Women now play, develop, promote and hold top spots in gaming worlds. See how it’s finally levelling the field
A new level has been unlocked. Across the gaming sphere – from the players and competitive leagues to developers and gaming companies – more women are present, visible and killing it. Noisy shooter games? They’re right there, wielding the gun. High-speed chases? They’re at the wheel. Quick, addictive, match-three puzzles? They’re crushing the leaderboard there as well.
The gaming industry is changing: It’s evolving as women developers, streamers, and gamers gain prominence and respect. (Shutterstock)
Gamezop’s own policies now include anonymising resumes (so recruiters do not know the gender of the candidate), a diverse interview panel, equal pay for equal work and zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment.Gamezop’s co-founder Gaurav Agarwal realised that companies with more women (like his team) create better versions of even casual games.A few years ago, the end goal of an in-game quest might have been to rescue a damsel in distress. Now, there are pots of gold, travel themes and furry aliens.Salone Sehgal, a passionate gamer, says that when she co-founded Lumikai three years ago, they consciously set out to tackle misnomers and misunderstandings about women in gaming.Salone, co-founder and partner of Lumikai, India’s first gaming-focused venture capitalist fund, says the word gamer is redundant.Mumbai’s Saloni Shirish Pawar, or Meow16k, as gamers know her, started playing online games 10 years ago. She’s won international tournaments, but she’s been heckled by other players for being a girl. (Satish Bate)Valorant is a first-person shooter game.Twenty-three year old Saloni Pawar, one of India’s foremost Esports athletes, started off playing Counter Strike (above).Heena (above), a character in Indus Battle Royale, is based on Heena Sidhu, India’s ace pistol shooter.Roby John, SuperGaming’s CEO and co-founder.Morni (right) is another strong woman character in the game Indus Battle Royale.
