Women represent half of the gamer population

"Women don't know how to play video games."

"A girl can't be that good."

“You lost to a girl?”

We've all heard some of these stereotypical phrases about women in the gaming world - machismo is still very visible in this industry. But, if before playing consoles or computers was considered “a boy's thing”, nowadays the reality has become quite different - there are more and more women > gamers, in Portugal and the rest of the world. Nationally, they represent 35% of gamers and internationally, they reach 48%. But are they given the stage to shine?

Dimension Seven, or D7, as she is known, was a professional Counter Strike Global Offensive player for the Spanish team Vodafone Giants Red, until the beginning of 2021. Despite being one of the best players nationally, she complained She hears sexist comments every day and feels discriminated against for being a woman in this world.

D7 is one of the only Portuguese professional players, but says she still cannot make this her only income. In Portugal there are still very few female teams and those that do exist are unpaid. The case is quite different when we analyze the male universe - more and more professional teams are appearing and with sponsorship.

Despite representing almost half of the gamer population, women practically do not hold creative positions. The total number of games developed by them is only around 10%, according to Women Up Games. Another study, from 2020, carried out in the 14 largest gaming companies worldwide, reveals that 84% of executive positions in the industry are held by men. Outside the executive area, only 24% of workers are women.

Most companies continue to create products aimed at men and the idea that this is a male-dominated industry hurts brands. There continues to be a lack of representation of female characters in video games. Several studies reveal that gender stereotypes continue to prevail, often using objectified and sexualized images. When this does not happen, female characters are portrayed as objects of love interest or as damsels in need of rescuing.

But there is good news! Feminist Frequency reported a significant improvement in 2020 in the representation of female characters. 18% of games released last year featured female characters. But it is still too early to know whether 2020 was an anomaly or whether it represents the beginning of a new trend to showcase female protagonists, free from gender stereotypes.

At an international level, the Women in Games Ambassador program has more than 400 ambassadors around the world, working to support women who want to join the games industry - the aim is to double the number of women in gaming in the next 10 years.

In the business world, initiatives such as #RaisetheGame, based in the United Kingdom, encourages companies to create more inclusive work environments. More than 100 companies have already joined this initiative, thus creating spaces with opportunities for everyone.

Despite the achievements of women in the gaming world, there is still a long way to go, especially in Portugal. It is important to support the development of inclusive initiatives and communities of practice and is often the first step.

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