In 2008, Zhenghua “Z” Yang was diagnosed with a rare condition in which his body couldn’t form enough blood platelets, meaning his blood couldn’t clot and even a simple cut could be fatal. He was hospitalized for two years, then sent home to rest without real hope for recovery. In this time, he gamed for hours on end. League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Minecraft. What else was he to do? And with time, somewhat miraculously, he recovered and was able to return to college. When he thinks back on getting through it all — mentally at least — those games loom large.
“My first year of college, I thought to myself, ‘Well, these games that I was playing, like League of Legends, they’re not really made to help me right, but they ended up saving my life,’” Yang says. “So what if we start making video games with the intention of helping other people? What kind of power is that able to unlock?”
