Xalavier Nelson Jr.

Xalavier Nelson Jr. (born 1997 or 1998) is an American video game developer and writer. He is founder of the indie game studio Strange Scaffold, which is known for video games such as El Paso, Elsewhere, for which the studio received a D.I.C.E. Award.

Nelson has commented on working conditions in the video game industry, including practices such as crunch. He was inspired to create games with a focus on shorter playtime lengths and ethical production cycles, citing his frustration with burnout and perceived unhealthy industry practices. He previously wrote for the gaming news outlet PC Gamer, which he joined in 2017.

Biography Early life Nelson was born in 1997 or 1998 and grew up in Texas. As a child, Nelson was unschooled, a free-form type of homeschooling. He particularly disliked writing, and instead read frequently, especially about video games and the video game industry. A GameSpot news article on the reviews for the 2011 game Duke Nukem Forever led to an interest in video game journalism. He eventually contacted some publishers to request copies of their video games to review. He wrote his first game reviews at 12 years old and published them to a personal WordPress blog. in 2019, he founded a game studio Strange Scaffold with an investment of $2,000 from his father. in which he contracts out work to multiple people on each game rather than employing them full-time as a larger or AAA studio would. Projects around this time included Can Androids Pray?, An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs (2021), and Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator, with Game Developer magazine noting the particularly "eye-catching" titles and "internally consistent worlds" common to each game. During this period of difficulty, Nelson fostered a "new relationship" with his existing Christian faith, specifically "being able to recenter those values in the context of games". A homage to the Max Payne series of action video games, the game sold 30,000 copies after the studio published it despite its repeated rejection by larger game studios.

Nelson was listed as one of Forbes magazine's 30 Under 30 honorees for 2024 for his contributions to the gaming industry. At the Black in Gaming Awards at that year's Game Developers Conference, Nelson won the Indie Developer Award. In 2025, Nelson was named as part of BAFTA's Breakthrough cohort for the US.

Commentary Game industry practices Nelson was inspired to create video games with a focus on shorter playtime lengths and ethical production cycles, citing his frustration with burnout and perceived unhealthy industry practices. Speaking on the ongoing reactions to an economic downturn in 2024, including lower investments, Nelson said that the industry should adopt practices used during such periods in the past: "... if we just make reasonable decisions based on the ecosystem before us [...] we can make a lot of money and make a lot of players happy without exploding in the process." In a 2024 TikTok video by Nelson, as described by The New York Times, he observes that "the industry views efficiency and quality as opposing forces – that good games require years of development".

Game design In a 2018 interview on his narrative design work, Nelson stated that he most enjoyed working around a set of limitations or boundaries to best tell a story or evoke certain emotions in the player.

Faith Nelson is Christian, specifically Protestant or some form of Protestantism, and he was raised in an evangelical Christian community. In interviews, he has occasionally spoken on what his faith means to him personally and how it connects to his work in creating games. 2019 Can Androids Pray? Writer 2020 Cellular Harvest Writer 2020 Reigns: Beyond Writer 2021 Adios Producer 2021 An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs Designer 2021 Skatebird Writer 2021 Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator Designer 2023 Dreamfather Designer; for The Real Unreal art exhibition 2025 Skin Deep Additional writing 2025 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown Director