EA’s Moore: Gamergate has actually helped diversity

Peter Moore believes that for all the pain Gamergate caused, it has raised awareness of the need for more diversity in the games industry.

Speaking to Fortune, Moore says that the online controversy from last year made firms like EA pay more attention to female game developers, and that diversity and inclusion are “never far from our minds when we make hiring decisions”.

“We all need to step back sometimes and think about the environments we create for our people, the opportunities we create for people, the opportunities we create for people internally, and equally importantly how you bring new blood into the company,” he said. 

“It can’t all be white males. As a result, I think that hiring managers at EA over the last couple of years have had a sharper focus on diversity. I know that my teams around the world have. If there’s been any benefit to Gamergate, whatever Gamergate is, I think it just makes us think twice at times.”

Moore observed that some of EA’s biggest franchises are now headed up by women. The firm recently hired ex-Ubisoft producer Jade Raymond to run new studio Motive, as well as oversee Visceral Games’ new Star Wars title, a project being led by former Uncharted creative director Amy Hennig.

Meanwhile, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is under the care of executive producer Sara Jansson, while Sigurlina Ingvarsdottir is senior producer of Star Wars Battlefront. Moore adds that 40 per cent of The Sims’ development team is female, led by executive producer Rachel Franklin, while Samantha Ryan’s mobile division also has a large female headcount.