1
00:00:01,358 --> 00:00:03,587
Have you ever felt lonely?

2
00:00:04,842 --> 00:00:07,557
The urge of wanting
to connect with people,

3
00:00:07,581 --> 00:00:10,662
but you seem to have no one
you really would want to contact?

4
00:00:11,877 --> 00:00:14,689
Or, it's a Friday night
and you want to be with others,

5
00:00:14,713 --> 00:00:20,266
but you have no energy to go out,
so instead you sit at home all evening,

6
00:00:20,290 --> 00:00:21,796
watch Netflix

7
00:00:21,820 --> 00:00:24,977
and feel more alone than ever?

8
00:00:25,001 --> 00:00:26,624
You feel like a monster

9
00:00:26,648 --> 00:00:29,145
between humans that know how to function.

10
00:00:30,193 --> 00:00:34,252
This is what loneliness felt like to me.

11
00:00:35,856 --> 00:00:37,241
So I'm an artist,

12
00:00:37,265 --> 00:00:41,843
and I process my emotional world
by sharing my feelings through my art.

13
00:00:42,846 --> 00:00:45,776
If you share your feelings with someone,

14
00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,355
and they understand
and share those feelings too,

15
00:00:49,379 --> 00:00:52,866
you create an emotional
and deep connection.

16
00:00:53,456 --> 00:00:57,687
This is why you can be surrounded
by hundreds of people,

17
00:00:57,711 --> 00:01:00,567
jump from one candidate to the next,

18
00:01:00,591 --> 00:01:02,895
but still feel lonely.

19
00:01:02,919 --> 00:01:07,507
It's because these deeper connections
haven't been made.

20
00:01:09,258 --> 00:01:12,070
I was an always-happy child.

21
00:01:12,094 --> 00:01:14,751
I think we nearly have
no single photo of me

22
00:01:14,775 --> 00:01:17,752
where I don't smile broadly
or laugh or joke around.

23
00:01:17,776 --> 00:01:20,246
And this went on until ...

24
00:01:20,270 --> 00:01:22,193
well, it's still the case.

25
00:01:22,217 --> 00:01:26,477
But I had many friend groups

26
00:01:26,501 --> 00:01:30,102
up until, as a young adult,
I moved to another city

27
00:01:30,126 --> 00:01:32,947
for my first job as a comic artist.

28
00:01:33,857 --> 00:01:38,670
And like so many young,
thriving people all over the planet,

29
00:01:38,694 --> 00:01:42,698
I concentrated all my energy
into my work life.

30
00:01:43,816 --> 00:01:49,486
But, if you spend, like, 90 percent
of your daily capacity

31
00:01:49,510 --> 00:01:51,608
trying to succeed at work,

32
00:01:51,632 --> 00:01:53,228
of course there is nothing left

33
00:01:53,252 --> 00:01:56,189
to take care of all the other
important aspects in your life,

34
00:01:56,213 --> 00:01:58,228
like your human relationships.

35
00:01:59,665 --> 00:02:04,353
Nourishing friendships
as an adult is work.

36
00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:09,071
You need to be consistent with connecting.

37
00:02:09,095 --> 00:02:11,668
You need to be open,
you need to be honest.

38
00:02:11,692 --> 00:02:13,811
And this is all I struggled with,

39
00:02:13,835 --> 00:02:16,848
because I tend to camouflage
my real feelings

40
00:02:16,872 --> 00:02:19,096
by trying to appear always happy

41
00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:21,488
and trying to make
everyone else happy, too,

42
00:02:21,512 --> 00:02:23,803
by trying to fix their problems.

43
00:02:24,843 --> 00:02:28,207
And I know a lot of us are guilty of this,

44
00:02:28,231 --> 00:02:32,082
because it's an easy way to not
think about your own issues.

45
00:02:32,106 --> 00:02:33,384
Isn't it?

46
00:02:33,408 --> 00:02:34,888
Hmm? Hmm? Hmm?

47
00:02:34,912 --> 00:02:37,174
(Laughter)

48
00:02:37,198 --> 00:02:38,348
OK.

49
00:02:39,428 --> 00:02:42,213
The turning point came

50
00:02:42,237 --> 00:02:47,343
when I fell into an emotionally
abusive relationship

51
00:02:47,367 --> 00:02:48,891
just a few years ago.

52
00:02:49,492 --> 00:02:51,713
He isolated me

53
00:02:51,737 --> 00:02:55,370
and left me feeling more alone than ever.

54
00:02:56,565 --> 00:02:58,347
It was the lowest point in my life,

55
00:02:58,371 --> 00:03:01,451
but it was also my wake-up call,

56
00:03:01,475 --> 00:03:03,463
because it was the first time

57
00:03:03,487 --> 00:03:06,552
that I really felt loneliness.

