With International Women’s Day here (March 8) now is the perfect time to acknowledge the women in gaming, a field often considered to be male-dominated.
Entering the industry
Among the women leaving other “more secure” jobs to pursue careers in gaming is a creator of Indian 8Bit Creatives, Krutika Ojha, who commented: “Embracing diversity and inclusion in the gaming industry is a goal that we are constantly striving towards. The gaming industry can tap into a wider pool of talent, ideas, and perspectives, and create games that appeal to a more diverse audience.
“This not only helps to drive the growth of the industry, but it also helps to break down barriers and stereotypes associated with gaming. The push for greater diversity and inclusion in the gaming industry is not only important for women, but for the industry as a whole.”
Meanwhile, Richa Singh, co-founder and CEO of Asian fantasy Esports platform FanClash, has shown that women can lead gaming-focused businesses and grow into key industry players.
Briding the gap
In a Dentsu report late last year, 34 percent of gamers were found to play daily, while 46 percent play weekly across studied markets. The company’s India-specific report has found that 46 percent of gamers in India are now women.
In fact, women’s strides within the gaming industry now encompass many forms; they are programmers, animators, designers, testers, writers and more.
As part of our Women In Games series, we spoke to Ultra head of partnerships Janneke Van Swetselaar, who discussed bridging the gap and working in gaming.
“One of the main challenges was that I had to adjust my messaging in comparison to how my male colleagues would deliver theirs. My male colleagues could give their feedback in quite a direct manner, and would be taken more seriously from the start,” she noted.
And especially for International Womens Day (and continuing all week) we’ve created a series of interviews to co-incide with the annual celebration of women’s achievements all around the world. Stay with us for more.
