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"Women are out there in significant numbers," says G.I.R.L. boss

Torrie Dorrell, head of the SOE G.I.R.L. (Gamers in Real Life) program to provide scholarships to women to get into games development has said that the initiative is designed to address the balance the man-woman ratio in the average studio.

"Women are out there in significant numbers playing MMOs, action games, first-person shooters," she said. "What is lacking in the equation are women behind these games."

Dorell's colleague, SOE's Courtney Simmons, added: "Go to any video game convention and it appears quite obviously that there are more men than women in the industry."

Simmons, who enjoys playing video games with her three children, believes that women are being "gamed down to," because, she says, "there is a lack of understanding about how women play."

G.I.R.L.'s initial aim is to give a give a winning female student currently enrolled at an Art Institute school $10,000 toward her tuition and a paid internship at one of SOE's development studios.

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Patrick Garratt

Founder & Publisher (Former)

Patrick Garratt is a games media legend - and not just by reputation. He was named as such in the UK's 'Games Media Awards', the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. After garnering experience on countless gaming magazines, he joined Eurogamer and later split from that brand to create VG247, putting the site on the map with fast, 24-hour a day coverage, and assembling the site's earliest editorial teams. He retired from VG247, and the games industry, in 2017.

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