Workplace Harrasment
A lot is going on in terms of workplace harassment in the gaming community. But before we talk about the actual harassment that women are facing, I want to talk about the statistics and demographics of women in the industry. To do this I am using the international game developers association (idga) because they have done countless studies on the topic.
There is a trend within the gaming industry that can be seen quite easily in the graphic from idga. Female developers only make up 22% within the industry. Whereas men make up 76%, and you may be thinking about a few things. First and foremost you may be thinking ‘well if that is who gets hired what is the problem’ or ‘maybe they are not good enough to get hired’. But those things are not the case at all. Because males dominate a vast majority of core content creation roles it leads to disparity in games because men are making content purely for the male gamer. Female developers are just as worthy as men to be hired. Women with the same credentials as their male counterparts are not being hired because their gender is female. But what roles do females have?
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Because males dominate a vast majority of core content creation roles it leads to disparity in games because men are making content purely for the male gamer. A groundbreaking report done by Cecilia D’Anastasio about Riot games in 2018 showed how women are treated in the industry. A quote from her article stuck with me “I’ve seen myself argue endlessly for the value of something, and for that thing to never be taken seriously until a man or a player said it”. Within the gaming industry, many see women as not being of value. Women do not have the voice that they deserve. Riot almost hired a woman because the hiring officer thought she had posted her nudes online. The women posted emails from the man on her reddit post which included this “Just had to say it because you posted the Nidalee pics again, that body is absolutely impeccable. Beauty, brilliance, and witty, easiest hire I ever made. I had to fight to hire you because there was a rumor you had posted nude pics on some site. (I have to admit, I tried like hell to find them)”. In the Riot report by D’Anastasio, there were many situations similar to this mentioned such as a woman who once found out she was a part of a list made by senior leaders that mentioned people they would want to sleep with. There is a disgusting culture within the gaming industry. How they treat women behind closed doors and ‘inclusion policies’ needs to be talked about.
Most gaming companies have ‘inclusion’ policies, however, many times those policies are not held to a standard. But what is an inclusion policy in regards to the gaming industry? Well, they can vary but on a baseline, they include something that involves having a zero-tolerance policy on discrimination and harassment in regards to gender, race or sexuality. Many gaming companies have these, however, they are not enforced. We know this because of all the things that happen within the workplace. Men that are considered ‘high profile’ within the industry have been accused of sexual assault and harrasment as well. In an article written by Kevin Webb, he mentions recent cases where women have accused men of sexual harassment. Some of the men mentioned include; Jeremey Soule a long time composer for Elder Scrolls, Night in the Woods developer Alec Holowka, and Alexis Kenedy CEO of Failbetter Games. There are not many statistics on sexual harassment in the workplace of game companies. This is mainly due to fear, or the signing of NDAs (Non-disclosure agreements). It is not uncommon to read stories of men who used their power to gain advantages over women.
Riot games, in particular, had a lawsuit filed against them. The suit explained that Riot had paid women less and that the company supports a ‘bro-culture’ mentality. The suit also mentions that the ‘Bro-culture’ made the workplace uncomfortable for women. The article by Ben Miller also mentions that Riot Games has a workforce of around 2,500 and is reportedly composed, 80 percent men. Within the industry, women are belittled, seen as not having as much ‘gamer cred’, and are harassed. This ‘gamer-cred’ I mentioned is seen a lot in the industry and was talked about in the Kotaku report by Cecilia D’Anastasio who I mentioned above. When in the process of hiring, many women were often interrogated and questioned more heavily than men on whether or not they were a gamer. So much so that when being questioned they were often fact-checked and a lot of times turned down. The problem like mentioned in this article by Bonnie Ruberg it that it is a sexist concept because men don’t go around trying to establish other men's ‘gamer-cred’ it is almost purely done to women. There is a gender disparity in the gaming industry but what is more-so important is the harassment and abuse that women face. Women deserve to be paid the same for the same jobs, they deserved to be hired, and they deserve to go to work without worry of being harassed by their employers and colleagues.
Most gaming companies have ‘inclusion’ policies, however, many times those policies are not held to a standard. But what is an inclusion policy in regards to the gaming industry? Well, they can vary but on a baseline, they include something that involves having a zero-tolerance policy on discrimination and harassment in regards to gender, race or sexuality. Many gaming companies have these, however, they are not enforced. We know this because of all the things that happen within the workplace. Men that are considered ‘high profile’ within the industry have been accused of sexual assault and harrasment as well. In an article written by Kevin Webb, he mentions recent cases where women have accused men of sexual harassment. Some of the men mentioned include; Jeremey Soule a long time composer for Elder Scrolls, Night in the Woods developer Alec Holowka, and Alexis Kenedy CEO of Failbetter Games. There are not many statistics on sexual harassment in the workplace of game companies. This is mainly due to fear, or the signing of NDAs (Non-disclosure agreements). It is not uncommon to read stories of men who used their power to gain advantages over women.
Riot games, in particular, had a lawsuit filed against them. The suit explained that Riot had paid women less and that the company supports a ‘bro-culture’ mentality. The suit also mentions that the ‘Bro-culture’ made the workplace uncomfortable for women. The article by Ben Miller also mentions that Riot Games has a workforce of around 2,500 and is reportedly composed, 80 percent men. Within the industry, women are belittled, seen as not having as much ‘gamer cred’, and are harassed. This ‘gamer-cred’ I mentioned is seen a lot in the industry and was talked about in the Kotaku report by Cecilia D’Anastasio who I mentioned above. When in the process of hiring, many women were often interrogated and questioned more heavily than men on whether or not they were a gamer. So much so that when being questioned they were often fact-checked and a lot of times turned down. The problem like mentioned in this article by Bonnie Ruberg it that it is a sexist concept because men don’t go around trying to establish other men's ‘gamer-cred’ it is almost purely done to women. There is a gender disparity in the gaming industry but what is more-so important is the harassment and abuse that women face. Women deserve to be paid the same for the same jobs, they deserved to be hired, and they deserve to go to work without worry of being harassed by their employers and colleagues.