#women in the game industry

[kdinjenzen]

Imma be real, it’s deeply upsetting as a trans voice actress to see everyone pouring out love for Bridget (Guilty Gear) and Lily (Zombie Land Saga) while simultaneously nearly ignoring Catalyst (Apex Legends) and other trans woman characters.

Every time I see the internet simping for a trans femme character their VA is a cis woman.

And then half the time the cis woman who is voicing that trans femme character is a TERF (Poison - Street Fighter).

I wish, very much, that people cared about the real people and real experiences of trans people as much as they care about fictional characters.

#also YES it is super telling that the most beloved and widely drawn trans women in games are essentially loli-girls #it says a LOT about how the world and industry want to see us #and it also shows that they very much like using our identity as free advertising while still getting their fettish-points in too #it’s so disheartening

[who-is-riley]

I really appreciate Aloy's bushy eyebrows

#she does NOT have time to pluck!! there's robots and shit #it's good to see a big studio game with women who just. look like people #worth mentioning that the men don't look like idealized jacked up dudebros or whatever either they're just guys #(gestures toward skyrim) #so much subtle misogyny in the game industry the design choices in this game are a breath of fresh air!! #horizon forbidden west

[obessivedork]

Maccready is YET ANOTHER sadman deadwife™????!!!!!! asdfghjkl That's what? FOUR major characters in one game if you play Male Sole Survivor??? What did women DO to Bethesda's writers????

#He's still my son and I love him but COME ON😒🤪 #I get it's the wasteland and people die a lot because of lack of medical access/violence but???? #And also naturally with the NIGHTMARE of pre-modern medicine childbirth women & others who can give birth would be dying more #I refuse it he fucking adopted his kid! I also refuse to believe it's Little Lamplight Lucy. That'd be real cute but NO she deserves BETTER #Every female character deserves better but 'y know what I mean #(& Yes I know Deacon's backstory. It got spoiled for me. Fine with that because I'm so busy being disappointed by the lack of originality) #(I'm sure I'm rehashing an old frustration in this post.) Tis that sweet sweet game industry & gamer misogyny- innit? 🙃🙃🙃 #Swear to god I NEVER EVER want to see this shitty overdone trope EVER AGAIN #It IS badass girlboss of Female Sole to have her husband fridged for HER plot though 😌 #*I originally said three major characters and then I remembered Kellog's backstory. swear to god if there are MORE I'm writing todd himself #fallout #fallout 4 #fo4 #kat plays fo4

[amygdalae]

“haha my workplace is so fun and quirky” *goes on to describe an absolutely grotesque HR nightmarescape*

#my dad worked in the games industry for decades and sometimes talked abt this dynamic in game studios #how that 'were all buddies here just goofing around' environment in a professional setting means that #the breaking of certain boundaries is framed as just goofing around #and it makes it so that the person who wants to establish personal boundaries risks being the wet blanket who cant take a joke #even in situations where theyre genuinely uncomfortable with how theyre being treated #and this ties into how women and minorities feel alienated in these settings #sry im rambling. goodbye

[msclaritea]

‘Good Times’ Sets Ranada Shepard As Showrunner; JB Smoove, Yvette Nicole Brown & Jay Pharoah To Star In Netflix’s Animated Reboot

Conclusion? OBNOXIOUS, ARROGANT, IGNORANT

Black people are increasingly over the Blackface, Anti bullshit, coming out of companies like Netflix and HULU and they are also increasingly OVER the Black actors and actresses, stepping up to do minstrel roles.

BE WARNED... HOLLYWOOD IS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS STARTED A WAR AGAINST ACTORS. YOU WANT TO SELL OUT? GO AHEAD. BUT DON'T ACT SHOCKED WHEM THE PUBLIC NO LONGER KISSES YOUR ASS FOR IT.

