Dear Women in Games

It’s time to celebrate all that you do every day, not just on this, International Women’s Day 2019.

This is for the women who are the trailblazers. You were in the industry when it was even harder than it is now. There were fewer of you and you had to fight to make your mark and kick doors down along the way. Not content with just making it, you then turned around and stuck your hand out to help others come up behind you. And that’s why the rest of us are here and there are more of us every year. And we celebrate you and thank you.

This is for the women who are game makers, the players, the creators and the industry commentators. You make games a great place to be. To all the women who ever inspired me (and there are so many) by wearing a dress to work, by making really cool games, by taking flack you didn’t deserve with grace and clapping back by succeeding anyway. To all the women looking out for each other when it comes to staying safe in this industry – your care and thoughtfulness is appreciated. And to the women who are fighting to be recognised as women or for their marginalised voices to be heard – we recognise you and we hear you.

This is for the female games characters that I’ve loved playing, even though sometimes you weren’t treated very well. You had to fight in high heels and I bet, sometimes, you wanted some cargo pants, but instead you got a dress with a thigh high split. And sometimes you wondered if you really needed to do another shower scene or if you’d get to be on the cover of the game. But then a woman came along and took care of you and gave you a new lease of life. We got you, female games characters. We’re here fighting to give you mothers and daughters and supportive male co-stars with emotional range. We’re here fighting for you to be a mother or be allowed to grow older. We’ll get there. That’s a promise.

This is also for the little girls and the women yet to come. We are waiting for you and looking for you and ready to welcome you. We want you here and we’re going to support you, when you arrive. We’re trying to make it better than it was for us and you will make it even better again. There’s room here in the games industry for you and don’t let anyone tell you there isn’t.

Happy International Women’s Day 2019 to all of you women in games and thank you.

from Chella

Proud to be a woman in games.