About two weeks ago, I had the privilege to attend the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC) through an opportunity at work. For those who may not be familiar with the annual gaming conference, GDC is the largest gathering of professional game developers. But rather than the industry trade show feel of E3, GDC’s focus is on comparing techniques, sharing professional advice, networking, educating, and collaborating to advance the state of the gaming industry. While I didn’t have as much of a chance to browse the show floor as I would have liked, I did get the opportunity to attend a good number of panels on a variety of topics from player-centric monetization strategies to a roundtable on game narrative design to advice on how to build up a strong game writing portfolio. After a fortunate turn of events, I was also able to attend the “#1ReasontoBe” panel, a panel inspired by the hashtag of the same name (and #1ReasonWhy) devoted to sharing the stories of women in the gaming industry, describing the experiences they’ve had (particularly in this turbulent past few months), and inspiring everyone within the industry to create a future where games can be inclusive for all.
Although I didn’t get to see all the panels that were on my “wish list,” it wouldn’t be difficult to argue that the “#1ReasontoBe” panel was undoubtedly one of the most impactful and moving discussions of the week. The panel, which was hosted by Brenda Romero, featured a number of women working different positions within the industry all hoping to use their stories to help create a more diverse and welcoming industry. Needless to say, many of the stories touched on what barriers the women had encountered when trying work in games: harassment, doxxing, threats made against family members, and even professionals and teachers discouraging them to pursue games and technology. Every snippet was moving and offered a different insight into the overall picture of what it’s like to be a woman working in an industry often plagued by sexism and discrimination, with one particular moment standing out amongst the others: the Empty Chair segment. Led by Brenda Romero, this segment highlighted the stories of women who, generally due to fear or pressure from their workplace, were unable to tell their stories or were silenced. A few examples, displayed silently on the television screens, included comments like “I can’t talk. My company won’t let me,” “I got criticized for my ‘radical feminist’ views because I asked if we could have a playable female character in our game,” and “I don’t draw attention to my femininity in order to survive as a developer. I disguise it with tomboyish behavior and silliness. I am neither.”
These stories, and those told by some the women part on the panel, told were saddening. Hosts and audience members alike fought back tears and sniffles. It wasn’t hard to see why: a very bleak image could be painted from some of these horror stories. So when Amy Hennig, Senior Creative Director for EA Games and former script writer and director for the Uncharted series, came up to the microphone and admitted that, in her many years of working for games, she had experienced little of the discouraging, negative side of the industry and that she felt game communities’ negativity was often over-advertised, I was more than a little surprised. After all, wasn’t this panel all about exposure?
Originally a filmmaker, Amy Hennig described that the worst of what she’d experienced as a woman in both games and film was the disparity between the number of men and women in both industries and the “bro” culture that was the result of this. She admitted to almost always having supportive male mentors and colleagues who were incredibly willing to help her advance and grow her career, and that she virtually never experienced harassment and the types of experiences the other women on the panel described. At first I felt unsure of how to react to the things she was saying; I was a little off-put and even slightly betrayed. Was she insinuating that the hostility towards women and other minorities in the industry was overhyped or aggrandized? That these tales were outliers? That were were drawing too much attention to them?
But the more I listened to Hennig’s speech and the more I thought back to the Empty Chair narratives, the more I came to understand what she was talking about. Although many of them were from women who were within the industry and afraid to speak out, I kept imagining what kind of stories might exist from other women who may be looking to enter the industry or wanted to join the industry but are or were too intimidated by these stories to try and join. Hennig wanted to stress that these negative elements – the harassment, the exclusion, the derogatory remarks left in the comments section that even she admitted to having to deal with from time to time (mostly “go make me a sandwich,” according to her) – are not what makes the gaming industry, and that there is a separation between the industry and all the creativity and innovation that it stands for, and the gaming community. She describes the gaming industry as a “shining castle,” an ideal workspace where her “dreams and imagination have no limit.” But surrounding that castle is a thicket of thorns – the toxic, problematic, pro-GamerGate culture that pervades the gaming community. She stresses that this – and the exposure these behaviors are getting – is what is deterring women from entering the industry and the real barrier possibly scaring women away.
I cannot argue with what Amy Hennig has gone through, and she’s certainly got more experience being a woman in the industry than I do. I don’t personally believe that the industry itself is completely free of sexism and GamerGate ideologies, nor do I think that silencing the stories of women in the industry experiencing these problematic things will help convince more women to join the industry. But I do agree that the industry can certainly be a fantastical castle – an outlet for a great deal of creativity and a method of exploring topics or ideas that may be difficult to do without the interactive medium. Much like the #1ReasonToBe panel did, it’s important to present both sides; to maintain a balance between exposing the hard realities that sometimes arise from being a women in games and revealing just what makes working on games so worth it – the #1ReasonToBe.
