In 2015, a developer survey from the International Game Developers Association found that 22% of respondents identified as women. Almost a decade later, in a similar survey by GDC, the figure had increased only slightly to 25%.
But even if the percentages have barely shifted, have things improved for women working in the industry over the past decade, especially since the dark days of the Gamergate era? GamesIndustry.biz spoke to some of the sector’s most influential women about how they’ve seen attitudes change and – crucially – what steps are still needed to encourage and retain female talent.
Frankie Ward (freelance presenter for gaming and esports)
“I think in the general gaming sense, Gamergate still felt fresh in everyone’s minds,” says Frankie Ward about 2015, when she was producing coverage of the League of Legends Worlds Quarter-Finals for the BBC. Ward has openly written about the mental toll the gaming industry has taken on her and about the challenges of being a woman in esports, highlighting how she faced comments regarding her appearance, problematic language, and loneliness.
Ward says it used to be common to see all-male presenter line-ups at esports events, even if there were several women’s teams for games like Counter-Strike. She thinks there’s far more female visibility now than a decade ago, but challenges remain. “Resisting our presence in games, or having an idealised idea of how a woman should appear in a game, is being pushed to the forefront by algorithms that bait for engagement and don’t tell the full story,” Ward says.
“As for esports, I have seen a couple of fully male line-ups on broadcast recently, but they are very much the exception. Just look at a Valorant VCT broadcast to see women leading how stories are told on screen. However, it is still hard – maybe even harder – to be vocal as a woman. There’s a fear of cancellation, being seen as difficult for sharing your opinion and that you might risk business relationships. This makes it hard to try and enforce positive change.”
Ward, who has had two children since 2022, also thinks the industry needs to consider how to make the environment more viable for working mothers.
“Typically, I’m given very little notice before jobs, which means childcare can be an issue”
Frankie Ward
“I have experienced being heavily pregnant on camera and having to work out my own schedule to make sure I wasn’t working 16-hour days,” she explains. “Typically, I’m given very little notice before jobs, which means childcare can be an issue too. Men become fathers, miss one event and head back to work. Women become mothers and then don’t know if they can miss an event for fear of not making a return.
“I was scriptwriting for a client five days after my first baby was born, and after my second, I was doing a sponsored stream two weeks after she was born. I have pumped breast milk on camera on multiple shows while hosting or doing interviews because there hasn’t been time for me to do it before going live or during – or even to eat, so I’d be producing milk and working on an extreme calorie deficit. It’s been my choice to work, and I’m grateful for those opportunities, but I also wonder how many jobs I am not considered for because I’ve ‘taken it easier’ after my second child and am not as visible.”
Brenda Romero (CEO and game director, Romero Games)
A decade ago, game designer Brenda Romero had recently moved to Galway in Ireland with her husband John Romero to set up Romero Games. “I recall a sense of optimism then,” she says.
“During those ten years, we managed to put into place a lot of family and people-friendly policies, like fully paid maternity leave, menstrual wellness leave, a clothing allowance, and menopause leave,” Romero continues. “On the game side, studios, including ours, were getting things funded, and there seemed to be money for niche games, too, provided their budgets were small.
“At the same time, marginalized folks in the industry were just coming through Gamergate. That was a horrible time for many. While it galvanized marginalized devs to support one another loudly and proudly, it also caused a lot of people to leave the industry. We still feel the waves of Gamergate today.”
When asked if she’s noted changes in the last decade, Romero says it’s “been a pendulum.”
“I felt as if substantial progress had been made over the last ten years,” she says. “However, the current political climate has made conversations around the importance of diversity, equality, and inclusivity a lightning rod. We’re based in Europe, where these protections are still viewed favourably and protected, but since the game industry is so US-centric, one cannot avoid the conversations. “
“I think at this point, the one thing the industry needs more than anything is jobs,” Romero says. “Regardless of gender.”
Alison Lacy (COO, Radical Forge)
“When I arrived, there were about six women there, including me,” recalls Alison Lacy of her first stint working in the games industry, at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe in the early 2010s. “My general experience was super positive, pretty much everyone I worked alongside was a wonderful colleague, and I was made to feel really welcome.
“Sadly, there was one individual who did not seem to understand how to behave appropriately, and to my deep disappointment, inappropriate and frankly unacceptable behaviour (thankfully not directed at me) was generally swept under the rug, despite complaints and so-called investigations. This contributed to my decision to move out of the industry, but it definitely wasn’t the main reason. The key factor for me was that I couldn’t see a clear pathway to develop my career, and I wasn’t sure that the industry was sufficiently stable.”