Proof positive that corporations like Microsoft, under the guise of DEI, filled their ranks with activist employees from Leftist, Misandrist and Queer groups. That most of these spoiled shit stirrers are young white women (with a couple of black girls thrown in for some peppery spice) should tell men exactly what they're about: Authoritarianism. They'll do anything to hurt people in general, and the economy, in particular. Meantime, like clockwork, the GOP are blaming the failures of DEI off of the very people who never actually had control of it. Progressives always did, including black boule style race traitors. They are deliberately causing divisions with their Diversity Cosplay.

#Youtube #Jules Hardy #Wil Wheaton #Top Gear #Sweet Baby Inc #DEI Terrorists/Spoiled Beheader Crew=SAME #Leftists #Misandrists #Queer #White Women Go After White Men In Gaslighting Effort #Women's Rights Are In Reality Under Attack #Leftists Are Simply Too Sick To Care #Ranada Shepard aka The New Shonda Rhimes #Yvette Nicole Brown #Steph Curry #JB Smoove #Jay Pharoah #seth mcfarlane #Norman Lear #Wanda Sykes #NETFLIX #HULU #MINSTREL SHOWS 2024 #Tiffany Byrd Harrison #Time For Both Companies AND Artists To Take Responsibility For The Art They Choose To Put Out #David Allen Greer #Head Minstrel #Disney #Marvel #Gaming Industry Is Being Detroyed By Progressive Activists

[hapalopus]

#found on a youtube video about games for girls/women in the video game industry/gendered marketing

[nickysfacts]

The Last of Us is a far bigger feminist and progressive game then a lot of people give it credit for!

🎮🚺🎮

#history #the last of us #feminism #ellie #women empowerment #video game history #naughty dog #playstation #progressive #box cover art #playstation games #womens history #video games #gamer girl #feminist #womens history month #positive change #gaming industry #video game development #gaming history #game testing #nickys facts

[lonewolflink]

.

#man #i just found out rieko kodama passed away last year #i had no idea #she was one of the first women to be involved in the video game industry and paved the way for so many #most importantly #she made my favorite rpg and maybe my favorite game of all time #skies of arcadia #i don't think a piece of media ever shaped my character development more than skies except maybe the legend of zelda: majora's mask #that game still means so much to me #i wouldn't be who i am today without it #wasn't sure where to put these thoughts because no one i know ever played skies #so i guess into the ether they go #gonna try to channel my inner vyse this coming year. my favorite rpg protagonist by a mile. he is so dear to me.

[cuntstable]

ok forcing myself to stop dishonored posting bc i gotta make dinnar but ahahhhhhhh……… game series of all time genuinely

#theyre just so good eso the first game like impact on your psyche forever. #grimy industrial revolution and plague aesthetic. dilfs. lesbians and bi women galore. conflicted murderous women galore. bringing vengeance #tho those whove wronged you in a manner far worse than death. jumping on rooftops. whales. etc etc. its iconic.

[gacha-incels]

after their continued failure to incite the users of reddit, 4chan and weibo, getting their livestream chat blocked and doxxing comments deleted, asking for help from fellow Nexon misogynists (?) and their truck protest amounting to nothing, the Korean incels are now trying to reviewbomb Genshin Impact. The reason for all this being that they think the character designer (this information is not available to the public, so it’s coming from illegal leaked documents) for Furina and Faruzan is a feminist from her twitter account which they aren’t even 100% sure is actually hers. And of course like always they think every single instance of a character’s hands in normal repose or pointing is supposed to be 🤏, which they believe is a secret feminist message from the illustrator calling their dicks small, which is a literal “hate crime” to them.

