Gaming & Gender

A brief overview of some of the issues related to gaming and gender (forms part of a talk to students)

1. Gaming & Gender Where are all the female game developers? Elke Schneider 2017

2. Stats 47% of video game players are female $2.462 Billion = Australian total digital games industry value (traditional retail + digital sales) > $100 Billion = World games market ~10% workers in game industry are female Game industry is dominated by white men under the age of 45

3. 47% female gamers and yet… Female game characters are overwhelmingly negatively represented There are too few female main game characters Female gamers are harassed Female game designers/developers are uncommon

4. 1. Female representation in games Damsel in distress Traditional gender roles ‘women as decoration’ Sexual objectification Revealing clothing & unrealistic body images Violence against women Decrease empathy for female violence victims GTA, Assassin’s Creed II, Far Cry 3, The Witcher, Red Dead Redemption

5. Search: Female Game Characters

6. Search: Male Game Characters

7. Damsel in Distress A plot device in which a female character is placed in a perilous situation from which she cannot escape on her own and must be rescued by a male character, usually providing a core incentive or motivation for the protagonist’s quest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6p5AZp7r_Q

8. Women as Background Decoration (NOT for young viewers) https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i_RPr9DwMA

9. 2. Female Playable Characters ONLY 6 games at the E3 2016 event featured female playable characters (main character) Mass Effect:Andromeda (Ryder) Horizon Zero Dawn (Aloy) Dishonored 2 (Emily Kaldwin) ReCore (Joule) Bound Battlefield 1

10. Reasons cited for not including female playable characters Ubisoft - Assassin’s Creed: Unity Too much extra work! DICE – Battlefield 1 Female soldiers are not to the core audience of boys – risk alienating young male gamers Nintendo – Zelda: Breath of the Wild Stick to original game plan If Princess Zelda is the character, then what will Link do?

11. 3. Female gamers Not In The Kitchen Anymore http://www.notinthekitchenanymore.com / (Not for young viewers) Jaw dropping examples of online female gamer harassment, including violent threats Microsoft responds after outcry on social media

12. 4. Where are the female game developers? Females in IT Why is it so difficult to encourage females to the IT industry? Cultural stereotypes, harassment (at work & online), co-worker negativity, bias # Gamergate Threats towards Zoe Quinn (game developer) Quinn was ‘doxed’ & relentlessly harassed

13. The Smurfette Principle

14. Female Game Developers Jane McGonigal – inspirational female in IT Robin Hunicke – worked on Journey & now co-founder of Funomena Laments that media questions revolve around her gender and not her work Lisette Titre – game designer; art director Elizabeth Sampat – award-winning game designer (Subway Surfers, Plants vs Zombies 2, Ghost Recon & more)

15. Imagine! What if ‘No Man’s Sky’ was developed by female game developers?

16. @elketeaches