Equality in gaming makes business sense, PAX Australia panel says

Diversity in gaming is important for its own sake, but it also makes simple economic sense.

That was the key message of a panel about equality in digital games at the convention PAX Australia in Melbourne on Friday called "Why Games Should Be For and By Everyone."

Moderated by Giselle Rosman of the indie game company Hipster Whale, the panel tackled a contentious issue that has gained a larger profile in recent years in the wake of the GamerGatephenomenon.

The panelists emphasised that studios, games designers and gamers themselves are limiting the industry by not encouraging and actively working toward inclusivity.

"We are in a creative industry, and we are creating stories and experiences for a lot of people," said Anna Irwin-Schutze, co-director of game audio studio Sound Librarian. "A lot of people like to play games. There’s a whole world out there full of people of different colours, lots of different languages, lots of different genders. Why would we not create for that?"

Morgan Jaffit, the director of independent game developer Defiant Development, agreed. From his point of view, Defiant Development wants to sell games to the largest possible audience, and so narrowing the scope of the people behind their creative and business decisions just seems like a bad idea.

The lopsided representation of women in the Australian gaming industry is certainly a real problem. A report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2013 about the state of the film, television and digital games industry in Australia said that only 8.7% of employees were female, the ABC reported.

"We'll start spending more time really think [sic] about where that creative talent is going to come from," Antony Reed, the CEO of the Game Developers' Association of Australia, promised at the time in an interview with MCV Pacific. "That step will be taken. Because it has to. We need that talent. We need those ideas."

Attracting minority groups, and especially women, could have a broad financial impact, suggested Clara Reeves, who works in funding for games, digital content and animation at Film Victoria. It's estimated that getting more women working, especially in nontraditional fields such as mining, for example, could boost Australia’s GDP by 11%, according to a report from the Australian Human Rights Commission. There's no reason why games can't have a similar impact.

If the big gaming companies realise diversity is one way to increase their share of the audience pie, why aren’t they moving on it? Unfortunately, businesses are inherently conservative in nature, Jaffit suggested. "The fast-follow is a constant in the industry," he added, meaning companies will jump on board with an idea once it's first been proven lucrative by someone else.

In the meantime, those working in the industry can take steps to help out. Irwin-Schutze said she takes a "scattergun approach" at Sound Librarian. Her company offers a discount to women for their online courses. She acknowledged that some women may of course be more privileged or wealthy than some men, but for now, her policy is a good solution. Jaffit said his company is also actively examining its hiring practices, including ensuring its interns are majority female.

So, Rosman asked, how will we know we've succeeded in achieving equality in gaming? "When we don’t have to have a panel like this," Irwin-Schutze replied.

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