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‘Supernatural’ actor and entrepreneur Osric Chau challenges entertainment’s big-bet culture and argues that games can give underrepresented creators new ways to tell their own stories.

‘Supernatural’ actor, producer and entrepreneur Osric Chau has challenged the entertainment industry’s increasing reliance on expensive, risk-averse productions, arguing that the pursuit of mass appeal is making creative output more predictable and leaving less room for distinctive voices. 

Speaking on the latest episode of the Good Game Club podcast, released on October 8, Chau draws parallels between film and games, arguing that concentrating investment in established franchises and proven formats can squeeze out the experimentation that creates lasting cultural impact. “When you’re trying to mitigate risk at every decision, you end up making very similar things every time,” he says. 

Chau, who played Kevin Tran in ‘Supernatural,’ says he rarely saw Asian actors as protagonists when he was growing up, and that absence shaped even the stories he imagined as a child.  But games, he argues, can take representation further than other media because players inhabit characters rather than simply watch them: “When you’re playing a game and you’re playing a character that could look like you, that could represent you, you’re now becoming that character, so it’s way more intimate. It gives you some sense of agency, and that’s a very powerful tool.”

Chau believes falling technological barriers could now give a wider generation of creators the opportunity to build the stories and worlds they previously struggled to find. “If it doesn’t exist and you want it to exist, you should just do it. Don’t wait for someone to do it,” he says. 

For Chau, limited resources need not be a barrier to change. Constraints can themselves become an engine for innovation - particularly for independent filmmakers, game developers and entrepreneurs without access to major budgets. It is a philosophy he extends to gaming itself, describing games as a way to understand systems, practise failure and develop problem-solving skills: “To me, life is a game, literally everything is a game - business, understanding finances … there are rules in place, there are objectives. You can be better at it.”

Good Game Club is hosted by industry leaders Jude Ower MBE, CSO at PlanetPlay, and Mathias Gredal Nørvig, CEO of SYBO.  It is supported by the Dubai Films & Games Commission, Tencent and Xsolla, with the aim of galvanising and inspiring audiences through thought-provoking conversations that help shape a more positive future through the power of games. 

The new Good Game Club episode - Osric Chau | Gaming, Representation and the Power of Play - is released on 8 October 2026 and is available to watch on Good Game Club’s YouTube channel: Good Game Club Podcast - YouTube