All of this being a nutjob smokescreen for simply their extremely violent hatred of women. They want this Korean woman to be publicly punished and blacklisted for saying on her personal twitter essentially that she finds men annoying when they chew loudly and doesn’t like being stalked. For some of these guys maybe they really do believe this stupid 🤏 shit is a hate crime. However I think the overarching effect they want is to uphold and enforce the patriarchal society where these men believe women are in “their place”. Going after companies for something ridiculous like a hand shape is a display of power. Going after women who say they find men annoying while at the same time these incel men are posting the most depraved and disgusting things on her twitter and their little message boards is a display of power. It’s a group of misogynist men saying to women: “see, I can get you fired and blacklisted for something as stupid as this. And if you dare to say anything regarding women’s rights, you’ll be targeted too.” They want to create a society of fear for women and scare them into not speaking up about the myriad of issues effecting them there. So when these guys say “jump” to a company like Nexon, and Nexon asks “how high?” this is a huge victory. Project Moon was a huge victory for them I believe especially because that company’s works had so many female fans. They get used to local companies doing this. However when they go after a huge game not from Korea that has a larger international following like Genshin and get told “fuck off”, they cannot accept this. To them it’s a crack in the male supremacist world, so they cannot stop the pressure until Genshin Impact gives in. I think that’s a big part of why they aren’t stopping after so many failures and so much humiliation. I’m not saying this is unique to Korean men of course, misogyny and upholding the patriarchy have been happening everywhere for thousands of years. But we have multiple case studies happening right before us that we can analyze as they happen, so it would be remiss not to talk about them.

#Genshin impact #project moon #nexon #mihoyo #south korea #limbus company #gaming industry #misogyny #women hating

[screechthemighty]

Comparing the writing for Faye and the writing for Lysandra (or, as a majority of the Greece era knows her, "his wife", no name given) is the most absolutely bonkers thing ever and I'm actually really pissed off on behalf of a woman who doesn't even exist.

#I dug back up my copy of the first game's novelization because of some discussion on a post of mine and...she isn't named AT ALL? EVER?? #according to the wiki she's only credited by name in ASCENSION????A #AND ONE COMIC????? #I'm having an aneurysm. the gaming industry owes women financial compensation. #I mean I'm glad we finally got there with faye and freya and thrud and honestly even smaller role women #like Sif I actually think Sif has a lot going for her #but I just. I don't like looking at the old games #I won't lie to you guys the frat boy sexism is too smelly #I have my limits. anyways I won't tag this one I don't want the greece era purists coming for me #this has been a post

[ghost-of-someone]

I feel like I have a civic duty to actually commit to learning code

#girls dont play video games #watching a video about video games and it talking about all of the bullshit and sexism relating to women within the industry #specifically within the earlier years whwre it was pretty firmly beleived that #despite having women programers actively working in the industry and a good number more wanting to work with computers #who were told no

[fa-dubu]

so nice to see one called-out-ytuber-cryvlogging-a-non-apology-esque post was all it took for ppl in the tags to openly support pm again

#the korean women in the industry still at risk from another dcincel harassment campaign? who cares we can enjoy a game guiltfree now!

[girlgamesnetwork]

Girl Games Network #1 (21/5/23)

Hello and welcome to the first instalment of the Girl Games Network newsletter. Each Sunday, I'll be sharing games industry news from a feminist angle and highlighting the games and women/non-binary people in the industry that you might not have heard about.

Riot Games paying out $100 million to 1,500 female employees

"It isn't everything you deserve. But it is an acknowledgement that you aren't alone, you are never alone, and we can stop this across the industry together."

US game developers Riot Games (Valorant) are paying out $100 million to 1,548 women employed at the company between 6th November, 2014 and 27th December, 2021. This follows a 2018 class action lawsuit for gender discrimination from former employees Melanie McCracken (Nuverse) and Jes Negrón (Retcon Games) that had its final approval hearing on 16th May, 2023.

After the initial $10 million settlement was objected to by California's Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), the $100 million was agreed on in 2021, with $20 million covering legal fees.