Lacy returned to the games industry in 2020 and feels things have changed “somewhat for the better,” but highlights that the “stability situation has only gotten worse.”
“There does seem to be a lot more discussion about diversity of all kinds, which is great, as well as more avenues for support and mentorship for women,” she explains. “Certainly, in the studios I’ve worked in since returning, I haven’t experienced any sexism or harassment, but I was disappointed that the gender split hadn’t moved on very much, particularly in engineering roles and roles at a senior level.
“Even though there are some incredible women in leading roles right now, there certainly aren’t enough, and I also get the feeling we’re lacking a solid pipeline in terms of how many women are coming through organisations who we would want to be in leadership roles in five years’ time.
“The prevailing archetype of the ‘creative genius’ or ‘strong leader’ in games is still solidly male”
Alison Lacy
“I feel we still have a long way to go as an industry in terms of good working practices, commercial acumen, clever organisational design, budgets for learning and development and ultimately properly diverse teams – we’re still really immature.
“I would also note that the prevailing archetype of the ‘creative genius’ or ‘strong leader’ in games is still solidly male and generally allowed to behave any way they like. Although I am seeing signs of this changing.”
Lacy believes those in power need to walk the walk, rather than simply talk the talk. “I would like to know whether men in senior leadership positions truly think that encouraging and retaining more women matters,” Lacy says. “Of course I know some that do, but I haven’t seen a huge amount of evidence that it’s being proactively pursued at a strategic level in studios – and until those who have the power to effect change do understand or accept the extent to which a more diverse workforce and leadership could impact their businesses I don’t think we’ll see any greater pace of change.”
Kimberley Turner (co-CEO, Double Eleven)
When Kimberley Turner started in the games industry, she felt “there weren’t really any women at all, or very few women.”
“I used to joke that games industry conferences were the only time men would end up queueing for the toilet instead of women,” Turner recalls. But she believes the industry has “changed a lot in recent years”. “The number of female attendees at industry conferences has skyrocketed from what it was previously, which is really wonderful to see.”
“More broadly, the industry is far better at recognising and celebrating women. Most events ensure a diverse range of both men and women now speaking and teaching, and setting a great example for those to come. Of course, there’s always more to do, but the progress made so far suggests a significant shift in the last decade.”
However, Turner believes that to encourage and retain more women, especially younger talent, the industry needs “greater female representation at every level of studios.”
“Visibility matters: young people can’t aspire to what they can’t see,” she explains. “Many grow up without industry role models or family networks that show games as a viable career. […] This lack of confidence, aspiration, and access makes it harder for girls to picture themselves in the industry.”
“Without visible, relatable role models, many women still feel the industry isn’t for them”
Kimberley Turner
“The industry must also create better pathways for women into leadership. Many leave due to insufficient flexibility or support during key life stages, particularly around caregiving.”
Turner says Double Eleven is doing its bit through its early careers programme, an emphasis on work–life balance, and strong female representation in leadership roles. She adds that it isn’t about “hiring based on gender,” and more about ensuring “the best people can thrive, regardless of background.”
“But without visible, relatable role models, many women still feel the industry isn’t for them.”
Cat Channon (communications consultant)
“A decade ago, we were in the midst of Gamergate,” recalls Cat Channon, who has overseen campaigns for franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Fortnite. “Many of us hoped [it] would be an inflection point for the industry: that, in recognising some of the toxic behaviour previously nurtured and given safe harbour in our industry, there would be a material change.
“The reality is that online trolling was just the tip of the iceberg. We were still very much a boys’ club, and even within big corporations, sexism, misogyny, pay inequality, and abusive behaviours towards women were tolerated.”
Channon says that over the past decade, there’s been “tangible change” in the industry, with more formalised policies in place to support women in the workplace.
“Transparency around pay inequality and more data to quantify the lack of representation and spotlight gender inequality enables us to track the progress we are making,” Channon explains. “More data quantifying the negative commercial and cultural impacts of a lack of diversity in the workplace also helps us understand why, as well as where we need to make change.”
“There’s still a lack of gender diversity in video games, particularly in leadership”
Cat Channon
But Channon believes there are still changes to be made. “There’s still a lack of gender diversity in video games, particularly in leadership,” she says. “We still see women’s careers on hold/pushed back relative to their male peers as a result of maternity leave. Our policies around women’s health care, specifically fertility treatments, miscarriage, stillbirth, and menopause, are not where we need them to be, and we’re only just starting to see data on the way in which the pandemic was particularly detrimental to women. In the media, we need more diverse voices telling our stories and more accurately representing the diversity of our players.
