Every year, Girls Make Games (GMG) workshops and activities bring more pride, surprise and excitement to the gaming industry than last year.Percentage of women last year 48% of gamers In the United States, women are making up an increasing share of the gaming workforce at all levels of the industry. Whether in development, publishing, marketing, competitive esports, journalism, or any other area of gaming, women are making a collective presence and their individual voices are being heard.
Girls Make Games was founded to foster the next generation of female voices in gaming and provide a platform and resources to pursue their passions. Sony Interactive Entertainment is celebrating Women’s History Month this year by visiting one of three development studios (Sucker Punch Productions, Insomniac Games and Bend Studio) to learn, listen and connect with other developers. It provided unprecedented opportunities for attendees. Young creatives in a welcoming and informative environment.
Let’s take a closer look at each event.
Sucker Punch Productions
The event invited attendees to interactive workshops hosted by GMG instructors to learn the basics of game design, including art, sound, and coding. All her GMG events are open to girls of any skill level, but in this case many of the participants had already started developing their craft.
Sucker Punch Productions founder Brian Fleming said: “for [some], it was probably our second or third event with GMG and we were pushing well beyond the curriculum for the day. It was amazing to see! ”
At the heart of GMG is a grassroots level engagement as part of a broader industry-wide effort to challenge outdated homogeneity cultures. “I believe an initiative like GMG is the most impactful solution to the deep gender imbalance in our business,” said Fleming. “It takes patience and a long-term view, but in my opinion [a] real solution. ”
The workshop, held at Sucker Punch’s studio in Bellevue, Washington, was divided into two groups because each participant had a different experience level. Within these groups, each participant was able to practice their skills and make a unique contribution to the joint project.
Joanna Wang, production art director at Sucker Punch Productions, emphasized the importance of encouraging each girl’s specific interests. She said, “They may love art, they may love coding. It’s just part of how we make games. What we can do is see how those pieces fit together.” Explain and show them the big picture.”
She continues: Hopefully, they can identify their strengths and start thinking about how they can apply them in the future. ”
Sucker Punch, darling sly cooper series and its recent successes, ghost of tsushimaBut they still maintain a close-knit working environment. “Motion he captures, Foley studios, and of course kitchen snack he bins, it’s big enough with exciting facilities,” he laughs Fleming. “But we’re small enough that I don’t think it was overwhelming for them.”
The welcoming environment helped encourage creative thinking in each participant. “We really appreciated the fresh perspectives they brought, the questions they asked,” Wang said. says. “One girl used to draw traditionally and wanted to apply her skills to video games. And it made me proud not only of my work, but of what she would bring to the industry in the future.”
She added: She was so prepared that she fell in love with it. In such moments, she can feel the passing of the torch to the next generation. ”
insomnia games
Located in sunny Burbank, California, Insomniac Games was founded in 1994 and its offices provided the perfect setting for the GMG workshop. Aaron Jason Espinoza, senior community manager at Insomniac Games, said: “I wanted them to learn not just about making games, but how games affect the emotions of the players and the importance of thinking about the player experience.”
After a quick tour of the studio and taking pictures with Ratchet’s Omni Wrench and Rivet’s Hammer, attendees sat down to meet a few key employees (or Insomniacs) to ask questions and get involved in making the game. I learned about the many hands involved. Animator, writer, audio designer, programmer, community manager. Everyone shared their experiences with the group and highlighted their team’s contribution to the project.
Espinoza said, “It was a great representation of how collaborative game development is. “Kids were amazed at all the avenues for pursuing a life and career as a game developer.” , participants were given the opportunity to apply what they had learned to develop their own side-scrolling platformer, and Espinoza was impressed with the results. “They were thinking about platform placement, enemy positions, and what’s best for the player experience.”
Espinoza said: “I can’t wait to see what these kids do with the knowledge they develop as they grow as game developers!”
bend studio
The workshop was Bend Studio’s first time hosting a Girls Make Games workshop and invited 13 participants from the local community to their Central Oregon office. As with her other two events, the day’s activities centered around her hands-on workshops, providing hands-on experience with the fundamentals of game development and the chance to pick the brains of the women at Bend Studios. it was done.
Bend Studio Community Manager Kevin McAllister said: “Of course the big Rager Bear statue got a lot of attention,” he adds with a laugh. After the tour, participants set about creating their own side-scrolling platformer with the goal of realizing a finished product by the end of the day.
“They were so excited to see their work come to fruition and turn their creativity into something they were really proud of,” McAllister said. Implementing the characters they created into our levels impressed even our own developers with what they accomplished in such a short amount of time.”
Similar to the workshops held in the offices of Insomniac and Sucker Punch, developers encouraged each participant to identify their personal strengths relevant to game design and development and hone those skills through workshop exercises. encouraged. After lunch, members of the Bend team from various disciplines within the studio hosted a development panel to discuss their journey into the games industry, share roles and responsibilities, and answer questions from attentive groups.
Between creative activities and conversations about finding a career in the gaming industry, the Bend team worked hard to provide a balanced, informative and enjoyable experience for all participants. It was an absolute privilege for our team to host such an amazing experience,” said McAllister. “It’s been so much fun talking to the next generation of game developers about games. One day we may even see them working on future projects at Bend Studio!”
