British non-profit Creative England has noticed a deficit of female game developers in the United Kingdom. Now, they aim to do something about it. Teaming up with Crowdfunder, they are working to promote the success of women in the gaming industry through their “Queen of Code” campaign.
The Crowdfunder page reports that while nearly half of all gamers in the UK are female (an estimated 49%), only about 12% of the people involved in game creation are women. In order to combat this imbalance in the industry, Creative England has donated £15,000 (around $243,858 USD) to the campaign, to be split evenly among the first three female-led development projects to meet their crowdfunding targets.
This campaign is the latest effort by Creative England to encourage the growth of the gaming, film and television, and digital media industries in the UK.
With a little luck, “Queen of Code” could see the start of similarly progressive projects in the United States and abroad, encouraging women and minorities to bring their creative talents to the gaming industry. With women entrepeneurs showing major gains in the crowdfunding arena, a little push from organizations similar to Creative England could inspire more women to bring more games like this one to the world.
