Continuing our celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage, we are pleased to introduce Grace Chien! An Undead Labs team member since 2018, Grace has had a hand in multiple State of Decay 2 updates, has steered exciting new projects, and has been spreading her love of Grogu (yes, that Grogu) around the office, filling hearts with joy. How many 6″ cakes can one person eat in a month? Let’s find out!
What do you do at the Lab?
I’m the Director of Studio Operations here at the Lab. I spend most of my time working behind the scenes making things happen.
What’s your boba order?
Taro with boba, 50% sugar, less ice. In my book, if the bubble tea shop can’t get this staple right, it’s not worth returning to.
What’s your favorite thing about working in games?
I enjoy the vibrancy that comes with being surrounded with creative folks. I love the team problem solving, the abundance of terrible puns and jokes, and being able to joyously share my love of baby Yoda with other people who love him just as much.
What does your Asian heritage mean to you?
I grew up on the Eastside where there weren’t many folks that looked like me so I spent most of my formative years covering. It wasn’t until I went back to visit family during college that I realized how much was missing and just simply not represented back home. I’ve come to a point of contentment with it and like the other perspective it offers me. Over the course of my career, I’ve only worked directly with 8 other Asian people, all of them men. It’s weird being an oddity in the industry, so hopefully that will change in the future.
Any shout outs you want to make?
Tea Addicts or ShareTea are my preferred bubble tea shops. Northwest Tofu House is my favorite breakfast place. I love Shanghai Garden for its barley green hand shaven noodles as well as its pig ears. Its sister restaurant, Shanghai Cafe, with its (no idea how they translate this into English) dish of blood and intestines and veggies. Tiger Garden dim sum on Mercer Island. Szechuan Bowl for their beef noodle soup. Hood Bakery for their ube cookies. Tous Les Jours has been my most frequented bakery during the pandemic, I bought myself a 6″ cake from there every week for first 3 months. Zero regrets over these life choices.
