BAFTA-winning student Sophia George calls on more female developers to enter industry
Swallowtail co-founder Sophia George has called on more women to enter the game industry and ignore old stereotypes about a male-dominated sector.
The BAFTA-winning student, whose new studio just released its first title Tick Tock Toys, said popular stereotypes of the industry couldn’t be more wrong, with as many women now playing games as men.
She added that such stereotypes of a male-dominated industry could then influence how consumers thought about games, and make some women think twice before opting for a career in the game industry.
“The popular stereotypes of gamers just being young men couldn’t be more wrong, but they still persist despite around half of all gamers being female – and women and girls of all ages playing and enjoying games every day," said George.
“What’s really worrying, though, is that this male-dominated idea is so pervasive – and it influences what families think about games, and what young women think as they grow up and make decisions about their careers.
“I just hope that the release of Tick Tock Toys will help show young women that they can get into the games industry – and that they too can create the games they love to play.”
Sophia George’s new studio Swallowtail received the BAFTA Ones to Watch accolade in March last year, and after completing postgraduate studies at Abertay University the team was awarded with £25,000 from the Abertay Prototype Fund to develop a full version of puzzle title Tick Tock Toys.
Abertay University’s professor Louis Natanson added that the educational institution had seen increased interest from female students in its courses, but more needed to be done to raise public awareness that the game industry was open to everyone.
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“We’re very encouraged by the increasing interest in our game art, design and programming degrees from female students, but a greater public awareness is needed that everyone can enter this industry," he said.
“Through initiatives like our game design competition Dare to be Digital and the huge games festival we run in Dundee every year, we’re introducing thousands of school children to the idea of creating their own games.
“Strong female role models like Sophia are an important part of that, and everyone at Abertay University is delighted to see Tick Tock Toys develop from a Dare to be Digital entry to a finished commercial product.”
Could please women just stop crying and do their job better than - or at least as good - as men? If they finally will, businesses all over the world will be happy to hire them. Because you know if you deliver more for the same money every single business will want to work with you. That said if you underdeliver and still ask for the same salary, nobody will want to hire you. Guess that explains a lot.
@Crybaby I think the problem is that when women are working just as hard as the male counterparts they are sometimes being overlooked and had sexist comments thrown their way. This article is also trying to attract more women into the games industry so it's not all about "crying".
I don't think that the fact that we are now making people within and out of the industry more aware of this that women are being "crybabies" about this subject. I think that it's because of the sheer amount of negative experiences that are coming out of the woodwork it seems that women are constantly complaining about this subject but in fact more and more women who haven't yet commented on this subject are now speaking out. Hence, why it seems to be an ongoing issue.
I completely disagree with what you said above. You seem to be suggesting that these women that are expressing their opinions shouldn't be because they're doing a sub-standard job within their roles. And that if these women stop sharing their experiences and work harder than their male counterparts we could be lucky enough to be hired at the same wage as men in the industry. Have I got that wrong? If not, do you really think that this is fair?!
we are a middle sized game developer in europe. we employ 6 women(40-45 people) and to be honest even though i like having more female worker in our company the most that apply (or even that work with us) there is always a dude that is better at the same work :(. We have one girl that is a killer software engineer but she is more like a dude...(not as feminine as other females in our company) Most girls are not as competitive and don't have the urge to hunt down other employees to climb up the skill (and employment) ladder.
There are always exceptions, but you cant just ignore million years of evolution in 50 years of feminist movement.
