Games are quickly becoming a big part of our broader culture. They can do everything from being art or stories people enjoy, create social commentary, inspire people, bring people together or even give differently abled people or those with mental illness an escape or a way to connect with others they might not have the opportunity to do otherwise. Going in to game development is far from selfish or for self enjoyment: it’s a way to create enjoyment, and even unthought of applications, for others.

Big or small there is more than one way for one to make a difference and change the world. In fact, I believe the more “average” aspirations we have from women in tech, the closer we are to true equality in the industry. If all you hear about are the women who purify water with a straw or save the planet, people can still see these women as “special” and “not the norm” so of course it’s okay for them to go into tech. But people might not see the average women as suitable for tech. That is not to say you, nor game designers/developers are “just average” or not amazing! Gaming is awesome and important.

Sombra from Overwatch

Artistic media like games has so much effect on the world. When games are done well they can inspire and uplift people, get them to think, bring people together, or even just have some fun. And fun is just as valuable as trying to save the world. I’m passionate about this because not only is it a fantastic way of combing art and tech, I believe I’m helping people by adding a new perspective to an already male dominated field, so that little girls and women don’t have to put up with hyper sexualized female avatars, and have games revolving around a female protagonists like Horizon Zero Dawn. No matter what tech should be enjoyable, and knowing how many women play video games I’m confident that there are plenty of people women could help as game developers.

Pursue your interests. Pursue what fulfills you, whether that is game development, or something else. You choose what makes you happy and gives you purpose. While you’re at it be as feminine and flamboyant as you would like to be while doing it. You are helping to change people’s ideas of what a programmer/gamer/game developer looks like. You are redefining what role models look like and making the world a more awesome place by being yourself.