58
00:03:08,354 --> 00:03:11,136
Many artists put
their feelings into their art.

59
00:03:11,747 --> 00:03:16,246
There are endless books,
movies, paintings, music,

60
00:03:16,270 --> 00:03:19,130
all filled with the real
emotion of an artist.

61
00:03:19,154 --> 00:03:21,966
So, as an artist myself, I did the same.

62
00:03:21,990 --> 00:03:24,228
I shared my feelings.

63
00:03:25,199 --> 00:03:29,606
I wanted to help people
cope with loneliness.

64
00:03:29,630 --> 00:03:32,253
I wanted, yeah, to make them
understand it,

65
00:03:32,277 --> 00:03:36,241
to really experience it through my art

66
00:03:36,265 --> 00:03:39,758
in the form of an interactive story,

67
00:03:39,782 --> 00:03:41,111
a video game.

68
00:03:42,825 --> 00:03:45,062
So, in our game --

69
00:03:45,086 --> 00:03:48,431
we called it "Sea of Solitude" --

70
00:03:48,455 --> 00:03:50,956
you are a person named Kay,

71
00:03:50,980 --> 00:03:54,358
who is suffering from
such strong loneliness

72
00:03:54,382 --> 00:03:56,696
that her inner feelings --

73
00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:57,958
the anger,

74
00:03:57,982 --> 00:04:01,771
the feeling of hopelessness,
worthlessness --

75
00:04:01,795 --> 00:04:03,774
turn to the outside,

76
00:04:03,798 --> 00:04:05,334
and she becomes a monster.

77
00:04:05,869 --> 00:04:08,086
The game -- well, Kay --

78
00:04:08,110 --> 00:04:11,093
is actually a representation of me

79
00:04:11,117 --> 00:04:15,222
and the path I went through
to overcome my struggles.

80
00:04:16,309 --> 00:04:18,421
The game plays, actually, in Kay's mind,

81
00:04:18,445 --> 00:04:23,268
so you walk through a world
that is flooded by her tears,

82
00:04:23,292 --> 00:04:27,494
and the weather is changing by her mood,

83
00:04:27,518 --> 00:04:29,461
how her mood is changing.

84
00:04:30,301 --> 00:04:35,620
And, well, the only thing Kay wears,

85
00:04:35,644 --> 00:04:37,497
the only thing,

86
00:04:37,521 --> 00:04:39,130
is her backpack.

87
00:04:40,272 --> 00:04:44,973
It's the baggage we all carry
throughout our life.

88
00:04:44,997 --> 00:04:48,252
And Kay doesn't know how to cope
with her emotions in the right way,

89
00:04:48,276 --> 00:04:51,024
so her backpack becomes bigger and bigger

90
00:04:51,048 --> 00:04:52,492
until it bursts,

91
00:04:52,516 --> 00:04:56,794
and she finally is forced
to overcome her own struggles.

92
00:04:58,135 --> 00:05:03,221
In our story, we present many different
manifestations of loneliness.

93
00:05:04,443 --> 00:05:08,428
Loneliness through
social exclusion is very common.

94
00:05:09,041 --> 00:05:12,983
In our game, the brother of Kay
got bullied in his school,

95
00:05:13,007 --> 00:05:15,655
and he just wants to hide and fly away.

96
00:05:15,679 --> 00:05:19,923
And we portray him as a huge bird monster
surrounded by thick fog.

97
00:05:21,317 --> 00:05:23,816
The player has to actually
walk through his school

98
00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:27,592
and experience, really feel the harm,

99
00:05:27,616 --> 00:05:29,437
that the brother had been through,

100
00:05:30,488 --> 00:05:33,442
because for a long time,
nobody really listens to him.

101
00:05:34,081 --> 00:05:39,513
But the very moment
friends and family start to listen,

102
00:05:39,537 --> 00:05:44,350
the first step towards overcoming
this form of loneliness had been made.

103
00:05:44,374 --> 00:05:48,343
We also show loneliness in relationships,

104
00:05:48,367 --> 00:05:53,139
like when parents just stay together
for the sake of their kids

105
00:05:53,163 --> 00:05:56,022
but end up hurting the entire family.

106
00:05:57,182 --> 00:06:03,279
We put the player literally in between
the two parents while they are fighting,

107
00:06:03,303 --> 00:06:05,154
and you get hurt in the middle.

108
00:06:05,545 --> 00:06:10,146
They don't even see that their daughter,
Kay, is right there

109
00:06:10,170 --> 00:06:11,891
until she breaks down.