According to the settlement Riot must pay out the following to those eligible  :

$2,500-5,000 depending on whether they worked as an employee or temporary agency contractor, and regardless of whether they exclude themselves (the “Minimum Payment”), and

$15,000-35,000 if they worked as an employee and do not exclude themselves, or

$5,000-10,000 if they worked as a temporary agency contractor and do not exclude themselves

Group/Class Members may also receive an additional $40,000 if they worked as an employee in or before 2015 and do not exclude themselves.

In statements on LinkedIn, Negrón and McCracken both expressed relief at the end of their four year journey. McCracken emphasised that "this is just the beginning" and talked about the importance of "inclusivity and belonging" in the workplace, while Negrón spoke about the stories of "disgusting bro culture" she and other women involved in the case had to endure and repeat throughout the process to get a "modicum of justice".

Any "current and former female employees and temporary agency contractors" at Riot in California between 6th November, 2014 and 27th December, 2021 can participate in the settlement and payment will be distributed in the three weeks following the final approval hearing last Tuesday. If you think you or someone you know might be eligible, go to https://www.riotsettlement.com/ for more details.

https://www.axios.com/2023/05/04/activision-riot-settlement-payments

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/riot-s-100-million-gender-discrimination-settlement-granted-final-approval

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7064643428264857600/

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/melaniemccracken_toggle-navigation-activity-7064744567169822720-sS-t/

https://twitter.com/JesNx/status/1659212142829264899?cxt=HHwWhoDTxeWp2oYuAAAA

Streamer Alanah Pearce banned for watching Zelda trailer footage on Twitch

"It would appear that Nintendo DMCA'd me for watching approved Zelda gameplay"

When their long-awaited game The Legend of Zelda : Tears of the Kingdom leaked over a week before release, Nintendo's notorious legal efforts and takedowns only got more aggressive.

One person caught in the crosshairs was Alanah Pearce, a game writer for Sony Santa Monica as well as a YouTube video-maker, boxer, DJ and most importantly Twitch streamer. During a stream where she watched a TOTK preview video from SkillUp that only contained pre-embargo footage, Pearce's channel charalanahzard received a DMCA strike from Nintendo and was suspended. The SkillUp video has not been subject to any takedowns.

After 70 minutes, Pearce managed to appeal and reverse the Twitch ban and regained access to her channel. With over 163K followers on Twitch alone, the size of her audience may have sped up her appeal; smaller streamers may not be so lucky.

https://twitter.com/StreamerBans/status/1655817156553060353

https://twitter.com/Charalanahzard/status/1655799864457035776?cxt=HHwWgIDQwYbNyvotAAAA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKc2_3-vRf8

Fullbright and Open Roads Developers Separate

"It's just no longer Fullbright's place to represent Open Roads publicly going forward" 

As of 12th May 2023, the developers behind Gone Home and the upcoming Open Roads have parted ways with their founder Steve Gaynor and the Fullbright name. This announcement comes not from what are now known as "The Open Roads Team" or from their publisher Annapurna Interactive, but Gaynor himself in his first Fullbright newsletter in years.

In the newsletter, Gaynor alludes to "serious turmoil" at the studio that came to light shortly after the announcement of Open Roads and acknowledges that events have shown his "own strengths do not lie with attempting to manage a large project or direct the work of others", but does not detail what happened at Fullbright.

Within a year and a half of Open Roads' announcement at the 2020 Game Awards, fifteen employees left Fullbright. Current and former members of the studio spoke to Polygon in 2021 about their concerns with Ganyor's behaviour toward them, specifically the women. They emphasised that the behaviour did not veer into sexual harassment or explicit sexism, but Gaynor's "controlling" behaviour and "demeaning presence" that wore many down, to the point of their quitting en masse. The overall impression was that Gaynor saw Open Roads less as the team's game and more as his; Fullbright as an extension of his auteurship. Indeed, his personal Twitter account was Fullbright until forced to change it by the unrest in May 2021.

