Especially for International Womens Day (and continuing all week) we’ve created a series of interviews to co-incide with the annual celebration of women’s achievements all around the world.
There’s great advice for women who want to be part of the gaming world and we find out what’s changed, what’s changing and what still needs to change if women’s voices are to be heard and gaming is to become more inclusive, more entertaining and more engaging for everyone.
We caught up with Jacki Vause, the founder and CEO of Dimoso PR, the all-service marketing and communications agency specialising in mobile games and technology. With over 30 years of experience in enterprise, technology and games, Jacki heads up a team working with wealth of cutting-edge brands.
PocketGamer.biz: Firstly, tell us about your work at Dimoso
Jacki Vause: We’re global games and tech agency which I founded in 2011. Right now, we’re working with a wide, eclectic range of exciting clients, ranging from AI solutions and metaverses to in game advertising, games publishers and developers and games events. And I am working with some inspirational women in the mobile games industry such as Kelly Vero, Liat Barer form Odeeo, Harriet Hughes from Playstack, Patty Toledo from Playsense and Rachel Karry from ME Ventures
Where there’s still room for improvement is in the core and hardcore gaming communities. This is where we tend to see the most vitriol and general sexism targeted towards women, and this is where the focus should be. I think it will change with time, but unfortunately, there’s still room for improvement.
The core and hardcore gaming communities is where the focus should be. I think it will change with time, but unfortunately, there’s still room for improvement.
Jacki Vause
How long have you been working in with related industries and what made you want to work in the field?
I’ve been working in mobile games since 2011, so quite a while now! I’ve been working in communications for decades, and I’ve found games to be the most welcoming, kind, inclusive and exciting of the lot. I got into games during the beginnings of the mobile revolution in the early 2010s, when studios like Rovio were ruling the roost. At the time, it felt like the next big advancement in the industry, with bundles of untapped potential – thankfully, this turned out to be true.
Do you feel like attitudes towards female gamers and women working in games have changed, and are changing?
Yes and no. I think attitudes towards women working in the industry have definitely changed in the last few years. We’re seeing more and more women in higher positions, leading the charge for changing norms all across the board; from developers, to publishers to middle-ware providers. There is a ’no’ when it comes to the more technical product or coding led jobs. We need to see more women in these core roles. The other ‘no’ is in regards to “female gamers”, and even then, this depends on the way you look at it. When looking at mobile games more specifically, the metrics are quite clear that women play just as much – or even more – than men. They may not class themselves as “gamers” per se, but they’re very much players of games.
Where there’s still room for improvement is in the core and hardcore gaming communities. This is where we tend to see the most vitriol and general sexism targeted towards women, and this is where the focus should be. I think it will change with time, but unfortunately, there’s still room for improvement.
What do you think that having more women in games can bring to the industry and the games we make?
I think having more women just adds more diversity; diversity of thought and diversity of background. Being a traditionally male-dominated industry, a majority of the games we have seen created are those from a man’s perspective. I don’t think there are enough woman-made projects that tell stories or share experiences from a woman’s perspective.
What’s the road ahead? How can we encourage more women to get involved and make a difference?
I think this issue – as with many issues in society – stems from a grass-roots level. When it comes to creating games, we need to let young women know that this is not only a viable career path, but one of the most welcoming industries in the world. When it comes to playing games, we’ve definitely seen an influx of female lead characters, but I think it’s equally as important to have more female writers and developers to tell and create these stories – more Amy Hennigs and Lena Raines.