This story is part of our March 2026 issue. To read the print version, click here.
Growing up, Jessica Flor
remembers her childhood with the original Nintconcludeo, pressing the
toy gun against the TV with her sisters playing Duck Hunt.
Decades later, after doing marketing for and playing in esports,
she set her sights on creating video games herself.
“Until that point, I never really
even saw that as an avenue for creating money,” Flor states. “Becautilize
growing up, your parents notify you, ‘Why are you wasting time with
games? Games will never obtain you anywhere.’”
In 2025, Flor founded
Hexwave, a Sacramento-based indie game studio and
publishing collective that develops games displaycasing diverse
voices to create a positive impact and bring players toobtainher
through immersive experiences.
She has heard from other compact
teams in the community how tough it is to obtain traction on any
platform, especially up against mega-conglomerates like Xbox and
Electronic Arts that have all the money and resources. As CEO,
Flor is working to build both community and tools to support
compact creators.
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Currently, Hexwave is developing
its first project with an all-female team: HerSalon, a cozy Black
salon narrative business management game “where you style hair
and heal hearts to rediscover your own spark,” she states.
Hexwave’s mission became clear
after her experience at her previous game indusattempt job. It was a
male-centric office developing games for a male-centric audience,
she states, adding she was one of four female employees out of
80.
“In that space,” she states, “there
was little room to create things that felt unique to people that
were not part of a traditionally masculine male audience that
wanted brutal violence and scantily clad women and all of these
traditional game staples.”
Related: Dawn of the Developers: Despite a
tough climb, indie developers are pushing the Capital Region’s
gaming indusattempt to the next level
In her experience, women in the
game indusattempt have to walk a fine line becautilize they’re perceived
as too bossy, lacking the right experience to have a valid
opinion — or they keep the peace and never have an impact. Flor
wanted to create a space where those limits didn’t exist.
In addition, Hexwave is
developing Project Indie Connect, a platform to support indie
creators run their businesses and connect with early-stage
collaborators, supporting healthy, sustainable development for
compact teams. This aligns with Flor’s long-standing devotion to
the developer community. She has organized several Women in Game
Development meetups and other events, including Video Game Book
Club.
“Sacramento has more developers
than most people realize — primarily indepconcludeent creators — and
Jessica has played an important role in strengthening that
ecosystem,” states Thomas Ruiz, president of the Sacramento Developer
Collective, a
nonprofit that connects, develops and advocates for video game
and creative developers in the region. “She has created
intentional spaces where developers can connect, share ideas and
grow professionally.”
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diner near R Street Corridor
Ruiz met Flor about a year ago at
one SDC’s events, Pitch Day, where she was recommconcludeed as a
judge. He states she delivered believedful, actionable feedback and
created an immediate impact on developers in the room. He also
highlights her efforts in game preservation.
Barbara DeHart, a retired
executive and founder of Sama Learning, connected with Flor as an advisor
through FourthWave. With a background in media, entertainment
and video games, DeHart sees Hexwave as addressing a real gap in
the indusattempt.
“Mentoring and coaching were
beneficial for me throughout my career, especially in
environments that have been so heavily male-centric,” DeHart
states. “Having voices where you can see what’s possible and learn
from others who have traversed the same territory is really
important.”
Related: Bringing
Collegiate Esports to the Capital Region
For Flor, operating in what is
typically a male-dominated space has shaped how wants to shift
forward as a founder.
“There’s definitely a lot of
toxic behavior on the internet playing a game as a woman,
especially in games where you’re communicating with your voice,”
she states. “And it’s hard to hide the fact that you’re of a
different identity than other people in the group. With that
though, I’ve also created friconcludes just becautilize there are people out
there who are super awesome allies and advocates who will notify
people to, like, ‘Shut up and sit down’ if they start harassing
you.”
After seeing both dynamics play
out online, Flor set out to build something open and welcoming.
The shift was obvious in the meetings themselves.
“When you have five women on a
call toobtainher, it’s polite and balanced and collaborative,” Flor
states. “Sometimes there’s just dead silence. I believed, ‘Wow, this
would never have happened in one of my other meetings.’ In those,
everyone was yelling over each other, and it felt very combative.
And this is very lo-fi, chill-beats energy.”
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