By the time of the Polygon report, Annapurna were already aware of the situation and had conducted an internal investigation, but the team were dissatisfied. When speaking to People Make Games in 2022, the staff - again anonymous for fear of repercussions from either Annapurna or Gaynor - said that Annapurna "talked around" the issue when asking the staff what they would need to finish the project and the prospect of removing Gaynor from his position at the head of the studio and writer on Open Roads was not brought up.

After the report went out and news of Gaynor's misconduct was public knowledge, the Open Roads twitter issued a statement now deleted saying : "Fullbright's co-founder Steve Gaynor has stepped back from his role as creative lead and manager, and transitioned to a role as a writer". The statement could also be found on the game's website, which was a part of Fullbright's website and is currently down. A day later, Gaynor issued a statement on twitter saying much of the same and acknowledging his "hurtful" leadership, but also not giving details. Through all of this, Annapurna Interactive remained silent and continues to do so.

When the changeover from Fullbright to The Open Roads Team happened is unclear : Gaynor's influence on the game was gone from June 2021 according to the Game Informer interviews and Amy Fincher's job as executive producer on Open Roads changed from under Fullbright to under Annapurna in September 2022. The game's website and Steam page were both linked to Fullbright as recently as early May and the developer still hasn't been updated on Annapurna's website. Whether Gaynor's announcement was ahead of or instead of a statement from Annapurna or The Open Roads Team, the developer is once again in his shadow, hopefully for the last time.

Open Roads is a mother- daughter road trip currently in development by The Open Roads Team at Annapurna Interactive. In light of its rocky development, the release date is unknown.

https://youtu.be/xDPzZkx0cPs?t=1015

https://fullbright.cmail20.com/t/t-e-fhtudtt-pikikkhuk-k/

https://web.archive.org/web/20210806094550/https://twitter.com/OpenRoadsGame/status/1423071532952080386

https://twitter.com/SteveGaynorPDX/status/1423094322396762113?cxt=HHwWgsCsheKv7L8nAAAA

https://www.gameinformer.com/feature/2022/07/21/a-new-destination-how-open-roads-changed-direction-and-saved-its-turbulent-road

https://www.polygon.com/22610490/fullbright-steve-gaynor-controversy-stepped-down-open-roads

News of note :

Article by Lin Codega at Gizmodo collecting trans experiences with Link https://gizmodo.com/legend-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-link-trans-1850430832

Feminist Frequency is fundraising $20000 for the Game and Online Harassment, with donations matched by Landfall Games  https://givebutter.com/femfreqspring2023

Excellent art of Tear of the Kingdom's best returning character by @aurahack https://cohost.org/aurahack/post/1492484-purah

One day left for the Earthquake Relief Bundle on itch https://itch.io/b/1805/trkiye-syria-earthquake-relief-mega-bundle

Humble's first Black Game Developer Fund game "Protodroid DeLTA" releases on 25/5 with Day One DLC Armour Pack that goes to Girls Make Games scholarship fund https://www.humblebundle.com/store/protodroid-delta

New podcast "Confessions of a Gamer Girl" looking for female, Australian panellists https://twitter.com/Doomcutie_/status/1658130126683480065?cxt=HHwWgoC9hZWk7oIuAAAA 

"Blackpink The Game" management sim launched for mobile by TakeOne Company https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERl_J3b_ejI

Coming attractions :

Playstation Showcase 24/5 https://www.youtube.com/live/e9z0atV8VDk?feature=share

Summer Games Done Quick returns online and in-person in Minneapolis 28/5-4/6 https://gamesdonequick.com/schedule/43

Summer Games Fest returns online and in-person at the YouTube Theater, Los Angeles 8/6 https://www.summergamefest.com/

GDC Showcase 27-29/6 (book tickets before June to save $40) https://gdconf.com/

Thanks for reading this far! If you're looking for latest news in girl games and girls in games, be sure to follow @girlgamesnetwork wherever good posts are found.

#video games #riot games #controversy #newsletter #games #women in gaming #games industry #game news