“In a polarising political climate, we are already starting to see the detrimental impact on DEI initiatives. As jobs become scarcer and pressures fiercer on hiring managers for talent to hit the ground running, we will need to be ever more mindful to ensure we don’t revert to an underrepresentation in the workplace.”
Kat Osman (team director, Lick PR)
Kat Osman says she was “already noticing a change” in the number of women joining the industry back in 2015, and she has seen that trend continue. Overall, she believes the industry is “more inclusive” now.
“I’ve noticed more women on editorial teams in some of the bigger outlets in particular, and whilst there are more women in development too, it’s still far from being an even split,” Osman explains. “It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s still taking time.” Osman adds that “more women are interested in tech and video games” nowadays, reflected in a recent ESA report that found 48% of video game players are women.
“There has been a slight decrease in the abuse women get online, but sadly, it’s still very much out there,” Osman says. However, she thinks that attitudes are slowly changing thanks in part to education. “As some of the elder guard and ‘old boys’ numbers are decreasing, and women’s rights and equality are being discussed and taught more, along with diversity, these are some of the factors I think need to continue in order to encourage and retain more women in our industry.”
Leigh Alexander (freelance narrative designer)
Leigh Alexander started blogging about video games in 2007, and by 2015, she’d already “seen some shit.”
“When I started, I knew maybe two or three other women in media, and it was not uncommon for us to attend PR events and demos at strip clubs,” Alexander explains. “It was very much a male-dominated space,” she says, where young women would go through “every sort of negative experience possible.”
“But the 2010s saw the rise of an increasingly diverse indie scene, and as tools to make games became more democratic, there was what felt to me like a huge revolution in who could make games and what they could be about.” Alexander believes the rise of Gamergate in 2014 was a “direct response” to the threat posed by this “new texture” of the industry.
“People who wanted to be catered to as a special geek boy marketing category were now having to share the space, and they didn’t like that,” she explains.
Reflecting on the current state of the industry, Alexander says it sometimes feels “like those people ‘won’,” particularly with the roll back of DEI initiatives in some places.
“It was not uncommon for us to attend PR events and demos at strip clubs”
Leigh Alexander
Still, some things have changed for the better. “When I look around, I don’t necessarily see a space that excludes female players, or female designers, in the way it did when I was young,” Alexander explains. “I work with a lot of women, so I can be more authentic. It used to be I felt unable to go on a video call without hair and makeup done, but now I can go on in a hoodie and headphones like any other game developer, and no one will say my natural hair is unprofessional.
“When I talk to people in their twenties today, all kinds of people enjoy at least one video game, including women and girls of all ages. But while the game industry is still an extremely stressful, polarized, and occasionally cruel place to work, I no longer feel that my gender puts me at a disadvantage or makes me unsafe.”
However, she sees the industry’s “talent retention crisis” and constant layoffs in recent years as the biggest threat. “When the industry is hostile to everyone, this means the most marginalized people are going to get pushed out first, especially black and queer women.”
Jennifer Hale (actor)
A decade ago, Jennifer Hale – the voice behind Mass Effect’s female Commander Shephard – noticed “things were beginning to turn” for women. “Mass Effect had come out, and the idea of a powerful, equal female lead in a game was beginning to take hold,” Hale says. “There was still a lot of objectification, especially visually, and a gap in recognizing the power of the female gaming community, but things were beginning to shift.”
Hale has voiced a longer roster of iconic female characters, including Overwatch’s Ashe and Metroid Prime’s Samus, and believes there are “more and more powerful female roles” in gaming today.
“That being said, the fact that we still note that they exist like a novelty indicates that there’s definitely room for growth,” she continues. “In my opinion, the same can be said for representation in casting. There’s still a journey to travel, but we’ve begun to make changes, which is heartening.”
Those changes, Hale says, include “less objectification, more realistic portrayals of women, and a wider representation of what a woman is defined as in gaming.” The actor says these changes are “fantastic” to see and she looks forward to the dev community making further efforts like this in the future. “I wouldn’t presume to tell them how to move forward, but I fully support that evolution,” she says.
Maria Sayans (CEO, Ustwo Games)
Maria Sayans has worked in the games industry for 25 years, having started in marketing at EA in the UK.
“Outside of marketing, HR, finance, etc, there weren’t really that many women, and very often you would be the only woman in a room,” Sayans says. “But EA had some fierce women back then, trailblazers and change makers who were fantastic role models.
