Liquid Swords x Women in Games

If you’ve visited Stockholm, you’ll know that its central square is divisive. Love it or hate it, Sergels Torg is a staple of Sweden’s capital. It features an illuminated glass obelisk, the imposing Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, a quintessential example of 60s brutalism, and a sunken plaza popular with pigeons and protesters alike. This is also where the outwardly unassuming SPACE is located.

As its name suggests, SPACE is a fantastic space. It has living ceilings, an immersive 500-seat auditorium, and enough gaming capacity to keep even the most dedicated Dota team happy. On September 23, it played host to one of the Stockholm gaming industry’s flagship events of 2023. Organized by Women in Games, through its official ambassador, Paula Manrique, the event promised to be a destination for gaming, networking and women's empowerment. In other words, it was an event that Liquid Swords was proud to back as the main sponsor.

Women in Games (WIG) was founded in 2009 when women only accounted for 6% of the video games industry workforce. A figure that had risen to 22% by 2020, despite women making up half of all gamers worldwide. The organization is grassroots and promotes its work and activities through social media and community channel spaces. WIG seeks to tackle harassment and discrimination in the workplace and create a safe network for the exchange of information and mutual support.

Summarised best by WIG, ‘We believe that getting more women into games and esports should be framed as a national, international and strategic priority, a business case for stronger teams, better insights, innovative new products. We believe in more people, more diversity, and more perspectives.’

On Saturday, September 23, Liquid Swords gathered at SPACE with 500 peers, predominantly from Sweden’s vibrant gaming industry. After all the excitement of welcomes, familiar faces, old friends, and LinkedIn-booked meetups, we assembled in SPACE’s world-class auditorium for the key part of the evening: a round table with some of the industry’s female voices covering disciplines from leadership to production to music. Our favorite moment came from DICE Studio Sound Director Lydia Andrew, who joked that despite working on, playing, and knowing everything about Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, she still had no idea how the game had been made!

We won’t deny that this event was an excellent opportunity for our adolescent studio to get out there and meet some folks in a real-life setting. But more importantly, we got to play an active role in supporting causes that go to the very core of our studio, who we are, and what we want to continue being. As we’ve discussed, a huge part of the Liquid Swords’ formula is zero-nonsense game development. This means killing the buzzwords and practicing what we preach.

When we say we’re an equal opportunities employer, we mean it. But rather than sit back with loud statements but little action, we want to be a part of the change we want to see. We’ve touched on some of this before with our family-friendly work and benefits, ensuring we set everyone up for success before they’ve even walked through the door, and our commitment to open conversations and listening to the voices in our studio.

WIG at SPACE was an event we were honored to be part of, and if this becomes an annual occurrence, one you’ll see us at next year. We’re a studio in our early days, but we’re committed to shaping the future of this industry and being a leader who shows there is a better way of doing things. As we grow, we won’t sit idly by and say nothing; we’ll use our influence for good to try to make a difference with the tiny bit of reach we’ve been afforded. Watch this space: welcome to our world.

Photo credit: Stephanie Lindgren