How a Seattle-based Jewish game developer turned a Discord group into a refuge after Oct. 7
The story highlights Aviva Schecterson’s leadership, resilience and compassion as she creates meaningful support for Jewish professionals navigating antisemitism in gaming.
By June Williams | For FāVS News
SEATTLE — In the days after Oct. 7, 2023, messages poured into a small Discord group for Jewish game developers. Members, some the only Jew in their company, turned to the group for comfort and support, sharing similar fears.
“How am I supposed to continue working when I don’t know if my friends and family are safe right now?” said Aviva Schecterson, one of the group’s organizers.
Before the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Israel, Jewish in Gaming was a “pretty quiet” online space where around 50 members came for a casual chat, wishing others a happy Passover or Hanukkah and sharing excitement when someone spotted something Jewish in a game.
“Really it was a group to just chat about everything,” Schecterson said. “Trying to encourage discussion and community with other Jewish game developers.”
The Discord group becomes a refuge
After the attacks, the group became a refuge. Schecterson stepped up, determined to meet the sudden need for support and solidarity. “I made sure I was really responsive,” she said, adding people in the Jewish gaming community weren’t sure who they could trust.
“Maybe they’ve always felt weird about me because I’m Jewish,” Schecterson said.
Many members felt “really uncomfortable” when colleagues discussed the attacks, she explained.
“How do my coworkers not know the history of this region and why are they being so lax with their research?” Schecterson said, summarizing some of the comments. One member said a coworker was “one of the smartest people I know,” yet he was getting “sucked into social media, bottom of the barrel, really antisemitic stuff.”
Schecterson was empathetic, discussed solutions and asked members to share their ideas, recognizing they wouldn’t solve the larger issues, but could “at least make ourselves feel a little more comfortable in our professional settings.”
Her steady, responsive leadership grew out of years of personal experience and advocacy. A professional game designer for a decade, Schecterson had already encountered antisemitism while studying at DigiPen, where she graduated in 2016.
She remembers fallout from the 2014 Gamergate controversy. Seemingly about ethics in gaming, it quickly morphed into discussions of sexism following several high-profile reports of harassment against women journalists and game designers. Schecterson called it a “wild time,” and recalled online harassment from anonymous fellow students.
“Who can I really trust? Who can I really be friends with if they’re just going to go online and make fun of me later?” she said. “It really encouraged me to find my community.”
Advocating for an antisemetic community
Schecterson’s leadership in the International Game Developers Association Jewish Game Developers special interest group, and the Jewish in Gaming offshoot Discord hub, earned a 2024 Jewish Education Project’s Shine A Light on Antisemitism Civic Courage Award.
The awards recognize individuals in the U.S. and Canada who act against antisemitism in categories such as educators, students, university administrators and gamers.
Dena Feldman, a program associate for the Jewish Education Project, explained why the gaming community is included alongside traditional roles.
“Gaming is one of the largest cultural industries in the world, and online gaming spaces have become significant hotbeds for antisemitism and radicalization. Recognizing advocates within this industry signals that combating hate isn’t limited to traditional educational settings. It matters wherever Jewish people live, work and create,” Feldman said.
The organization chose Schecterson for the 2024 award based on her overall advocacy and help she provided to individual Jewish gamers.
“Aviva saw Jewish colleagues being harassed and ignored by their own industry, and she knew she had to take action. She organized a panel discussion at GDC, which is essentially the game industry’s largest annual professional conference, so Jewish developers could openly talk about what they were experiencing. Then she hosted an online version so people who couldn’t attend the conference could participate too. She also wrote a guide about antisemitism in gaming that’s now published on a major industry platform,” Feldman said.
“And on a personal level, she’s been helping individual developers figure out how to file complaints when their employers or professional organizations brush them off,” she continued. “That range, from big public events to quietly helping one person at a time, is what made her stand out.”
Helping Jews not feel invisible in the gaming industry
Schecterson created a tangible resource with the IGDA guide and “a sustained community of support for Jewish professionals who felt invisible in their own industry,” Feldman said.
Schecterson is also a 2025 – 2026 Loeb Leadership Institute Fellow. The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle fellowship prepares emerging Jewish leaders for future service.
Out of those painful 2023 conversations came concrete action. In March 2024, the group held a roundtable at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
“There were a lot of feelings that were expressed,” Schecterson said. “We all know how to frame our feelings as Jews. This is antisemitism we’re experiencing and not anything else.” It was a “highly emotional” meeting and a necessary catharsis, she said.
Together they brainstormed practical responses. Sometimes the best choice is to walk away and not engage, other times, it means refusing to hide.
“We shouldn’t be afraid to just be Jewish in a public space. Wearing a Star of David or having a mezuzah on your door. If it’s a Jewish holiday and you’re taking time off because of that holiday, you can tell people why you’re taking time off,” she said.
In the workplace before Oct. 7, “I felt very comfortable being Jewish,” Schecterson said. In the following months and years there’s “subtle antisemitism, subtle racism.”
Many members of the group who traditionally have been on the left side of the political spectrum, now feel alleged progressives are dismissing antisemitism.
“It’s a clear demonstration of the horseshoe theory,” she said. Proponents of the theory argue that both the extreme left and extreme right exhibit similar tendencies, such as authoritarianism, and share more similarities with each other than either does with the political center.
“A lot of people are politically homeless,” she said.
‘Repairing the world’
Despite these challenges, Schecterson remains focused on practical steps and community-building rather than despair, and hopes to mentor future leaders. “Leadership is empowering other people to be in charge of their community,” she said.
To young Jewish people considering a career in gaming, her advice is reassuring. “Don’t worry about it too much. If you need support, we’re here. Let us know.”
Over the last few years, Schecterson has seen how Jewish in Gaming fills the need for a supportive space where Jewish game developers can simply be themselves.
“Especially within the Jewish community, we all have different opinions and feelings about things. We also share this bond over the generational trauma that we’ve had,” she explained.
Even if she doesn’t get along with another Jewish person, “I still feel a sense of connection with them,” she said. “I think most people who are part of certain identity groups naturally feel that way,” she said. “It’s not a special thing with Jews, it’s just mine happens to be Jewish.”
The group hopes to plan more in-person events, which can be hard for members who are located throughout the United States and Canada.
A puzzle pod online event went from July 12 through Aug. 2. Members played Blue Prince together over the course of the event, collaborating on puzzles building connection through a shared activity.
Schecterson’s leadership demonstrates how to confront hatred with empathy, community and action. Her advocacy is guided by a central Jewish value, she said.
“Tikkun olam is a Jewish concept meaning ‘repairing the world,’” she said. “I think of this as trying to leave the world a better place than I was born into.”
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