Newton-Dunn: "It’s crazy that we don’t have more women making games"

Speaking here, Emily Newton-Dunn, former Burnout producer and current dev on EA’s Harry Potter series, has called for more women to get involved in development both for the good of the industry and games themselves.

“More women are playing games, and we’ve got a whole generation of kids who were brought up with games and that’s sort of non-gender specific," she said. "Personally I don’t think you have to be a woman to make great games for women, but I think that sometimes women might bring a different sensibility to the table which will enhance or make games more appealing to women. I think we’re making lots of games that women are enjoying playing and it’s crazy that we don’t have more women making the games.”

Newton-Dunn added: “Every time I say to women, ‘Oh I work in the games industry’, they’re always astounded because it’s just not a career path that they’ve ever thought about."

Her comments come after SOE announced its G.I.R.L. initiative at GDC last month, a project designed to give money for college sponsorships to women interested in games development.