Q1 / 2019 AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT FROM MEDIAPLANET WHO TAKE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENTS DR JO TWIST OBE, CEO, Ukie We need more people coming into games sector. » p4
RICK GIBSON, CEO, BGI The old stereotype – that games are played exclusivity by young males – died two decades ago. » p5
DR RICHARD WILSON OBE, CEO, TIGA Now is the time for games studios to encourage diversity in their workforce. » p6 CREDIT:
Women in Games WOMENINSTEAM.CO.UK
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AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET
Equality of rights, opportunity and the right to be free of bullying and harassment for women in games Women make up 51% of the world’s population; approximately 50% of women play video games but only around 20% work in the games industry. Why don’t more women work in the sector or see it as a business to build or career choice? How can we encourage more girls and women to join the industry?
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hree key areas are proving stubborn to shift: equality of rights – equality of opportunity – and the right to be free of bullying and harassment. Worldwide, female and male equality is still too low Only six countries in the world have equal legal rights for men and women. A recent report by the World Bank found that men and women are completely equal in just six countries! Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg and Sweden. This inhibits women’s ability – worldwide – to work, start businesses and make economical decisions that are best for them and their families. The UK treasury reported female entrepreneurs’ businesses get 157 times less funding than their male counterparts. Women-only startups were given £32 million in 2017, where male-only teams received £5 billion. Women receive just 0.5% of venture capital funds. So, simply put, if you are a female and want to start a games company in the UK, currently you do not have the same opportunity as a man. Abuse towards women in the games industry In 2018, research led by Bryter, a market research and insights
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consultancy, surveyed 1,151 female gamers aged 16+. The results revealed the level of abuse women received from their male counterparts. The survey uncovered high levels of intimidation and abuse, with a third (33%) of female gamers saying they’ve been the victim of abuse or discrimination from male gamers. Of the female gamers who had experienced abuse or discrimination, 40% had been sent inappropriate content or messages from male gamers. This urgently needs to change. We must support women in games and Esports Our mission at Women in Games is to achieve full equality of opportunity and treatment for all women working, or wanting to work, in the games and Esports industries. This campaign represents the opportunity to highlight positive progression, while remaining aware of the challenges that still need addressing. Women in Games is committed to finding ways to work together with all areas of the sector to create an equal, diverse and inclusive games industry. In 2012, the Creative Skillset Employment Census figures for the game industries recorded that representation of women was at 14%. Six years later, according to the 2018
MARIE-CLAIRE ISAAMAN CEO, Women in Games
IGDA Developer Satisfaction Survey (which presents a global picture), females made up 21% of industry, (2% as male to female transgender). So, progress is being made, but there is still far to go. Across the sector, the conversation has amplified. There are more equality, diversity and inclusion advocacy groups, increased accountability, more inclusive studio cultures and diverse products emerging. Positive female representation in the gaming sector I was impressed by the diversity of content running throughout the 2019 Games Developers Conference (GDC), particularly specific events such as: ‘Building a better world through gaming’, which was the theme of the Women in Gaming Rally. Helen Chiang, the studio head of Minecraft, gave the keynote address, which focused on ‘communities’ and the mantra that we are ‘stronger when working together’. Women in Games believes this too and we are active in engaging in exciting collaborations with industry, education and the research community.
Women in Games: Women in Games ùă ñ þÿĄ͠öÿĂ͠ĀĂÿ҉Ą organisation founded in 2009. It provides encouragement, support and advocacy for women and girls throughout the game industries and educational pipeline, both nationally and internationally. My top read for spring 2019
At GDC, Women in Games was celebrated at a 10-year anniversary party hosted by 2K, which included a book signing of Meagan Marie’s inspirational book, Women in Gaming: 100 Professionals at Play. Books like these are so vital in providing understanding of career opportunities within the sector and highlighting exemplary role models.
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AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET CR C R RE EDIIT ED T: SLADIC
My advice for start-ups in the games industry Byline: Tony Greenway
Start-ups in the ever-changing and expanding games industry need sound legal advice from day one. Is the videogames sector a legal minefield? Yes, it can be. In part because the space is constantly evolving, certainly compared with other entertainment media like film and TV. But that's what keeps it interesting. Ultimately our job as lawyers is to de-mystify the legal side and offer practical solutions. Why bother with a lawyer? Find a good lawyer and invest in a long-term relationship with them. Sometimes lawyers are seen as an unaffordable luxury in the early days. However, good legal and commercial advice is crucial in this sector. Make sure your lawyer has games experience. Ultimately you need a business partner who can kick the tires on deals and provide you with legal support and counsel. MEDIAPLANET
What’s your best piece of advice to anyone developing a game or setting up a development team?
