Overcoming Challenges and Building a More Inclusive Industry

The gaming industry has seen a significant increase in the number of women working in the field over the past few decades. Women are now an important part of the gaming industry, contributing to the development of games, the growth of gaming communities, and the advancement of gaming technology. Despite this progress, women in the gaming industry still face many challenges.

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Women have been involved in gaming since the industry's early days, but they were largely excluded for many years. Women faced challenges and obstacles when they began to enter the industry in the 1990s. One of the biggest challenges faced by women in gaming is the lack of representation. Women are often underrepresented in games, both as playable characters and as game developers. This can limit diversity and creativity in the gaming industry.

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Another challenge is harassment and discrimination, with women in gaming often facing sexist and misogynistic comments and behavior, both online and in the workplace. This issue is particularly relevant for female gamers who may be targeted with abusive messages while playing online games or engaging in gaming communities. One of our podcasts guests for the most recent livestream panel we had in celebration of women’s history month mentioned that she does not feel like using her audio while playing games because her voice can be “not taken seriously.”  

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Lastly, women in gaming often face a lack of support and mentorship, which can impact their career advancement in game development. Fortunately, there are organizations working to empower women in the gaming industry such as Girls Who Code, in which they developed an incredible experience on their website that allows anyone to code, without the background of coding, their characters to look exactly how they want it. This project helps address biases and stereotypes of women in the gaming industry by creating characters that look like themselves or a brand new game character.

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Also, Non-profit organizations like Women in Games are now creating mentorship spaces for women worldwide to join the industry, including those focused on technologies for game development and art. Plus, other developing communities such as hyperPad who strive to empower anyone to pursue their passion in the mobile gaming industry, including those interested in game development, teaching with technology, game art, and code software, including visual basics programming and creating an app to make a game.

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In order to create a more inclusive and diverse gaming industry, it's important to address biases and stereotypes and work towards providing more support and mentorship to women in gaming, including those focused on mobile games. Game developers should strive to create games that are more diverse and inclusive, with more female and non-binary playable characters and more women in leadership positions. Celebrating women in gaming can help inspire and encourage more girls to pursue careers in the industry.

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The gaming industry should provide more support, spaces, and mentorship to women in gaming. By taking steps to increase representation, address harassment and discrimination, and provide more support and mentorship, we can help to create a more diverse and innovative gaming industry. With hyperPad, (powerful visual programming app) anyone can become a developer, no coding experience needed. We strive to create spaces that empower women in gaming, such as the podcast episode celebrating International Women’s Day where six female leaders in the game industry were invited to join a panel where their voices were heard.

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