Gamers are finally seeing equal gender representation. However, the industry which produces the games does not reflect this change.
In 2022, the number of women and men playing video games in Canada evened out to 50/50. Although there are still sexism issues that lie within the communities of gamers. Overall, the amount of women playing has grown since 2010.
Video games are growing content wise. Less sexualization and more diversity is creating a wider audience. Anyone can find a video game that satisfies their criteria for entertainment, without having to worry about issues the industry saw back in the 2000’s
The industry itself does not reflect this same growth. While the consumer background is changing, the industry isn’t. A recent study done in 2021, shows that the number of women working in the video game industry in Canada hasn’t broken 30%. Ontario has the highest number of women working in the industry with 26%. This map shows the breakdown of every province and the amount of women who work in the industry.
In reality, the amount of female perspective in the industry is still lacking. The 50% of gamers who are women do not have the same representation as their male counterparts. What effect does this have?
Lynnea Fox has been an employee at GameStop for over 3 years. As a woman working there, she’s seen first-hand how the lack of female representation in the gaming community affects how men see women in the industry.
After years of having video games marketed to men specifically, employees like Lynnea struggle to show their knowledge and natural talents within the industry. Even though the customers that come in will be a mix of men and women, the effects of the lack of representation in the industry still have a strong hold on the customers.
“It’s subtle sexism whenever I attempt to talk to customers or people, they will tend to brush me off and speak to a male co-worker,” says Fox.
She recounts that when this happens, it undermines her talents and her position at Gamestop, which she knows very well.
“I’ve had some male coworkers interrupt me while I’m speaking, and that kind of invalidates what I’m saying,” she says.
Fox has brought up this issue before with her male co-workers but she says they don’t really notice this issue.
“They have apologized, but it does still happen every now and then, and I don’t think that they fully realize that what they’re doing is a subtle form of sexism,” she says, recalling the number of times she has to tell her male coworkers to stop interrupting her. This infographic shows the difference in the industry versus the customers who are buying video games.
Fox believes one of the reasons that customers don’t think women will know as much about the most popular games is because of the failures in terms of marketing.
“The easy, cutesy games are marketed towards women,” she says. This correlates to the more difficult strategy or shooter games having a more toxic, male community that doesn’t invite women even though they are buying the games as well.
The changes in video game culture are noticeable. Women are playing video games just as much as men. The video game industry needs to reflect this change and create a more accessible working environment for women.