Gaming has traditionally been an area dominated by men, but Girls Make Games aims to change that forever.
Girls Make Games Intro from LearnDistrict Inc. on Vimeo.
When you think of Gaming, the image that often comes to mind is of a lone teenage boy absorbed in front of a screen.
But did you know that worldwide, 47% of gamers are actually women and girls?
However, when looking at the gaming industry – the designers, engineers and creative that design games, only 12% of them are women.
Girls Make Games highlights the role of women in gaming – plus paves the way to redress this gender imbalance by providing training to young girls who are keen to become the next generation of games designers and engineers.
Taking the form of summer camps, workshops and game jams, Girls Make Games is an internationally based training initiative that helps girls learn the skills and get exposure to the industry to build their future career in gaming.
Girls Make Games was the brainchild of Laila Shabir, the CEO and co-founder of educational games studio LearnDistrict. Shabir was inspired to create the iniative when she found it difficult to find qualified female developers that she could hire for her company.
But why is getting girls into gaming so important?
Apart from addressing some of the more disturbing gender imbalances within the gaming world, the fact of the matter is - gaming equals cash and job security.
In fact, according to a CNN Report, being a games designer is one of the hottest and fastest growing jobs for the next decade. Plus the projected revenue of the gaming industry is estimated to be $90 Billion by 2017. That’s right, billion…insert your own Dr Evil laugh here.
Currently Girls Make Games has run workshops across America, but they’re looking to expand to an international focus. If you’d like them to come to Australia and get your girl into gaming (and laughing all the way to the bank) – you can email them here.
So, who wants their girl to become a games developer now?
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