110
00:06:13,016 --> 00:06:18,047
We also show loneliness
through mental health issues,

111
00:06:18,071 --> 00:06:22,150
with the boyfriend of Kay,
who suffers from depression

112
00:06:22,174 --> 00:06:24,692
and shows that sometimes

113
00:06:24,716 --> 00:06:29,926
it is most important to focus
on your own well-being first.

114
00:06:31,770 --> 00:06:35,233
The boyfriend also tends
to camouflage his feelings,

115
00:06:35,257 --> 00:06:39,352
so he appears like a lone,
shiny white wolf.

116
00:06:39,376 --> 00:06:43,828
But the moment he starts
to interact with his girlfriend, Kay,

117
00:06:43,852 --> 00:06:45,439
the mask falls off,

118
00:06:45,463 --> 00:06:48,829
and we see the black dog beneath it:

119
00:06:48,853 --> 00:06:50,152
depression.

120
00:06:51,355 --> 00:06:54,623
Sometimes we put on a smile

121
00:06:54,647 --> 00:06:58,304
instead of dealing
with the issues at hand,

122
00:06:58,328 --> 00:07:01,006
and that can ultimately make it worse,

123
00:07:01,030 --> 00:07:03,138
affect the people around us

124
00:07:03,162 --> 00:07:05,220
and damage our relationships.

125
00:07:07,561 --> 00:07:08,827
So Kay herself

126
00:07:08,851 --> 00:07:13,281
we portray as ripped apart
into her basic emotions.

127
00:07:14,457 --> 00:07:15,732
Some help you,

128
00:07:15,756 --> 00:07:17,880
some are trying to stop you.

129
00:07:18,994 --> 00:07:22,165
Self-Doubt is a huge creature,

130
00:07:22,189 --> 00:07:25,408
always telling Kay how worthless she is

131
00:07:25,432 --> 00:07:27,690
and that she should just give up.

132
00:07:28,167 --> 00:07:29,646
Like in real life,

133
00:07:30,531 --> 00:07:32,869
Self-Doubt is blocking the path,

134
00:07:32,893 --> 00:07:35,128
and it seems impossible to overcome it.

135
00:07:36,271 --> 00:07:40,705
Destroying the omnipresence
of Self-Doubt is a slow process.

136
00:07:40,729 --> 00:07:44,501
But in the game,
you can slowly, like, shrink her,

137
00:07:44,525 --> 00:07:46,981
so she turns from self-doubt

138
00:07:47,005 --> 00:07:48,791
to actually healthy doubt,

139
00:07:48,815 --> 00:07:51,045
and you can finally trust her advice.

140
00:07:52,544 --> 00:07:55,251
We also show Self-Destruction.

141
00:07:55,769 --> 00:07:57,391
It's a huge monster

142
00:07:57,415 --> 00:08:00,722
always lurking nearby
under the water's surface.

143
00:08:01,627 --> 00:08:04,635
Self-Destruction is actually
the main antagonist of the game,

144
00:08:04,659 --> 00:08:08,673
and she is always trying to drown you
in the ocean of tears.

145
00:08:09,432 --> 00:08:11,857
But, when she actually drowns you,

146
00:08:11,881 --> 00:08:13,878
you wake up just a few moments [before],

147
00:08:13,902 --> 00:08:16,732
and you have a chance to progress again.

148
00:08:17,432 --> 00:08:19,913
We wanted to show

149
00:08:19,937 --> 00:08:23,737
that we all go through hardships
in our life, we all do.

150
00:08:23,761 --> 00:08:29,458
But if you at least, like, stand up
and try to move forward,

151
00:08:29,482 --> 00:08:34,079
you are very likely to make it
through your struggle,

152
00:08:34,103 --> 00:08:35,599
step by step.

153
00:08:37,742 --> 00:08:43,897
Joy is something that Kay
cannot really embrace or touch.

154
00:08:43,921 --> 00:08:46,675
It's always something in the distance.

155
00:08:46,699 --> 00:08:49,198
We portrayed Joy
as a child version of Kay,

156
00:08:49,222 --> 00:08:50,590
with a yellow raincoat,

157
00:08:50,614 --> 00:08:53,834
so she is invulnerable
to the ocean of tears.

158
00:08:53,858 --> 00:08:57,101
But Joy can also turn into obsession

159
00:08:57,125 --> 00:08:59,188
and start to be actually harmful for Kay,

160
00:08:59,212 --> 00:09:02,284
like when she starts obsessing
over her boyfriend.

161
00:09:02,974 --> 00:09:08,656
Joy will not turn back to normal
until Kay realizes

162
00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:13,502
that her happiness
should not depend on anybody else

163
00:09:13,526 --> 00:09:15,700
but herself.

