A deer and a fawn are lost far from home, with no idea where they are or how they can get back to the woods. With the help of glowing antlers, curiosity and sheer will, the animals travel through wheat fields, abandoned subway systems and surreal sewers to make it back where they belong. This is Way to the Woods, a video game for PC and Xbox One due out in 2020 from an independent, 20-year-old developer named Anthony Tan. Following in the footsteps of similar so-called "pacifist" games like Journey, Firewatch and Night in the Woods, Way to the Woods is aimed at gamers looking for adult experiences that don't rely on violence to tell a compelling story. While President Donald Trump and others continue to suggest a connection between violent video games and mass shootings despite a lack of evidence, there has been a notable spike in games like Tan's that are more about exploration, story and design than racking up a body count.

Spending on video games and related equipment reached an all-time high last year, with Americans shelling out $42 billion to immerse themselves in virtual worlds where they can steal cars, shoot cowboys, and fight Nazis with abandon. But as tens of thousands of video game fans and creators gather in Los Angeles this week for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, more commonly known as E3, a difficult truth about the gaming industry is beginning to emerge: what's seen by outsiders as a fun, creative business is becoming psychologically and financially unbearable for those working in it. "Every game you like is built on the backs of workers," says Nathan Allen Ortega, 34, who thought he found his dream job when Telltale Games offered him a position as a community and video manager in 2015. Ortega was such a Telltale enthusiast that he used to participate in cosplay--the practice of dressing up as a particular character for events--as Rhys Strongfork, one of the main heroes in the company's Tales from the Borderlands. So it was an easy decision to pack up his stuff in Texas and relocate near the company's headquarters in San Rafael, California.