“We had to be really tough if we wanted to grow in the company, we had to put up with a lot of bullshit. Like the male colleague who imitated a cat fight when a female colleague and myself got into an argument in a meeting, the boss who took credit for my work and passed it on as his own, or the multiple times I had to deal with colleagues making unwanted passes, and having to carry that embarrassment, including the HR Director who felt the need to inform me in a one-to-one meeting that he was in an open marriage. We made allies, shared stories and lifted each other up for the most part.”
Sayans believes the industry has “generally improved for women” over the last decade.
“The vast majority of game companies, and the industry at large, have become more mature and professional, and so people know what is and is not OK behaviour, and employees feel generally supported by structures inside their companies,” she explains. “Many high profile cases at Riot, Activision, and Ubisoft have helped ensure the standards are higher.”
Sayans notes, however, that there’s an increase in the number of freelancers in the industry, who are less protected. “We need to keep an eye out for how this part of the industry develops to make sure the same support and standards are available to them.”
“It is still the case that women have to work harder to progress in the industry”
Maria Sayans
She also thinks we need more women in leadership roles. “Women are less likely to be trusted to run a studio or be a game director, and women-led start ups struggle to raise funding much more often,” she says. “In general, it is still the case that women have to work harder to progress in the industry. Their competence is questioned more often, and they are less likely to be included in formal and informal networking events. Particularly at senior executive events, or investment events, panels and networking still look like a man’s game.
“With women now making up close to half of all gamers, it is outrageous that we are still an industry run predominantly by men.”
She thinks more needs to be done. “Event organisers and speakers need to have high standards for diverse representation on stages. It is hard to find women to speak [at events] if all you know is men, so yes, you are going to have to make an effort. We also need focused investment opportunities to support women founders and women-led organisations in the industry that go beyond the angel/indie space (although those are great).”
Sayans also believes that “true equality” cannot be achieved without equal parental leave rights for men and women and affordable childcare. “As long as men are not supported and encouraged to take equal parental leave, you will find women bearing the weight of that in their careers,” she explains. “And as a result of delaying having children, women in games are paying a fertility tax versus their male colleagues.”
Laura Kate Dale (accessibility consultant and games reporter)
In 2015, Laura Kate Dale was employed as a full-time games critic, and recalls it being a “really weird time to be a woman” in the games industry, with the impacts of Gamergate palpable.
“It was a time when an increasing number of outlets wanted freelancers to write personal perspective pieces about their experiences with gaming, but in many cases were either uninterested in or not prepared for what it would mean to protect those writers if those pieces drew the ire of the online right,” Dale explains.
“Being a year into this spike in ‘women don’t belong in gaming’ discourse, 2015 counterintuitively had its positives. We were seeing initiatives popping up to highlight women’s achievements in the industry, and it was pretty common to see women-focused networking events pop up that were great as someone still new to the industry. It was also before the current wave of anti-trans sentiment had really started to take hold, and so as a trans woman, I felt pretty welcome and safe in these women-in-gaming-focused spaces.”
She felt that “more men were seeing their blind spots and trying to adjust for them,” although it was still a tough time. “I got doxxed more than once in those early days, and got some pretty gross behaviour from men, including my peers, but it felt positive that we were acknowledging the rot that had bubbled up.”
Dale says that things are better today, even though the “Gamergate era anti-woman sentiment” is still around. Now, it manifests as “fury at female characters who aren’t considered attractive enough, anger at non-white women or queer women being employed, anger at women portrayed as strong or violent in fiction, and anger at the existence of cultural sensitivity consultants employed in roles reducing negative tropes in narratives,” she explains.
“I got doxxed more than once in those early days, and got some pretty gross behaviour from men”
Laura Kate Dale
Still, she has been encouraged by the increase in the number of full-time female game writers in the UK. “It feels today less like you’re alone when angry men shout at you for daring to exist in ‘their’ space, and more like they’re shouting futility at a wave that has enough momentum not to be stopped so easily.”
Even so, as a trans woman, she says her experience is mixed. “Global transphobia is on the rise, and I have to be more cautious about my safety in women-focused spaces like networking events, but there is more space career-wise for my perspective to be considered. More gaming studios are experimenting with the representation of trans women in their narratives, and opportunities to consult on those representations and be listened to early in production are improving, too.”
Dale believes that the industry needs to do more to battle the anti-women sentiment around female characters. “We can’t allow that small audience with a megaphone to speak for the audience as a whole,” Dale says. “We need more men in the industry to speak actively and vocally about their disagreement with this small, angry vocal minority, and counter balance their narrative.”
