a balance for yourself. It’s about measuring your own mental bandwidth and your desire to challenge, comfort and include. And in some cases, even estimating your personal safety.
I wholly respect the people fighting for diversity, whether they yell from the rooftops or if theysneak it into heavily commercially viable games. We’re all fighting for the same thing.

To stay motivated, I like to surround myself with inspiring people. I’m fortunate enough to sharean office space with a bunch of amazing developers, and I get to regularly attend industry events and network. That’s not possible for everyone – especially if you’re just starting out. So I encourage everyone to follow people you’re inspired by online. Follow people who look like you. Follow some of the great initiatives that focus on presenting voices that are often lost – like Womenize!, WINGS, Safe In Our World, and Women in Games.And don’t be afraid to reach out to people! I’ve also gotten so much help from the industry throughout the years. So many people are willing to look through your pitch deck, give your demo feedback, or just offer a few encouraging words.So start asking for help. And start before you feel ready!

Thanks for this interview, Linnea!

Linnea’s links: LinkedIn

 

Womenize! – Inspiring Stories Feature by Madeleine Egger