The Los Angeles Times recently published an article about Shannon Studstill, the current leader of the Sony Santa Monica Studio (where she’s helped produce such titles as God of War and Journey), where she has commented on the state of women working in the video game industry. While the article itself focuses mainly on Shannon Studstill’s career and doesn’t say much that is new about women working in the video game industry, there is one interesting piece of news that comes from the International Game Developers Association’s executive director Kate Edwards, who was cited in the Los Angeles times article. More specifically, this tidbit:
“…the industry, which meticulously tracks the demographic breakdown of its players, lacks similar data on its own workers. She said her organization, which represents 8,000 members, plans to launch a survey this month at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco to start gathering such employment and workplace information.”
The IGDA does good work, so it’s heartening to see them do this to expand everyone’s knowledge of women in the video game industry and figure out what’s being done right or wrong. While the video game industry has made great strides in recent years to expand beyond its core demographic, the gender gap is one thing that still needs to be worked on. A survey like the IGDA is planning to do will hopefully shed some light on where the work needs to be applied. How does the old saying go? “Knowing is half the battle!”