1. Protect your IP - whether that’s through registering your brand as a trade mark, registering your user interface designs. The more you can protect the better. It adds value to your company and it’s a lot easier to stop someone ripping off your hard work.
2. Make sure you have an NDA in place before you disclose your proprietary tech - you only have to think about Fortnite and PUBG - ideas are notoriously difficult to protect.
JULIAN WARD Partner, Lee & Thompson LLP
4. Get your lawyer involved at the early stage. Don’t leave it until the end when there’s no room to change deal terms or things have escalated to a dispute.
5. If you licensing or distributing your game/IP, don’t give away too much. Do you really need to give away worldwide rights? Have you limited the license on a platform basis? What’s the difference between exclusive, non-exclusive and sole?
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3. Make sure you have a contract in place where appropriate - its’ much better to document deals in a contract than rely upon an email or chat from x years ago. And for some IP like copyright this is only transferred over if in writing and signed by the parties.
ÿ ҉þô ÿąĄ ýÿĂõ͛ Āüõñăõ Ăõñóø ÿąĄ Ąÿ julianward@leeandthompson.com +44 (0)20 3073 7600
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The UK industry supports a breadth of talented people There is much to admire about the UK’s games industry. The figures can speak for themselves: a consumer market valued at £5.1bn; a gross value add to the economy of £2.8bn and 47,000 jobs supported directly or indirectly by over 2,200 companies spread up and down the country.
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ut the real strength of our industry can’t and should not be measured in numbers alone. Instead, we need to look at the range of beautiful, meaningful, joyful interactive entertainment that developers up and down the country have created for all kinds of players, of all ages. Yes, we’re capable of making grand epics – like Red Dead Redemption 2, that swallows players up in its immaculately conceived open world. Equally, we’re capable of supporting perfectly crafted global successes such as Monument Valley and commuter hits such as Farm Heroes Saga. The UK’s strengths While other countries may boast that they have particular strengths, the UK industry supports a breadth of talented people with a long history – and therefore experience – that helps us compete culturally as well as economically.
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Why is that the case though? While other creative sectors struggle to thrive outside of London, the UK games industry has 20 cities playing host to more than 20 companies. This means we’re as capable of tapping into the legacy of Dundee’s Institute of Computing (now Abertay University) as we are into the rich seam of companies emerging from Leamington’s ‘Silicon Spa’. The UK also has the right and friendly business environment for games enterprises of all sizes to thrive. Whether it’s businesses driving £230m of support into their companies through Video Game Tax Relief or thriving games clusters offering grassroots support, our business environment helps creative risk takers to thrive. Diversity of the industry But more than anything else, the diverse and open nature of our industry helps us to succeed. The interactive
DR JO TWIST OBE CEO, Ukie
nature of games makes them the perfect place through which to offer engaging, personal and inclusive, always adaptive experiences – simply because other media can’t be as empathetic. And it is our diversity of experience, outlook, perspectives on the world, that drive innovation and creativity. We need more people coming into the games sector For those experiences to resonate, we must do what we can to get more voices shaping the games that are enjoyed across the world. Whether we’re highlighting uncompromising portrayals of living with psychosis in Ninja Theory’s BAFTA winning Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, or celebrating Special Effect’s lifechanging adaptive controller, empowering more people to be included in the development and playing of games.
In the coming months, Ukie will be doing much more to support this goal. But in the meantime, we encourage you to think about what you can do for industry diversity. We can’t make our community inclusive by ourselves. But by working together to create a positive, supportive and inclusive environment, we can build the ground on which the next wave of delightfully creative British games will be supported.
Read more at womeninsteam.co.uk
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AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET CRE CRED RED EDIIT IT: T: RAWP RAWP WP W PIIX IXEL X
Concerted action can change games’ diversity problem The BGI is a new agency for games culture which, among other programmes, works to increase diversity in the games workforce, collaborating with multiple third sector agencies.
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ver 20 years, I’ve watched the games sector change beyond recognition, apart from the gender profile in our developers, which is changing excruciatingly slowly by comparison. The sector is missing opportunities in audience, creative and economic potential from a more diverse workforce, but a concerted push by multiple agencies could trigger real, meaningful change. Both men and women are gamers The old stereotype – that games are played exclusively by young males – died two decades ago. Today, players’ genders reflect the general population in the West, yet the people who make games in British companies are still overwhelmingly male. If your developers reflect your audience, you’re more likely to deliver something your audience will enjoy. Monocultures destroy creativity, damage staff retention and make staff less productive. They should be anathema to a creative industry that
MEDIAPLANET
RICK GIBSON CEO, BGI
thrives on ideas. Diverse teams create better products from more sources of inspiration, contrasting viewpoints and stronger, broader ideas.
at university, despite unprecedented growth in such courses in recent years. Too few female candidates make studios’ shortlists and so change stalls.