164
00:09:17,977 --> 00:09:20,904
So our monsters appear huge and scary,

165
00:09:20,928 --> 00:09:24,203
but if you overcome your reluctance
and approach them,

166
00:09:24,227 --> 00:09:28,278
you soon see that they
are no monsters at all,

167
00:09:28,302 --> 00:09:33,603
but just fragile beings that are simply
overwhelmed by what life throws at them.

168
00:09:36,325 --> 00:09:39,062
All of those emotions,

169
00:09:39,086 --> 00:09:42,511
be it self-doubt or even self-destruction,

170
00:09:42,535 --> 00:09:44,838
don't completely vanish in our game.

171
00:09:46,292 --> 00:09:52,190
The key message is to not only
chase for joy or happiness

172
00:09:52,214 --> 00:09:55,164
but to embrace all your emotions

173
00:09:55,188 --> 00:09:57,365
and bring them into balance,

174
00:09:59,138 --> 00:10:02,934
being OK with sometimes not being OK.

175
00:10:05,468 --> 00:10:09,099
Everyone has their own
loneliness story to tell.

176
00:10:09,123 --> 00:10:12,794
This realization changed
everything for me.

177
00:10:13,910 --> 00:10:16,053
Being much more open with my emotions

178
00:10:16,077 --> 00:10:19,842
and concentrating much more
on my private life,

179
00:10:19,866 --> 00:10:22,270
my friends, my family.

180
00:10:23,274 --> 00:10:24,641
When we released the game,

181
00:10:24,665 --> 00:10:27,985
literally thousands of fans wrote us,

182
00:10:28,009 --> 00:10:30,606
all sharing their stories with us

183
00:10:30,630 --> 00:10:35,439
and telling us they felt
not so alone anymore

184
00:10:35,463 --> 00:10:37,796
just because they played our game.

185
00:10:38,497 --> 00:10:41,419
Many people wrote us that they felt hope

186
00:10:41,443 --> 00:10:45,102
for a better future for themselves
for the first time in decades.

187
00:10:45,955 --> 00:10:48,625
Many wrote us that they seek therapy now,

188
00:10:49,584 --> 00:10:54,054
just because they played our game

189
00:10:54,078 --> 00:10:57,060
and felt hopeful to overcome
their own struggles.

190
00:10:59,155 --> 00:11:00,629
Our game is not a therapy.

191
00:11:00,653 --> 00:11:02,273
It's not meant to be a therapy.

192
00:11:02,297 --> 00:11:05,217
It's just my friends and me
sharing our stories

193
00:11:05,241 --> 00:11:07,932
through our art, video games.

194
00:11:07,956 --> 00:11:12,687
But we are so deeply thankful
for every single message

195
00:11:12,711 --> 00:11:14,447
that people feel better,

196
00:11:14,471 --> 00:11:17,999
just because we shared
our story with them.

197
00:11:19,456 --> 00:11:20,915
So ...

198
00:11:20,939 --> 00:11:27,932
I didn't completely overcome
my urge to help others.

199
00:11:27,956 --> 00:11:30,129
But I don't want to overcome it anymore.

200
00:11:30,740 --> 00:11:32,113
I love it.

201
00:11:32,137 --> 00:11:36,748
I just needed to bring it
to a healthy size,

202
00:11:36,772 --> 00:11:39,843
so it doesn't stand in the way
of deeper relationships anymore,

203
00:11:39,867 --> 00:11:42,402
but even help me to connect with people.

204
00:11:44,264 --> 00:11:47,743
So, if you have an inner monster

205
00:11:47,767 --> 00:11:51,456
that is born out of negative emotions,

206
00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,915
it is not only the goal
to kill that monster

207
00:11:54,939 --> 00:11:58,775
but to understand that we humans
are complex beings.

208
00:11:59,918 --> 00:12:06,173
Look at what part of your life
is so big that others fall short.

209
00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:10,354
Look at what emotions you barely feel

210
00:12:10,378 --> 00:12:11,928
or maybe feel too much

211
00:12:11,952 --> 00:12:14,541
and move towards lowering those peaks.

212
00:12:15,191 --> 00:12:17,772
Most of all, it's about understanding

213
00:12:17,796 --> 00:12:21,500
that all the wide range
of emotions and struggles

214
00:12:21,524 --> 00:12:23,939
makes us what we are:

215
00:12:23,963 --> 00:12:25,183
humans.

216
00:12:26,162 --> 00:12:27,324
Thank you.

217
00:12:27,348 --> 00:12:29,142
(Applause)