"Thank you Mario! But our Princess is in another castle!" - Toad

Women and their influence on the Gaming Industry.

Namaste.

There's a stereotype that women don't play games, but it couldn't be further from the truth. Nearly half of the gamers are women, but if we look at the proportion of female workers in the gaming industry, it's a weighty difference. A game developer survey in 2021 found that 61 percent of responding game developers were men, while 30 percent were women.

Like other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, women are highly underrepresented in the workforce of the video game industry. Women are less likely to see themselves represented in games, working in game design and development roles. They’re less likely to pursue a degree or career, because they don’t feel like they belong.

Many women dropped out of gaming majors at the time and were intimidated by the serious threats that emerged during the height of the crisis. For many women working in games, sexual harassment online and offline has become commonplace, pay gaps persist, and toxic work culture is widespread. Many women on Twitch have experienced a lot of discrimination and outright harassment.

An amount of universities frame video game design and development courses in ways to encourage diversity and certainly it justifies only when the gaming companies are forthcoming in support of the education. Globally, the top studios are making sure that there is a healthy ratio of women in their team.

A lot of applications from female game designers and coders, that were coming into game design but fewer in coding and far more in content creation. More like a creative discipline not just a technical one. With more female developers creating games behind the scenes and women themselves joining up as players, a changing mindset towards women in the world of gaming is starting to emerge.

"It's all about bringing ideas to Life."

It can be hard for women to break into the video games industry no matter what part of the business they’d like to be in. Yet, there are many women who have made an impact on the industry. Women are now at the forefront of developing women-themed designs, graphics and lead characters, breaking gender stereotypes and establishing a leading presence in the industry. Many women are directly responsible for creating some of the most popular titles of the past and present.

Centipede [1981]

Portal [2007]

Uncharted [2007]

Journey [2012] (One of my favourite games)

Tomb Raider [2013]

Niche [2016]

Animal Crossing: New Horizons [2020]

We make better games when people from different backgrounds bring their unique perspective and creativity to the table.

Lemme know your thoughts in the comments. See ya!

Jai Hind.