Financial gains for diverse companies Diverse companies also perform better economically than non-diverse companies. A recent study found that companies with diverse executive teams are 21% more likely to have aboveaverage profits. Simply put, companies become more viable, sustainable and profitable with diverse teams and boards.
Get in early to encourage women and girls into gaming careers So, what can be done about it? Berating the games sector for not being diverse hasn’t worked. To tackle this intractable problem, you have to start young, at the beginning of that talent supply chain. If young females are not shown the potential of a career in games at an early age, then they won’t choose foundation subjects to build careers in games. Inspirational programmes such as Women in Games’ Ambassador programme are leading the way.
TIGA university accreditation, our training programmes and Women in Games’ other programmes. They’re great, but mostly underfunded and badly signposted, which makes it difficult for young females to navigate a career path into games. We’re working with many of these programmes plus leading further/ higher education partners to collaborate and coordinate a new pan-sector initiative to tackle this deep-rooted problem through all of our programmes. There are signs that industry is getting the message and ready to change. A concerted approach from all the third sector organisations can have major impact on improving the supply of talented young women into games companies.
Work together to improve the visibility of opportunities The games sector has a range of educational programmes like our Pixelheads after-school clubs and National Videogame Museum, Digital Schoolhouse, NextGen Skills Academy,
Read more at womeninsteam.co.uk
Supply limits demand Studios often do hire in their own image but they’re at the end of a long supply chain that starts young and is, whether inadvertently or not, filtering out more diverse candidates from an early age. Fewer girls learn to code than boys. More females drop STEM subjects at GCSE, which leads to fewer female candidates taking games diplomas and fewer studying games development
WOMENINSTEAM.CO.UK
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AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET CR CRED CRE C R RE RED E ED DIIT: DI T T: JACO J BLUND D
Increasing the number of women pursuing a career in the video games industry The games industry provides a creative, interesting and rewarding career. As more women and girls are playing video games than ever before, now is the time for games studios to encourage diversity in their workforce.
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e want to be able to give everyone an equal opportunity to work in the video games industry. Encouraging more women to enter the games industry should enable the sector to continue to grow and reduce skill shortages. Only 12% of the UK’s games development workforce is female. To ensure the UK video games industry continues to thrive, we must encourage more women to pursue a career in the sector. We can achieve this by promoting relevant subjects at school and in higher education. Industry must also provide more women with the opportunity to work in the sector by actively explaining the career opportunities that exist. Tackling girls’ misconceptions of STEM subjects To encourage more women to pursue a career in the gaming industry, we
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first need to address the gender balance within STEM education and increase the supply of female graduates able to work in the industry. Research shows girls are substantially less likely than boys to consider taking STEM subjects at A Level. A gender imbalance is also found at graduate level. Only 15% of computer science graduates, 15% of engineering and technology graduates, and 39% of mathematics graduates in 2018 were women. TIGA has welcomed recent government action to encourage more women into STEM careers, most notably the planned launch of a Gender Balance in Computing Pilot Programme, identifying effective interventions that schools can implement to improve girls’ take-up of computer science GCSE and A level. Since 2010, the percentage of women on STEM courses has increased by 25%. Encouragingly, 40-50% of
DR RICHARD WILSON OBE CEO, TIGA
students studying games courses at Anglia Ruskin University and Norwich University of the Arts are female. It is the industry’s responsibility to communicate opportunities in gaming Industry must also actively engage with girls and women to explain the opportunities that exist in the sector. Non-coders may not realise that games development requires more than coding, but skills in music, art and design. Equally, girls and women who code, may not appreciate the opportunities that exist to work in the games industry. Industry is trying to tackle this issue by sharing the creative process of its games in talks at schools and universities. At TIGA, we are encouraging best practice via our TIGA Awards. For example, our TIGA Diversity Award encourages games businesses to adopt examples of excellence and helps raise
awareness of diversity as an important issue. The UK games industry is a success story. We want more women to have an opportunity to enjoy a creative, interesting and rewarding career in our sector. By addressing the STEM imbalance and by engaging directly with girls and women, we can inspire more women to pursue a career in our industry. Headshot credit: Richard Wilson OBE, photographed by the Institute of Directors
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