SUMMER 2019 |INNOVATION&TECHTODAY 55
RobynGray
ChiefCreativeOfficer& Cofounder at
OtherworldInteractive
Ingeneral,inclusivityisanissue.Cultural
andracialinclusivityisalsoprettyawfulin
games.Whatwe’vebeentryingtodowith
protagonistsinourgamesistryingtomake
themdiverseorgiveyoutheoptions to be
diverseandtoberepresented.
There’sdefinitelya hiringissue,obviously.
ButI thinkwhat’smoreimportant,orat
leastasimportant,isyouhaveallthese
womenorpeopleofcolorwhoplaygames
andloveplayinggames,butthey’re
alwaysstuckplayingthewhite
guy.I thinkaswehiremore
womenandgenerallyhire
morediversely,hopefully
theirinfluencewillcreate
moreexperienceswhere
youcanbediverse
protagonistswhich
would,inturn,encourage
thecontinuedandincreased
hiring of more women.Haveyouexperiencedanychallenges
thatareuniquetobeinga woman in a
male-dominatedindustry?
I don’tthinkI’veexperiencedanyof
that...I think,becausemybrotherdidall
these– he’snineyearsolderthanme– I saw
himdoX,Y,orZandassumedI coulddoit,
becausewhywouldn’tI beabletodoit?
Butreally,I couldn’tadmitbeinga
womanwouldimpactmylifeuntil
Gamergatestartedreallycoming
upandI startedgoing,“IguessI
ama woman.”ButI don’treally
thinkofmyselfthatway.I just
thinkofmyselfasa person
tryingtogetstuffdone.
Howdoyouthinkthegaming
industrycouldbecomea more
inclusive space for women?
MeganGarrett
DigitalAccountAssociateat ActivisionBlizzard
Whatis oneofyourfavoritegamesofalltime?
Thisisa difficultquestionasI havesomany,butif I hadtopickone,Persona 5
(Atlus).Ontheoutside:a verycharming,stylish,andveryJapaneseRPG,butthere
isa lotmoretoit.I lovedthenarrativeandtheconnectionsbetweenallthe
characters.Takingawaytheimagery,thefemalecharacterswereempoweringand
independentandnotusedinsupportiverolestoseethemalesthroughtheir
mission.Theywerea unit and, having spent almost 100 hours playing this game, I
wassadtoseeit end.
Doyouseeyourselfrepresentedinthegamesbeingdevelopedtoday?
Femalecharactersarebecominglessofa supportorasa prizeforthemalelead
charactersinvideogames.CharacterslikeClaireRedfield(ResidentEvil 2 ),Lara
Croft(TombRaider),andAloy(HorizonZeroDawn) I canrelatetosomuch.
Youngwomentryingtostrivetowardstheirgoalwithobstaclesintheirway.It’snot
easy,butintheendtheypushthemselvestoachievewhattheysetouttodo.I
believe,likeme,thisissomethingeverywomanintheindustrycanrelateto.
Howcanyoungwomenbecomemoreinvolvedinthegamingspace?
Attendasmanyeventsastheycan,whetherdevelopmenttalksorbigshowssuch
asEGX,Gamescom,orE3.Theindustryisallaboutbuildinga strongnetwork,so
if moreyoungwomenattendedpubliceventstheywouldhavethe opportunity to
start building that by talking to other women in the industry.