International Women’s Day 2024

How did you get into gaming? Was it a slow burn, or were you hooked from the very first load screen? Did you feel welcome in the world of video games, or did you need to climb over an invisible fence to get there? For a long time, games were considered a gendered activity, often reinforced by the titles themselves and the advertising around them.

There are a lot of significant outliers, and many of the games developed specifically for women have done really well. In 1996, Barbie Fashion Designer outsold both Doom and Quake. Fellow Stockholm studio Star Stable boasts 600,000 players per month in their online game marketed to girls. But these games only make up a fraction of the market. Since women represent half of the people worldwide who play games, they can’t only be riding horses in Jorvik.

So why are women still fighting for a voice and validation in the gaming community? This space is built for play, for escape, for entertainment, and yet none of the professional female esports gamers have cracked the top 400 when it comes to earnings. For a truly rude awakening, take a look at the comment section in Circana’s Executive Director’s post disclosing the company’s 2023 statistics about gender distribution within gaming. The angriest comments decree the study false or biased, refusing to believe that 50% of PC gamers aren’t men. Even when faced with hard data, a vocal minority will find a way to discredit women who love games. Not even women who work with games in any capacity. Just people who identify as women trying to have a good time.

Like fences in the real world, the invisible ones around gaming can, and have been, scaled. We took some time to reflect on the boosts that helped us leap over them as our studio prepares for the Women in Games event we’re hosting on International Women’s Day.

Mikaela on our Art Team remembers her parents as active gamers, with her father playing MYST and her mother drawing physical maps of Zelda that were so big that you had to open them on the floor. They were so active, in fact, that her mother’s playthrough of Phantasmagoria scared her off the horror genre entirely, but she found her niche in puzzle and point-and-click titles and a lifelong rivalry with her sister over racing and fighting games.

Fellow artist Sam was also introduced to gaming by her family. She recalls the day her father came home with a handful of floppy discs with random indie games. The thrill of clicking on a random file, not knowing what world would unfold, struck a cord that would only resonate more when playing (and dying) in Double Dragon with her brother and comparing Harvest Moon notes with her sister. But her solo playthrough of TES: Oblivion would change her life forever. As Sam watched the sun set over Niben Bay, she knew she wanted to create something that would invoke the same feeling in others.

On the wordy side of the studio, Sofia, on the Communications Team, thinks back to her computer class in elementary school. They were learning how to type, and if any of the students finished early, they could spend the rest of the class playing The Oregon Trail. At the end of the year, she gained a valuable skill (typing), a new hobby (games), and an imaginary affliction (dysentery). She considers it to be one of the most valuable years of her academic career.

The journey that is gaming started over half a century ago, and steps people like Brenda Laurel took in the 1990s led to the strides being made by the growing organization Women in Games today. We can all continue down this road together. Parents passing down their love and nostalgia for gaming is now on par with reading their own childhood bedtime stories to their kids. Educators can continue to use gaming as a reward and now as a tool with titles developed specifically for learning or extensions of the games students play at home. The world has caught up; games aren’t just recreational – they’re also educational.

Gaming, like all communities, will only benefit from more diversity. More representation. More validation. What it doesn’t need is more hate and bias and bigotry. Let’s learn from past mistakes, whether they be sexist advertisements or #Gamergate. Many different movements are underway, from organized associations like AnyKey and the aforementioned WiG, podcasts like Feminist Frequency, and the gaming MeToo hashtag #1reasonwhy. And don’t underestimate the power of good old-fashioned group chats! Together, we can make the space we all know and love available to anyone who wants to discover the new worlds that live behind their screen.