Women quitting the games industry over harassment is a "real shame," according to Kate Edwards. She is the executive director of the International Game Developers Association, a non-profit group that advocates for developers big and small across the world. It's a significant responsibility, and one she doesn't take lightly. That's the impression I got when I sat down with Edwards recently for a wide-ranging interview about several hot-button industry issues making headlines in 2015.
Below are highlights from our conversation, covering topics like the the aforementioned harassment some women are facing, the need for developers to take risks, and more.
Harassment of Women: "A Real Shame"
The IGDA partnered with chip-maker Intel earlier this year as part of the company's $300 million effort to increase efforts to hire women and minorities in the wake of the firm's controversial decision to pull an advertisement due to pressure from the "Gamergate" movement. Edwards says she's quite proud of Intel's campaign and looks forward to working with the company on the inclusivity effort.
"Obviously, there was a big deal made with our partnership with Intel, which we're very proud about. And I think what Intel did, their move, which I really applauded them for, was not just about--'Let's just remedy our mistake,'" Edwards said. "[Brian Krzanich], the CEO, he is very serious that it's not just about covering our ass with this one mistake. [He said], 'We're going to change this situation not just for the game industry but the entire tech sector,' and I thought that was a very bold move for them. I'm hoping other companies follow suit because it's not just one company's problem."
So in our partnership with them, we're focusing on areas of primarily looking at acquisition and retention as two key areas that we need to focus on in the industry. And with acquisition, part of that is going to be developing a better pipeline; there's a lot of STEM programs out there for girls, there's a lot of even game STEM programs for girls, and people of color. How do we get that better connected with the actual industry track, like how you get into the industry? It's one thing to expose them to it. How do you actually bridge that from exposure to education to actual entry into the industry? And so we're talking with different partners about how we can make that happen, implementing programs and have a better on-ramp to a game industry career."
Talking specifically about harassment towards women in the video game industry, Edwards said she's heard stories of women who have simply walked out of the games business and took another job in the technology sector to avoid the abuse. That's a "real shame," Edwards said.
"So when we're talking about retention issues, of course one of the major retention issues, especially in light of the last few months, is harassment and how do you deal with that," she explained. "Everyone has a different fortitude with how they deal with it. I know a lot of women I speak with in the industry, they see that happening, they've been part of it, they've been targeted by it, and they're just like, ‘I don't need this. I can go get a job … I can still be a programmer, just not in games. I can go work for some IT company, have a good job, and will never have to deal with this stuff.' And that's a real shame. We don't want to see that happen."
As part of the IGDA's effort to combat such issues, it's working with organizations like the anti-bullying group Cybersmile and mental health advocacy group TakeThis to provide resources to game developers.
"So there's different organizations like the Cybersmile group that specializes in online bullying, and there's groups like TakeThis which is focused mainly on mental health issues," Edwards said. "So we're trying to better partner with them because we, in our role, we interface with so many developers worldwide. We can act as a resource center so they can come to us and help them to say, 'Here's what you can get if you have this need go to these folks.' If we can't provide it, then we're going to partner with someone who can. And obviously we're not trying to retread the wheel. If we can be a coordinating group that brings together different resources that developers can leverage, then that's what we're going to do."
"Sequel-itis"
Clearly, there is money to be made by releasing sequels--and there is nothing inherently wrong sequels or making money. But all the same, "sequel-itis" is a potential problem, Edwards says.
"One of the big things we need to be careful of is being risk-averse. It's understandable why an industry would be risk-averse because they want to maintain revenue flow. And that's why we keep seeing sequel-itis. Not that that's necessarily always a bad thing because sometimes these sequels are good; they're good, compelling games. So I'm not knocking that strategy. It's just that, going back to the idea of advancing game design and advancing the craft and providing the public with something they've never seen before, we have the opportunity to do that. Just like film does it. Film has been around for over 100 years; you think you've seen everything, and then some movie will come out one year and it blows your mind."
I interject here, saying I thought Birdman was an example of this. Edwards agrees.
There is a lot more by clicking the link http://www.gamespot.com/articles/women-leaving-games-over-harassment-is-a-real-sham/1100-6426465/
