Emily Pitcher - Harassment in the Games Industry

You first mentioned you would like to talk about overcoming harassment and assault in the industry. If you feel safe talking about it, have you ever felt unsafe as a woman in your working environment in the games industry?

I started my game development journey at my college's game development club and faced assault within my first few months of making games. I knew that the industry had these types of issues but never considered that I could be a victim. My assaulter worked at a well-respected studio while I was simply a student. Coupled with the fact that certain people disregarded my accusations, I worried that gaming would never change and I would always be bogged down by this experience.

What advice and encouragement would you give to women who have been in a similar situation?

If you feel comfortable, tell someone. Once I came forward with my experience, other women shared similar stories involving the same person. Suddenly, I wasn't speaking out for myself anymore. I was speaking out for past and future victims. Finally, report them. I'll be honest — the likelihood of your assaulter facing repercussions is slim. But at the very least, it sets a precedent that it's okay to stand up to inappropriate behavior. And just maybe, it'll scare the hell out of the person accused that we aren't backing down.

What advice do you have for studios to help them make women safer in their workplace environment that is actually helpful? I think we've all heard of different situations of HR or a studio head not taking a woman seriously in these sorts of situations. Especially if the one accused is a top performer in the studio.

Having women in leadership positions makes a huge difference in workplace safety. The first person I confided in about my assault is a woman in a leadership position, and she helped me report the incident. At Sondering Studio, we have an anonymous feedback form where our members can leave any sort of feedback and request how they would like their concern addressed. Even before we started development on our game, we wrote a document about our culture and expectations; in it, we included an investigation policy for if someone reports inappropriate behavior and defining what inappropriate behavior is. As the studio head, I am open about how I faced assault in the industry, so others know they can always come to me.

If the person accused is a top performer, as long as that person is harassing other members, then the overall productivity of the team goes down. Potential high-performers may be hesitant to join your studio, and existing members may want to leave. On a broader level, games cost a lot more than just money — time, sacrifice, creativity, and compromise. As a studio head, HR, or just a human being in the industry, do you really want to add safety to that list?

You also mentioned something about creating our own opportunities when faced with failure. What does an example of that look like to you?

I worked on multiple failed projects until I made my first game. I've been rejected from countless game development jobs. I've made it to the final round of interviews with Riot Games twice, just to be rejected twice. Today, I founded my own game studio. My game has an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam. I was even part of The Game Awards Future Class 2022. How did that happen? The industry said no to me and I stopped chasing a yes. Those rejections made me realize my dream isn't in getting a job at a big studio but to create the games I wanted to make: artistic, inclusive, and heartfelt.

Finally, you mentioned encouraging women to take positions of power or start their own studio. Why you you feel it is important for our industry to have more women in positions of power or as studio heads?

I'm tired of seeing variations of the same male protagonist. I'm tired of female characters being an accessory or eye candy. I'm tired of game development being seen as a boy's only club. Change is often enacted at the top. We need women pushing for promotions and starting their own studios. We need a woman in the writer's room when someone suggests a sexist idea. We need women artists who push for more diverse designs. The industry strives for innovation, but that can't happen when we're telling the same story over and over again.