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鈥楳aking video games isn鈥檛 just for boys鈥� 鈥� a 7-year-old girl investigates gender imbalance in the gaming industry

2 July 2018

42% of gamers are women, but only 19% of workers in the gaming industry are (source: UKIE)

In the United Kingdom, the proportion of women who work in the computer games industry is less than half the proportion who play the games.

Dr Matthew Barr, a games researcher from University of Glasgow, described this gender imbalance as “something to be concerned about.”

“It would be nice to have an industry where my daughter was just as likely to get a job as anyone else.”

At a games exhibition in Glasgow, his seven-year-old daughter Eva learnt how people are beginning to challenge this gender disparity.

Why are there so few female game developers?

Dr Matthew Barr and daughter Eva investigate why so few women work in the games industry.

Dr Barr agreed that changes in the games industry have brought a lot of joy to people over the last 40 years.

From the simplistic nature of Pong to the hyper-realistic titles of today, video games have become one of the biggest forms of entertainment.

The boom in gaming has also resulted in creative hubs appearing throughout Scotland, with around 1,500 people employed in an industry that raised around £71m worth of tax revenue last year.

Eva’s knowledgeable appreciation for gaming, coupled with a passion for learning why there aren’t as many women as men working in the computer games industry, led her to someone in the know who could tell her more.

Games producer Melissa Knox

A more diverse work force means more diverse games
Melissa Knox, Producer

Melissa Knox is a producer at Blazing Griffin, a company that started out making video games but has since diversified into making films and creating post-production graphics.

Agreeing with Eva that video games are not just for boys, Melissa added that “having a more diverse workforce means you can make a more diverse set of games.”

One of Melissa’s roles as a producer is to encourage young people, specifically women, to get into .

The games industry needs people with a breadth of knowledge, not just computer programming.

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