Game Developers Conference in San Francisco seeking to improve women's representation in industry
Improving the representation of women in the video game industry at all levels will be one of the discussions on diversity taking place this week at the 38th edition of the Game Developers Conference at San Francisco's Moscone Center.
Men make up a large majority of developers according to some estimates, but those in key roles around the world say they're seeing progress and finding more ways to increase participation among women.
"It's really important for women to be out there making video games to create a cultural impact for other women," said Laia Bee, the co-founder and CEO of Pincer Games, an independent video game studio in Uruguay. "It's important that women are well represented and they actually look and talk like real women."
The 2024 gathering has an anticipated attendance of more than 30,000 people during the week. GDC organizers say it is the world's largest conference for game industry professionals and enthusiasts focused on the art and science of making video games. The conference will have hundreds of speakers and sessions, including one on the impact of women around the world on the industry. Bee helped to organize the panel, building on a career and passion for gaming she has maintained since she was a child.
"I've been playing video games ever since I remember," Bee told KPIX. "It wasn't until I was a teenager that I actually realized that it was seen as something male-dominated or when I went to the first video game store of my neighborhood, I was the only girl there."
The 2024 State of the Industry survey by GDC and the website Game Developer asked 3,000 professionals a series of questions including about their identity. More than two-thirds of the developers said their gender is male. Bee says that the number of men in the industry only increases outside the U.S. and among leadership roles, women are just 3-5% of those positions. But she sees growth in the time she has worked in gaming and believes it is getting better, not just in terms of the jobs but also of the content.
"We used to have like very little representation and sometimes it was over-sexualized or it was made like to be in the male gaze, instead of something that actually represents us," Bee said.
Part of the need to see more women in the industry is because half of the people playing the games are women, according to Bee. In her role as a CEO and regional leader, she can have an impact on both recruitment and character creation. She is also the president of the Uruguayan Game Developers Association and works to get more women from Latin America on a similar career path with scholarships. Bee is also proud of how they have designed one of their games at her studio to be more inclusive.
"We don't ask you what your gender is so you can just choose the way you want to be perceived," she explained. "And for example, the girl in the tutorial is not a damsel in distress, she's actually helping you and these small little things, I think, that will change the perception of how people see video games and how they perceive the world."
The panel she helped to organize this week at GDC will bring women from Asia, Africa, and Latin America together on one stage. She says it is so important at a time when there is conflict around the world to hear from people about their passions and their dreams through video games. Bee is inspired by what people create globally, in some cases with far fewer resources than other regions.
"Video games actually have the power to change the world in the way we perceive it so yes I think that is super important and that's what keeps me here," she said.
