Women in Game Development
Building a More Inclusive Game Industry
The number of women working in the gaming industry has grown significantly over the past few decades. Women are now an important part of the industry. They develop games, grow gaming communities, and advance gaming technology. Despite this progress, women in the gaming industry still face many challenges.
Women have been involved in gaming since the industry's early days, but for many years they were largely excluded. When more women began to enter the industry in the 1990s, they faced challenges and obstacles. One of the biggest is the lack of representation. Women are often underrepresented in games, both as playable characters and as game developers. That can limit diversity and creativity across the industry.
Harassment and discrimination are another challenge. Women in gaming often face sexist and misogynistic comments and behavior, both online and in the workplace. This hits female gamers especially hard, since they may be targeted with abusive messages while playing online or taking part in gaming communities. One of the guests on our most recent livestream panel, held for Women's History Month, said she avoids using her mic while gaming because her voice may be "not taken seriously."
Women in gaming also often lack support and mentorship, which can hold back their careers in game development. Fortunately, organizations are working to support women in the gaming industry. One is Girls Who Code. Its website lets anyone, with no coding background, code a character that looks exactly the way they want. The project helps challenge biases and stereotypes about women in gaming, because people can create characters that look like themselves, or a brand new game character.
Non-profits for Women in Games
Non-profit organizations like Women in Games are creating mentorship spaces that help women worldwide join the industry, including women focused on game development technology and art. Growing communities like hyperPad also help anyone pursue their passion in the mobile gaming industry, whether that's game development, teaching with technology, game art, or learning the basics of visual programming by making a game.
To build a more inclusive and diverse gaming industry, we need to address biases and stereotypes and give women in gaming more support and mentorship, including women who focus on mobile games. Game developers should aim to make games more diverse and inclusive, with more female and non-binary playable characters, and to put more women in leadership positions. Celebrating women in gaming can inspire more girls to pursue careers in the industry.
The gaming industry should give women more support, space, and mentorship. By increasing representation and addressing harassment and discrimination, we can help create a more diverse and innovative gaming industry. hyperPad is a visual programming app, so anyone can become a developer, with no coding experience needed. We work to create spaces for women in gaming, like the podcast episode for International Women's Day, where six female leaders in the game industry joined a panel and shared their experiences.
Use this example as context for the next decision in your Project. Check current event or product details, then test the idea in a small playable build before changing the larger workflow.
