USC Girls in Games

International Women’s Day may have passed, but celebrating female achievements never stops. A spotlight on women and their achievements is necessary, especially in the world of games.

The gaming sphere, like most other industries, is heavily dominated by men. Stories about misconduct and toxicity in the workplace are not a rare sight in the gaming industry. Even the largest companies, like Riot Games and Activision Blizzard, have found themselves in the midst of avoidable scandals involving gender discrimination. These issues have been around since the beginning of gaming and could fill articles in and of themselves.

However, more and more new opportunities are arising for women to find success in a heavily male-biased industry.

One such space is USC’s first female-targeted gaming organization: USC Girls in Games. Founded last spring, the club is a space for USC’s female gamers and game designers to have a space to connect and interact.

Having traversed the vast scape of USC’s gaming-related organizations and servers, USC Girls in Games is by far the most unabashedly feminine. Upon first glance, there are star, heart, and flower emoticons scattered across the directory. Though, rather than it being a tacky amalgamation of gendered items, the server is set up in an aesthetically pleasing, yet extremely helpful manner. Home to just over 100 members, the USCGiG Discord server is a place where you can do it all.

I had the chance to speak with two creators of USC’s first club for female gamers and ask them about their motivations when creating this organization.

“It felt almost impossible that we didn’t have a space for women in games,” says USCGiG co-founder sophomore Abigail “strawberrie” Sullivan. “When me, Olivia and Emily started talking about it. We were just brainstorming about all-women game developer teams as a jest at first, and then it went into this conversation about how unreal it was that we didn’t already have some space for women in gaming here, especially since USC Games has always been proud of being 50% female in their acceptances.”

Another co-founder, junior Olivia “livvin” Morales, spoke about the issues within gaming culture that prevented women from fully having a seat at the table. “It’s a problem that persists throughout the entertainment and technology industries but I feel that gaming is a specific subculture that has issues which cannot be generalized under the umbrella of other industries,” said Morales.

It is a truth that any woman in gaming is keenly aware of. At some point in their gaming career, they will personally or indirectly experience some form of harassment solely for their gender. The creators of USCGiG understood well the issues that plagued women in gaming.

From male names dominating the credits of her favorite games, to animosity from randoms when playing games, Sullivan explained that there was ample reason behind their decisions. “We wanted to facilitate a safe space for girls and people who care about women’s issues in USC Games, and we felt super comfortable doing it because of the progressive environment that exists within USC Games,” Morales said.

The organization does just that and more. When asked about the club’s mission statement, Sullivan was clear. “We’re hoping that GiG can become both a social and professional resource for/about women in games! We want to enable women to get their names on those credit screens by both offering professional guest speakers/lecturers, develop a network of connections and to help people develop the confidence to reach out for these roles while offering a community to support them.”

While the server does offer group game nights and fiery chat rooms, the amount of sheer help available is what truly makes this server shine. There are chat rooms for questions about USC in general, where students both new and returning can have any of their queries answered. The events tab features links to various gaming and artistic competitions that are open for application both within and outside of USC. And most notably, there is a tab for resources, where members of the server can find and sign up for various scholarships and aid that will help them further their education.

While there is much work to be done in terms of bridging the gender gap, the founders of the org are optimistic. “Hopefully,” said Sullivan, “by making a space for women in games here, at the no. 1 game design school, we can work to shift the culture around gaming to embrace women and also to improve our professional outlooks and outcomes.”