Where are all the female game developers?

Elke Schneider 2017

47% of video game players are female $2.462 Billion = Australian total digital games

industry value (traditional retail + digital sales) > $100 Billion = World

games market ~10% workers in game

industry are female Game industry is

dominated by white men under the age of 45

1. Female game characters are overwhelmingly negatively represented

2. There are too few female main game characters

3. Female gamers are harassed4. Female game designers/developers are

uncommon

Damsel in distress Traditional gender roles

‘women as decoration’

Sexual objectification

Revealing clothing & unrealistic body images

Violence against women

Decrease empathy for female violence victims

GTA, Assassin’s Creed II, Far Cry 3, The Witcher, Red Dead Redemption

A plot device in which a female character is placed in a perilous situation from which she cannot escape on her own and must be rescued by a male character, usually providing a core incentive or motivation for the protagonist’s quest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6p5AZp7r_Q

ONLY 6 games at the E3 2016 event featured female playable characters (main character)

Mass Effect:Andromeda (Ryder)

Horizon Zero Dawn (Aloy)

Dishonored 2 (Emily Kaldwin)

ReCore (Joule)

Bound

Battlefield 1

Ubisoft - Assassin’s Creed: Unity Too much extra work!

DICE – Battlefield 1 Female soldiers are not to the core

audience of boys – risk alienating young male gamers

Nintendo – Zelda: Breath of the Wild Stick to original game plan

If Princess Zelda is the character, then what will Link do?

Not In The Kitchen Anymorehttp://www.notinthekitchenanymore.com/ (Not for young viewers)

• Jaw dropping examples of online female gamer harassment, including violent threats

• Microsoft responds after outcry on social media

Females in IT

Why is it so difficult to encourage females to the IT industry?

Cultural stereotypes, harassment (at work & online), co-worker negativity, bias

#Gamergate

Threats towards Zoe Quinn (game developer)

Quinn was ‘doxed’ & relentlessly harassed

Jane McGonigal – inspirational female in IT Robin Hunicke – worked on Journey & now

co-founder of Funomena

Laments that media questions revolve around her gender and not her work

Lisette Titre – game designer; art director Elizabeth Sampat – award-winning game

designer (Subway Surfers, Plants vs Zombies 2, Ghost

Recon & more)