A Birmingham company is answering a call to Christian ministry through the development of video games, and it is also currently in an expansion mode.
Intelligent Media & Design (IMD), a nonprofit video game publishing company that writes and develops Bible-focused video games for both child and adult users, is growing partnerships in the metro area and beyond.
IMD was founded in 2018 by Drayton Cosby, who grew up in Alabama and has experience in lobbying, business development, investment and service advising. Cosby founded IMD as a response to the calling he felt to spread the Bible.
IMD’s offices have been in the Innovation Depot, a local tech startup incubator space, for the last five years. Cosby expanded IMD’s operations into a larger office in the Depot in 2023, upgrading from 650 square feet to 1,300 square feet of space.
“It’s humbling and awesome to be a part of a project that is focused on delivering the Bible in an innovative way,” Cosby said. “We’re in Birmingham, a place that is not known for developing a workforce in video game development, and we continue to make progress."
IMD’s flagship release, The Anointed franchise, is an action-adventure game based on David, one of God’s chosen shepherds, who is crowned as King of the Hebrew people. According to the IMD website, the games in this series are “dedicated to telling stories of the Bible’s mightiest heroes through gameplay, cinematography and scripture.”
The partial release of this series consists of three levels and around three hours of game play. Cosby said The Anointed games have reached over 40,000 downloads throughout over 130 countries.
Though the games can be played by any user 4 years old and above, Cosby said IMD’s main target audience is adolescents aged 13 to 18 because of the popularity of video games and prevalence of mental health issues in this age group.
“We not only want them (young learners) to hear God’s voice through His Word, but be able to comprehend it better, so that when they face upcoming trials, they are equipped to overcome challenges,” Cosby said. “There is so much fear and depression and teenagers, in particular, are committing suicide at record numbers and leaving the church. We want them to know we are fighting for them every minute of the day.”
Cosby said he is looking to expand his team at IMD, hoping to add four more internal positions and double the game development team by adding seven more people, over the next two years.
IMD is partnering with local churches and ministries, as well as the Birmingham Barons at its nights dedicated to faith and family, to share the game with more members of the community. IMD's leaders will also be attending ForwardCon and Motion Conference, two of the largest youth ministry events in the country.
“We hope that young learners understand that God seeks their attention, and I believe that’s why we are assigned to this project,” Cosby said. “There are so many distractions and video games are far and away the most popular. We still have some work to do, but we are grateful for where we are."