She also thinks misogynistic attitudes still persist. “We need more support to be able to highlight sexist members of our industry’s ‘old guard’, whose sexism is less direct and aggressive but still creates roadblocks to career growth in sectors of the industry.”
Lucy James (lead producer, GameSpot/co-host, Friends Per Second)
Lucy James says she feels “enormously lucky” to have come up in the industry when and where she did. “I had just started working full-time with the GameSpot UK team, and not only was I mentored by a group of experienced on-camera personalities, but as a young producer, I was looked out for,” James says.
“I was fortunate that being a woman had no impact (that I was aware of) on my career, but it obviously wasn’t all perfect.
“I’d worked with certain people on previous jobs who had been too handsy or inappropriate, received one too many unsolicited dick pics, and would occasionally catch a stray in a YouTube comment or tweet. I was lucky to be supported at the time, but it felt like anything outside of my bubble of friends was where the danger lay, so to speak.”
James believes that social media has provided the biggest change over the past decade. “There’s certainly a ‘need’ to be visible if you work in certain roles,” she explains. However, she thinks moderation tools are still not up to scratch.
“‘Just block and move on’ is the last thing I want to hear when a person I don’t know is making multiple accounts to doxx and post terrible things or threaten my family and me,” James says. She thinks that the police do not take credible threats seriously enough, “like a guy who stakes out Gamescom, sending videos of women who look a little like you until you come outside to meet him.” Overall, she finds it frustrating that moderation and safety tools “still have a ways to go.”
Dr Marie-Claire Isaaman (CEO, Women in Games)
A decade ago, women were “often present only in token numbers” in the games industry, says Dr Marie-Claire Isaaman, who worked in games education until becoming CEO and co-director of the non-profit organisation Women in Games in 2016. “Even for those of us working behind the scenes, the message was often implicit: you were welcome, but it wouldn’t be easy.
“This meant that for many women, pushing into development, production, leadership, or visible roles required doubling down – not just on skills and professionalism, but on resilience in the face of indifference or outright bias. Many women left the industry, or avoided applying in the first place, because it felt like a small, exclusive club, and the unwritten rules favoured insiders.”
The lack of support for women resulted in a vicious circle, she says, where fewer women meant fewer role models. She thinks there have been “signs of progress” over the past decade, but “the change is uneven, fragile, and often superficial.”
“On one level, the audience landscape has shifted,” Isaaman explains. “The latest research from Bryter shows that women and girls now represent 46% of all gamers worldwide. And their gaming habits show the breadth and depth of their engagement: many regularly play action-adventure, shooters, and battle royales – just as often as men do.
“The dark side of the research shows that 59% of girls and women in online play spaces are dealing with verbal abuse, harassment, exclusion, or worse. That figure is down compared to Bryter’s 2023 report, but the abuse women and girls experience includes the 26% who have been sexually harassed and the 12% who have received truly harrowing rape threats.”
Isaaman also laments the “tiny” increase in the number of women employed in the industry. “Let’s face it, an increase of just a percentage point or two over a decade is not a meaningful transformation, and when we look at women in leadership roles in games, the situation is even bleaker. Meanwhile, right now, the socio-economic and technological upheavals are creating a precarious moment. Economic pressures, funding squeezes, and industry volatility – as well as the rolling back of DEI initiatives in some parts of the world – risk widening the gender gap if the sector retreats from its commitments rather than strengthens them.”
“Let’s face it, an increase of just a percentage point or two over a decade is not a meaningful transformation”
Dr Marie-Claire Isaaman
Isaaman says the industry faces structural challenges that will require systemic, sustained action to address, part of which should be more investment in safety and inclusion for players. “Only about a third of women feel that current reporting and moderation processes are effective. We need robust, industry-wide standards for moderation, harassment reporting, swift consequences for abuse, and community-management practices that protect marginalised players.”
In addition, Isaaman believes that we need to invest in women’s career progression, mentorship, leadership pipelines, and retention, especially in turbulent economic times. “A workforce share of around 23–24% is not enough.”
There is also more work to be done when it comes to the games themselves. Isaaman points out that women make up nearly half of all gamers, but still “seldom see themselves represented.” She wants to see more investment in inclusive storytelling, diverse development teams, and design practices that “don’t assume a male default.”
She also believes the industry needs to do better at acknowledging the intersectionality of womanhood.
“The experiences of women are not uniform,” she says. “Women of colour, LGBTQ+ women, and women of different socio-economic backgrounds all face compounded barriers and risks. We know that when identities intersect, harassment, exclusion, and attrition rise dramatically. Addressing gender inequity cannot succeed without deliberately addressing these intersecting inequalities.”
