As a current trainee in the Employment team, I had the pleasure of accompanying avid gamers, Jonathan Chamberlain (Head of Employment, Labour & Equality) and Rebecca Burford (Head of Tech Venture Capital) to the Guildford.Games Festival 2024.
With my limited gaming background, consisting primarily of nostalgic experiences including playing Animal Crossing on Nintendo DS over a decade ago, the event provided an exciting opportunity to delve into a new creative world and industry. Both Jonathan and I were excited to join Rebecca. She’s been heavily involved in supporting Guildford Games and, as it became clear throughout the day, knows who’s anyone in this corner of the industry. Her day job is an M&A lawyer with significant experience in gaming law having previously acted for a range of games developers on their acquisitions and disposals: here, she’s part of what makes the community fun and rewarding to belong to. Jonathan was particularly thrilled to attend the event, having recently revealed to the Employment Team that is a an ardent (and previously secret) weekend gamer. We had some difficulty in prising him away from the first stall he came across: Absolutely Games soon-to-be-released Classified: France ’44, which he told me was a turn-based single-player historical strategy game and which he has now pre-ordered. 30 minutes in and already the day was a success.
Held at G Live in Guildford, a vibrant hub for the gaming industry and housing over 10% of the UK game industry workforce across over 70 studios which have emerged in the area, including renowned studios, EA, Epic Games, Glowmade, and Supermassive Games, the town is clearly a thriving hot bed for gaming businesses and educational programmes which attract talent from not just the local area , but also overseas.
The Festival served as a convergence point for professionals across various subsets of the gaming industry, from developers and publishers to marketers and legal advisors, providing a multifaceted view of the opportunities and challenges across the sector – and not least a new found appreciation on my part, of the of breadth of skills required in the process of creating a game.
A personal standout from day was attending the “Celebrating and encouraging diversity in the games industry” talk hosted by Lauren Kay, host of the “She Plays Games” podcast, dedicated to celebrating women working in the games industry. The talk immediately caught my attention on the schedule given gaming is typically perceived to be a heavily male dominated sector, both in terms of those working to develop games and as consumers of games. Rebecca is also involved in giving talks and working with the Women in Games Initiative which champions women and girls throughout the game industries and educational pipeline.
The session explored diversity, equity, and inclusivity both in the physical and virtual worlds. I developed an appreciation of the value of incorporating female developers and writers in the creative process, to ensure authentic representation of women and female empowerment (which may be lacking when games are exclusively penned and designed by male creators) and avoiding objective and overly sexual video game characters, which not only is a particularly unhelpful image to present to children and teenagers, but alienates female players of the same games – a key issue highlighted by the panel. Not only is this key to positive gender representation more generally, but seeking to achieve more authentic casting in terms of gender, race and disabilities helps drive interest in careers in the sector amongst underrepresented groups.
“Games are accessible to all; making games should be accessible to everyone”
An interrelated issue explored was ensuring accessibility to games. Likewise, I developed a newfound appreciation of the true value and importance, both to businesses and their customers, of inclusive hiring practices. Only a diverse workforce with perspectives gained through real lived experiences can ensure accessible game development which truly works in practice. Ultimately, it is unlikely that anyone who plays games which they do not feel reflect them, or are not fully accessible to them, will feel compelled to then create them. After all, games are accessible to all; making games should be accessible to everyone (one of my key takeaways from a panellist).
The day presented the opportunity to hear about the progressive steps numerous key players across the gaming sector are taking to ensure DE&I is embedded in their culture and operations. For example, by ensuring inclusive hiring practices, representation at leadership level, supporting career pathways and offering learning & development opportunities, across the recruitment lifecycle. The panel session which I attended further reinforced the importance of training to raise awareness of DE&I in the workplace; for example, the suggestion of including the National Autistic Society training courses as part of a company’s onboarding programme. Experiences shared by the speakers affirmed the effectiveness of such training, and the real tangible benefits of DE&I awareness courses in altering perceptions in the workplace and facilitating more effective working relationships, which in my view presents a compelling place for putting such training on an equal footing with typical mandatory data protection and cyber security courses offered by employers.
Overall, the day served as a reminder of the key role employers play in empowering employees to become the best versions of themselves by treating employees as individuals, and embracing diversity by acknowledging individual strengths, weaknesses, and experiences in the workplace. The discussion served as a reminder of the importance and impact of remote working in the post-Covid world. Although so many of us have become used to this as a part of our weekly routine, the benefits of flexible and remote working, particularly to those with disabilities should not be overlooked. For many, home working serves as an empowerment tool which helps make employees feel comfortable and succeed in their careers, despite health conditions or caring responsibilities which previously may have acted as an obstacle. As a key aspect of flexible working, towards which there is seismic shift on the horizon with the introduction of the day one right to request such for all from 6 April 2024, flexible working is of real importance to a diverse workforce, and employers’ accommodation of such arrangements can help attract a more diverse workforce of which benefits can be reaped.
It is evident that the gaming industry is more than just video games; it’s a vibrant ecosystem in which many key players actively consider and promote DE&I across their businesses, and from which there are many valuable takeaways.
