Sunday 8th March was International Women’s Day! Whilst it’s formally been around since the early 1900s, many people are only just waking up to its importance thanks to a shift in culture and society.
This year’s theme #EachForEqual is described on the International Women’s Day website as the notion of ‘Collective Individualism’. “We are all parts of a whole. Our individual actions, conversations, behaviours, and mindsets can have an impact on our larger society. Collectively, we can each help to create a gender-equal world.”
Having recently published our Games & Interactive Salary and Satisfaction survey for this year, this is something we can, unfortunately, say needs a lot of work within the Games industry. The ratio of men and women in games isn’t very even and the gender pay gap is disappointingly still present.
Gender equality & diversity in the gaming world is a very hot topic and despite fairly stagnant numbers of women entering the profession over the past four years, there are some amazing women working in the games industry and studios are definitely waking up to the fact that
- Women need to be better represented with the Games and Interactive industries
- Things need to change to ensure women see gaming as a viable career option
This year we’re recognising everything that games studios are doing to celebrate women on IWD, and especially Women in Games!
Bossa
Bossa Studios decided to pose some questions to their team to acknowledge the impact that women have on the work they do. These were sent out in a series of tweets.
“The best thing about working alongside women at Bossa is that my world view has definitely expanded, my way of thinking has changed and I’m far more aware in general of problems that weren’t on my radar”
“Surgeon Simulator 2 wouldn’t be where it is today without the contributions of the women on the team across all disciplines”
“We have several women…that can help provide insight into our game worlds through a female perspective to help create relatable characters from the ground up”
Splash Damage
Splash Damage wanted to go bigger and better than ever before for International Women’s Day this year with a series of activities over the week. These included talks with their team about the percentage of women working in the industry, visits from inspirational women in games (@MandyBZ, @Popelady, @SeaSylphGames), a self-defence class and an on-site manicurist!
nDreams
nDreams celebrated the day with a gathering of several wonderful Women in Games ambassadors
Jagex
Jagex shared a video titled ‘The Women of Jagex’ to celebrate the women who make up their studio
Find their thread of all their amazing women here
Playground
Playground took the opportunity to ask some of their women some interesting questions surrounding International Women’s Day and Women in Games. Read more about these on their Instagram page
"[International Women's Day is] a chance to take stock of how far we've come; to learn, listen and inspire. I'll be celebrating the amazing women in my life...It's an awesome feeling."
- Rebecca at Playground
Creative Assembly
Creative Assembly celebrated IWD by holding a big event for everyone at the studio. There were beers, badges and the chance to come together to share ideas.
Other studios took International Women’s Day as the opportunity to share the love for all the amazing women that work for them
Team17
Fusebox Games
However you are celebrating International Woman’s Day, it is important to remember why we’re doing it. In an industry where people are passionate about creating the best, most relatable games and experiences, surely the key is a diverse and interesting pool of talent, where everyone is represented?
If you’re doing something to celebrate International Woman’s Day you’d like to shout about, please contact me and we’ll include you in our roundup!
If you're a woman who's going to be graduating from a Games or Interactive related course this year, you can take part in our celebration of Women In Games for International Women's Day!
We're offering a free CV and/or portfolio review from our games team to give you the best head start for getting into the industry once you graduate. Find out more about how to get involved here!
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