All of this — the fascinating vision and the bold mission — is inspired by Cudicio’s personal background. He grew up in northern Italy, a child of Italian and Ghanian heritage.
Italy is renowned for its patriotic spirit. The people bear a deep, quiet pride in the history of their nation, from the Roman Empire to the Renaissance, from the architecture and art to the language.
Cudicio reflects that stereotype. His exuberant love of Italy was plain to hear, and he added that “in some way, maybe almost paradoxically, my connection to Italy and Italian culture is one of the reasons why I’m so connected to Ghanian and African cultures as well because I feel this love and nurturing I got from Italy, I wanted it from Ghana and from Africa as well.”
He grew up in an African household, exposed to Ghanian culture and languages, as well as visiting the West African country every year as a child and later living there for a while.
The Wagadu Chronicles, then, is a way of paying respect to a part of the world often viewed as other. At the same time, Cudicio is thinking about who might play his team’s game. He reflected on his own gaming experiences, citing Fable and The Walking Dead as two that stand out. As a young gay man, Cudicio found joy and a sense of empowerment in Fable that didn’t prescribe heteronormativity. Meanwhile, The Walking Dead having two protagonists of color helped him feel seen:
“Even as a much more mature and confident black man, it still made me so happy, but on the other hand, it shows how starved I am for representation.” Then he paused for a moment, before adding, “I was going to say ‘I was’ and I said ‘I am.’”
Feeling this way, he believes, is something of a universal experience for people from minority backgrounds or people with disabilities. There is a need to be seen. “And we as game developers provide so much more than fun. We provide visibility, representation, affirmation, confirmation. So that’s why for me, especially as a person in a number of minorities, I have to do this. … I feel like I have a mission. It might seem lofty, but that’s how I feel.”
