WIGJ wants to double number of women in games

Women in Games Jobs aims to help double the number of women working in the industry in the UK and Europe over the next ten years, it has announced.

Following discussions with several developers and publishers, the non-profit organisation plans to implement a series of new initiatives in the coming weeks and months to support reaching its ambitious goal. It is currently in discussions to collaborate with UKIE and TIGA, and STEMNET, and wants to work with as many other interested parties as possible

The organisation has yet to confirm specifics of how it will reach its targets, but said more will be revealed soon.

"More girls and women playing games mean more women are interested in working in the games industry but we should not assume that this will solve the current gender imbalance without the industry doing more to welcome a more diverse workforce,” said Women in Games Jobs CEO Jenny Richards-Stewart.

“Intel working with the IGDA demonstrated in January a significant commitment to bring more women and other diverse talent to the tech and games industries. We want more companies to step forward on issues of diversity and inspire the next generation of talent. The games industry in the UK and Europe is keen to do more and we are here to help. We want the games industry to get behind this goal. "

Last year research carried out by Develop found that women represent 15 per cent of employees at UK game development studios. This was based on 85 respondents – studios that employ 2,806 staff in total. Of these, it was found that 433 were women.