Q.
Are there any areas in which it feels like things haven’t moved forward quickly enough, or perhaps have gone backwards?
“We need more women in decision making roles so that they can help to encourage and inspire
other women to progress” Louise Andrew, d3t
Lauren Kaye: As I said before - it is a shame that some companies are choosing to let go of their DEI teams. I think as well we’re still struggling to bring diverse leadership into the room where decisions are being made particularly with games funding. There are so many women who I know struggling to win funding for their projects. Women with some of the most professional looking decks and vertical slices watching as decision makers put their dollars into what’s “trendy” and then seeing those same companies lose millions when they inevitably fail. It can be very frustrating.
Tara Mustapha: funding for female-founded and marginalised- led game development companies, making it even more challenging for these groups to gain a foothold and succeed in the industry. It is vital that we also see diversity on the investor side, rebalancing the prevalent unconscious bias. I’m continuously impressed by The Games Angels’ action in this regard. to what I presume is everyone’s target of equal numbers of women as men working improvements since the early 2000’s, when women made up just 6% of game developers, but there is still a long way to go and in
Q.
What further steps can organisations take to better support and retain women in the games industry?
28 | MCV/DEVELOP August/September 2024
particular in the more senior roles. According to the 2024 GDC Report, men account for 87% of the ‘decision makers’/game developers with more than 21 years’ experience. This is the area we need to really improve on. We need more women in decision making roles so that they can help to encourage and inspire other women to progress.
Vikki Neale: There is no doubt that there are still too many leadership and senior roles predominantly occupied by men, and so it is slow progress in achieving gender parity at that more senior level. However, I think we are making these strides forward. But of course, this is a systemic issue of the industry not recognising early enough that this was a problem and so it takes time for change to happen.
Tara Mustapha: The issue of harassment and toxic cultures persists, highlighting the urgent need for more robust policies and an industry-wide zero-tolerance approach to such behaviour.
Vikki Neale: What we must ensure is that we are not going backwards, but it certainly doesn’t feel as though we are when I talk to other HR professionals in the industry.
“Organisations have to seek to listen and come to compromises if they
want to bring diverse candidates in” Lauren Kaye, She Plays Games
Lauren Kaye: issues we face can range quite drastically. Diversity is really a culture learnt mindset. You will never truly understand someone else’s situation unless you have lived it yourself and even then you might not have had the same upbringing which could make
Organisations have to seek to listen and come to compromises if they want to bring diverse candidates in. This might be breaking a hiring cycle that’s years long, but companies can’t expect diverse candidates to adapt successfully if they focus on just equality and not equity. Focus on how a person can bond
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