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#GirlsBehindTheGames is inspiring more women to break into the gaming industry
The past couple of days, Twitter has been blowing up with #GirlsBehindTheGames, a community inspired hashtag for women occupying seats in the gaming industry.
The hashtag has reached a seemingly elusive audience across the globe.
Rarely credited for their influence, women in the gaming world are finally speaking up about their accomplishments in a much more confident fashion, sharing their occupations in OG companies like Bungie and TellTale Games with the world.
https://twitter.com/ObvItsAmy/status/958649903617626114
https://twitter.com/maryknews/status/958725903189606400
Hi #girlsbehindthegames I'm the Lead Technical Artist for the Total War series at Creative Assembly
I work with our artists to help them realise their vision for the game, communicate new art features & improvements to the code team, and write tools to improve art processes
— Jodie Azhar (@JodieAzhar) January 30, 2018
I'm a senior designer @bungie. I've been a designer since 2007 and worked on franchises like Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Destiny. I want my 2018 to involve helping women in tech so don't hesitate to contact me through twitter or my website. #girlsbehindthegames
— Raylene Deck (@raylene_deck) January 31, 2018
Hi! #girlsbehindthegames Figured it was a perfect time to gush over my most favorite game project that I did character and environment art for: #Oxenfree! Great team at @nightschoolers <3 pic.twitter.com/7HuuoUdDRN
— Heathersketcheroos (@heathersketcher) January 31, 2018
I'm a Tools Programmer at Rockstar North, with a focus on animation tools.
I'm a board member for @IGDAScotland working to improve and nurture the Scottish games community.
I'm a STEM ambassador encouraging young people to get into games. #girlsbehindthegames 🎮
— Zoë Sams 🏳️🌈 (@zoegsams) January 30, 2018
#girlsbehindthegames
I'm a Software Engineer at @RareLtd working on @SeaOfThieves! My job involves programming fun new gameplay features. Best part of it is solving interesting and totally unique problems every day ^^— Jessica Baker 🌙✨ (@JessBoneBreaker) January 30, 2018
With so few women in tech compared to men, it’s inspiring to recognize the names of women directors, developers, designers, writers, and so much more behind the scenes of our favorite storylines and cutscenes.
The brains behind the movement is New Zealand based company Runaway. The establishment prides itself on its female hires, with women taking lead of the head leadership positions of Managing Director and Creative Director.
“Staff diversity enables our team to produce games that appeal to a wider audience, inclusive of women, and other marginalized groups. But this kind of recruitment diversity requires a pool of talented girls to join – and be supported to remain in – the games industry.”
The company recently released Flutter VR, an exploring game “unapologetically released for women,” which targets a female audience thorough its soothing explore and discover simulation.
The independent gaming developer said it took the initiative “to inspire more young women to pursue careers in their industry.”
The goal, writes Syfy, is to “collect as many stories as possible between now and International Women’s Day on March 8.”
Their website and Twitter are actively used to share the campaign goals, and they hope to bring as much inspiration and light to the table as possible.
Did you know that 47% of gamers are women and yet women only make up 22% of the game industry workforce? Runaway wants to help improve those numbers by increasing awareness of women in the industry and highlighting the incredible work they do.
The studio was even visited and complimented by New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who called the project “a brilliant thing to do.”
It’s great that women have a platform to discuss and empower one another in a heavily male-dominated industry like gaming. Runaway has brought a wave of change to the internet that has been long overdue.
With such a positive response from the community, women are awakened to the possibilities of their capabilities, and they prove to be endless.