Women in Game Development, a book edited by Jennifer Brandes Hepler and released earlier this month, includes the personal stories of 22 women who work in the game industry.

Subtitled "Breaking the Glass Level-Cap," it offers multiple perspectives on working in the game industry and dealing with the industry's inherent hostility to women, in terms of employer behavior to workers, and the industry's traditional bias toward male consumers.

Many of these stories offer unique insights into the routes women have taken to get into gaming and the obstacles they have surmounted. They also deal with common themes, like harassment, co-worker negativity and bias.



"If there is one thing you get from reading this book, I hope it is to recognize that there is no single narrative of being a 'woman in games,'" writes Hepler. "But although the characters change, the setting is the same, and the hostility and ignorance we have all faced continue to be a defining part of many women's experience of games."

She argues that protest is the way to create change, by speaking out against injustice and by playing and creating games that challenge the status quo. In many respects, this book is also a protest. It is aimed at both men and women who either work in games or who aspire to do so, and it seeks to make a difference.

"Men in games must actively seek out the opinions and skills of their female colleagues," she says, adding that men can learn about hidden prejudices that hold back women and minorities.

Hepler formerly worked at BioWare on games like Dragon Age 2. Prior to leaving the company, she faced a torrent of abuse, after writing a blog post in which she described her own personal tastes in games.

The different stories in this book offer illuminating perspectives on working in gaming.

"The perception of my IQ dropped by 40 points overnight."

Jane Ng is an artist who has worked on Spore, Brutal Legend and Firewatch. In her chapter, she writes about unconscious bias in male-dominated workplaces. She and other women co-workers recognized "a level of implicit trust among people who belonged in an invisible club."

She adds: "If you were one of the 'bros' you would be trusted over a minority woman top performer even if you were new to the team or had no prior experience."

Speaking about the biases that are included in the games themselves, Megan Gaiser, CEO of Her Interactive writes: "When we tell our sons that they are dominant and our daughters that they are unworthy, we rob both of the potential to become good leaders. Unless we stand up and object to this message we are saying it is okay."

Karisma Williams is a technical artist and UX designer who has worked on Stubbs the Zombie, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and Destroy All Humans 3, spending time at Microsoft and Valve. She says that "being a double minority — African-American and a women — only stacked the odds against me."

"Managing people's perceptions of me was a new concept to me," she says, of navigating the corporate world. "I never thought of it until I was face-to-face with a senior director [who told me], it doesn't matter what you actually do; it's what others think you do. Where I am from, that just doesn't work. It's all about what you do. Period."

"Women get a bonus extra helping of crap."

Rebecca Ann Heineman (Bard's Tale trilogy Medal of Honor: Rising Sun) is a transgender woman who's worked as programmer in games since the days of Interplay. She writes about how her experience transitioning while working at Electronic Arts. The company and many of her coworkers were supportive, but as time went by she noticed "that people treated me differently than when they thought I was a male."

"My opinion stopped mattering," she writes. "My input was ignored. My coding skills were dismissed. Somehow, by having a female name, the perception of my IQ dropped by 40 points overnight."

Judy Tyrer, an engineer who worked on Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon games and is working on Ever, Jane: The Virtual World of Jane Austin, joined the game industry at age 50, after moving out of the computer business. She writes about dealing with "impostor syndrome," as well as some of the egregious sexual harassment she experienced in the computer industry.

"Unless we stand up and object to this message we are saying it is okay."

Brianna Wu, founder of Giant Spacekat (Revolution 60) says the game industry has always geared itself towards men and boys. "When I talk to men, one-one-one, they privately tell me how much they want to see more women in this field. They position themselves as an ally, and tell me how much they want it to get better. But they're rarely able to accept a critique of things they've done that hurt women." (Wu's italics.)

Harassment is an issue facing many women in games who, "get a bonus extra helping of crap," according to Laralyn McWilliams (Full Spectrum Warrior, Free Realms). "Some companies have stopped having credits in their games because women in the credits would find angry or enamored men searching them out on social media," she says.

Elizabeth Sampat, a senior game designer on games like Plants vs Zombies 2 and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon speaks about people who scold her for "ingratitude" to gaming, because she questions its inherent sexism.

"I am grateful to the game industry and I express that gratitude by trying to change the industry, to make it better for everyone."

The book is partly a response to online bullies and harassers, often motivated by misogyny and whipped up by political opportunists. In her introduction to the book, Hepler argues adds that conspiracy theorists who claim a "Feminist Illuminati" is at work in gaming have inadvertently helped to create "a community of female game developers determined to see each other succeed."

This is a "group of women who reach out to each other when someone is targeted and who support each other," including those "who have weathered gaming's up and downs since the 1980s and rising stars who have burst onto the scene in the last few years."