From a joystick at the arcade, to a controller on the sofa and now a bulky VR headset, video games have evolved like the Pokémon Charmander eventually evolves into Charizard at level 36. The video game industry’s demographics are also evolving as they strive to make it a more welcoming environment for women.
Electronic Arts (EA) Orlando, a video game development company, held their annual “Get in the Game” STEAM Camp from August 17th-21st and brought 16 high-school students together from Citrus, Orange and Seminole County Public Schools and a private school in Apopka. The Camp was for young women and non-binary students that aspire to pursue a career as software engineers with a focus on developing video games.
Giada Jean-Francois, a junior at Forest Lake Academy in Apopka, was one of the students accepted out of the 57 applicants.
“Get in the Game” STEAM Camp is focused on education in “coding skills and real-world applications of science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM.)”, per EA. The students accepted are able to participate free of cost and learn from professional programmers and artists who developed renowned games such as EA Sports Madden NFL™ and EA Sports PGA Tour™. The students were placed in teams to work on developing a game under the instruction of professionals.
Jean-Francois said she was inspired by her father, a software engineer, but that it was her love of video games that narrowed down her search within the field of software engineering.
“The first ever console I had was the Wii U and the first ever game that I played was Minecraft…” Jean-Francois said. “Currently, my favorite video game I would say is Sims 4.”
Jean-Francois said she didn't expect to have her application accepted.
"I was excited and grateful for the opportunity.”
Jean-Francois said that she was encouraged and felt inspired by the instructors and their friendly nature. Interacting with professional software engineers gave her insight on what their job and life is like. She said that by having the opportunity to be guided by professionals that she believes she has gained experience that others her age might not have.
“I learned a lot about how to make games and what it’s like, although it was only for a week…” Jean-Francois said. “I do think that I might have a step up from other people…”
The team that Jean-Francois was on created a game similar to a popular mobile game, Flappy Birds. She said that getting to know the background and perspectives of her teammates was interesting.
The Camp was created to give individuals that have historically been underrepresented a chance at getting their foot in the door and witnessing that there are people like them who are respected and excel in their job. Jean-Francois said that in her experience she feels welcomed into the world of video game development.
Jocel Thornhill, EA Orlando’s director of operations and program management, said that she wants to use the company’s programs to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce. She said that by introducing students to professionals that look like them allows those students to feel comfortable when asking questions and being introduced to new ideas.
“So overall, our goal is to bridge the gap between women and non-binaries in the technology and the video game industry,” Thornhill said.
Males have been drawn to software engineering and video game development and this has led to an overwhelming discrepancy between men and women in the field. According to Statista’s website, game developers were 61% male, 30% female and 8% nonbinary in 2021. EA Orlando intends to balance those scales, which in turn would lead to the development of games that are representative and can appeal to more players.
Another issue that has surfaced within the past decade in the gaming community is the objectification of women through female character designs.
“…If we have female, or women, non-binary game designers, that lens will definitely translate into character design, how characters are represented in games…” Thornhill said. “…Having women on various teams who have that perspective and who can add value in those ways will definitely make our games more inclusive going forward.”
Thornhill said that the skills learned and experiences had at STEAM Camp are necessary in the video game industry but also in the field of technology careers overall. She said that she paid attention to how the teams came together and collaborated, noticing that Jean-Francois did a great job of joining and contributing right from the start.
EA Orlando has been hosting “Get in the Game” since 2018 and recently two of the students from a previous year’s camp became interns at the company and ultimately were hired as full-time employees. Thornhill says that the goal is to give participants the chance to come back to EA, become interns and then employees. She said if they don’t choose to stay in game development that they at least gathered experience that could help them excel in another field within software engineering.
Thornhill said that if there was any advice she could give to young women that want to pursue a career in video game development is to apply for “Get in the Game” STEAM Camp and more importantly not give up on their dreams. She said there are people within the industry who are willing to help that young future software engineer figure out how to achieve their goals.
