On Being a Girl in the Games Industry

[Atari]

Game artist Michelle Clay of Turbine Games gives her perspective on working in the gaming industry. Check out her editorial.

This is a young industry filled with young employees; and to top it off, it’s an industry that is all about play. So a large percentage of the employees are boisterous and unused to suit-and-tie formality. The result is a tee-shirt-and-jeans dress code, toys in the cubicles, nerf battles, after-work game sprees, over-the-top Halloween decorations, witty banter, trash-talk, and sometimes, topics of conversation that might get you a stern warning if you worked in an uptight environment. Sometimes it feels a bit like the Wild West. But, to balance that, from what I have seen, the folks in this industry know how to toggle in an instant from fun to serious. The work has got to get done, and it can’t be left in a shoddy state on account that the team was having a rubber-band battle.

[Ailurophile]

great inspiring article....just what I needed for a swift kick in the butt...umm, to be colorful...a$$!

[Maflash]

suspect that the percentage is still so low because teen girls are not likely to consider making games as a potential career.

[DarkRos]

I working in the industry and your articles was right on the money. I sometimes feel left out because I am not one of the boy's. I enjoy my job as a game tester and I am currently in college for game programming and design. I am a hard core gamer and will play any thing but I not into spot games. I am really happy that there is a web suite for women gamers like me.

[Ailurophile]

welcome aboard!

[Rebecca Lessay]

Great article! (and helpful)
She really put things the way they are and even know how to solve some things. When I used to work at the mail-company it was considered a "man-job" because of the physical labour. It wasn't so surprising that the office was full of men and these were men who were rough-round-the-edges and being blunt, ruffing around and even aggressive at some points was just their way of life. Before I entered the room and they noticed I was there I could hear guys talking loud and foul-mouthed, things dropping on the floor abruptly while some other guy called him a moron and the things I heard about whats going around in their bedroom...
It was all fine by me.

But as soon as I walked in they started talking about the weather, or pulling their clothes straight and the clutz that kept dropping mail over the floor wasn't yelled at but actually recieved help all of the sudden. Because they didn't knew about anything else to talk about except for the weather it went silent. Which made me really uncomfortable knowing that the silent was because of me and the well trusted atmosphere wouldn't come back unless I was out of the room.

[Drgnfli484]

Great article...Its great to hear that there are so many more women out there getting into this industry. Being a woman in the games industry does come as a double-edged sword at times and it's good to hear that my feelings are shared across the board. Sometimes I believe that being in this industry compels one to appear more tomyboy-ish just to fit in and not have everyone walk on eggshells around you. Being an artist in this industry, there's always the question of whether your artwork is really being taken seriously or if people are letting you down easy because they don't feel you deserve the harsh criticism. However, I definitely see that I get less harsh critiques the most of the guys. I hope that in the coming years we see even more women in this industry

[carbyn]

Great Article.

[vansau]

Fantastic article. They posted it up at GayGamer.net.

[Fayt]

VAN!!! *tackle hug*

[Gizka]

Nice article!!!
If possible, I would like to become a software engineer or something like it myself and help creating games or other kinds of software. This article (especially the lines quoted by atari at the begin of this thread) makes me feel even more like this is the perfect future for me!!! Thanks for the interview Michelle.

[vansau]

VAN!!! *tackle hug*

I feel loved

[Sir Habboi]

A very interesting article...I find it shocking that a woman’s pay is lower just because of their gender...And I can't believe what 'Rebecca Lessay' is saying...It just sounds a bit un-real. I would not want to work in an environment like that if that was the case.

[Castaras]

A very interesting article...I find it shocking that a woman’s pay is lower just because of their gender...And I can't believe what 'Rebecca Lessay' is saying...It just sounds a bit un-real. I would not want to work in an environment like that if that was the case.

But they're worried about offending poor delicate little ladies who will scream and faint at the hint of someone saying "D*mn". The harsh language is too much for their poor hearts, and they need to be kept safe from the troubles of the world.
[/sarcasm]

Ok, maybe I'm exaguarrating, but this is what quite often happens to girl in a "Man's world".

[Maflash]

how does that square with this quote from the editorial:

Let me illustrate another positive about being in the minority.
Some years ago, there was a random convergence of women in our company’s kitchen. It just so happened that five or six of us had stepped in on different errands. We were in the middle of chuckling about it when a male employee rounded the corner. He stopped in his tracks, and to this day I still swear I could see an exclamation point pop into the air above his head. He looked from one of us to the next with wide eyes, and abruptly scurried out of the kitchen.
The resulting laughter could be heard for miles.

What do you think the result would have been if the genders were swapped?

Or perhaps consider that she is the one making them feel uncomfortable. Elsewhere, I mentioned a gym that was for women only, and someone assumed it was because the men were giving the women grief. This is normal.
So If the men are feeling uncomfortable because they, for example, feel their actions are under a microscope then what?