Women are used to being excluded in male-dominated professions and spaces, and the gaming industry has been particularly harsh, with so few in competitive teams and game development companies. Perhaps it’s only fitting that women are yet again pushed away from gaming with 30 years of PC Gamer.
The publication was criticized by many for not including any women in their anniversary magazine, almost as if there have never been any influential female voices in the gaming industry. Maybe it didn’t matter to them that the many notable women who worked as directors, video game designers, and writers were responsible for the production of their favorite Triple-A games. They might’ve forgotten or completely glossed over the many amazing female video game composers who have produced OSTs that they play in the background.
In an endless sea of men, you’d at least expect trailblazer Rieko Kodama to make the cut. She was known for breaking the glass ceiling by being an iconic game director and game artist in SEGA at a time when women were less recognized in the cutthroat video game development industry. Kodama proceeded to work on popular titles such as Phantasy Star as a director and Skies of Arcadia as its producer. But for recent examples, look no further than Jen Zee herself, who is the art director of Supergiant Games. This is the indie gaming company that brought the dungeon-crawler hit Hades to life.
Even the popular Uncharted series has Amy Hennig to thank for its creation and writing, and they couldn’t even put her up in that magazine despite their praise for the game. There is no excuse not to include any women in this issue, particularly when they’ve worked on many critically acclaimed video games through the decades.
(featured image: Supergiant Games and Naughty Dog)
