June 13, 2023
Pride and Diversity: Events, Tips and Resources 2023
Diversity has become a central topic for the games industry and information, attention and networking are important in this context. On the occasion of Pride Month 2023, we collect events, resources and organizations that can be interesting for LGBTQ+ game developers, employers or allies to start digging deeper into the topic.
June is Pride Month - a time to celebrate the progress our society has made in terms of acceptance, respect, equal treatment and empowerment of people of all gender identities and sexual orientations over the past years and decades, but also to draw attention to the challenges and problems that still exist in the area of diversity and equality.
For us at Gamecity Hamburg, it is also important to express our solidarity with the Pride movement this month. Important steps are to create awareness for the issues of marginalized groups, challenges and problems, but also on how to become active and change something. With a view to the (German) games industry and Hamburg, we have collected some links to events, resources and organizations that might be interesting for LGBTQ+ game developers, employers or allies.
Of course, this short article does not claim to be complete and is meant as a starting point - so if you know an event, group, interesting resource, organisation or network that is missing from the list, feel free to drop us a mail at office@gamecity-hamburg.de, we'll be happy to add to the list. This article was previously published in 2022, we decided to update it with current events and developments from the industry.
Resources:
The game - Association of the German Games Industry has written a very comprehensive guide, from basic questions about diversity, to best practices from different companies, to very specific tips on how your own games company can become more diverse: https://www.game.de/guides/diversity-guide/
Games for change is an initiative that collects, curates, and supports games with social impact through the G4C Award: https://www.gamesforchange.org/games/?_sf_s=LGBTQ%2B
At the LGBTQ Video Game Archive, games professor Adrienne Shaw collects and curates the history of representation of the LGBTQ+ community in digital games: https://lgbtqgamearchive.com/
Organizations & Networks:
The game - Association of the German Games Industry has launched the campaign "Hier spielt Vielfalt" in 2019, including a joint declaration that companies and individuals can sign to set an example for diversity: https://hier-spielt-vielfalt.de/
More information about the campaign and its aims can be found here: https://www.game.de/guides/jahresreport-der-deutschen-games-branche-2020/10-hier-spielt-vielfalt/
A similar, international initiative is #RaiseTheGame, launched by Ukie and various games companies. Here, too, there is a joint statement in which companies commit to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion: https://raisethegame.com/
A new collective in the German games industry is GAME:IN, formed in 2022. They aim to improve conditions in the industry for FLINTA people and stand against sexism. Companies that sign onto the collective are committing to a share of 50% of FLINTA employees and other principles. They are also building a database of FLINTA speakers to diversify panels and conferences: https://gamein.fyi/
Gay Gaming Professionals is an organization for the advancement of LGBTQ+ games talent, offering support for education, training, job search, and founding a company: http://gaygamingpros.org/
Orbital started as a small community in the game dev space with an LGBTQ-friendly focus and now has 400 users*: https://discord.gg/87B8dR9
Events:
The Gayming Magazine hosts its digital festival DIGIPRIDE from May through July with a series of panels, streams, etc. From Let's Plays to Game Development to podcasts, there's something for everyone: https://gaymingmag.com/digipride/
Not directly Games-specific, but still important: The event "Pride Our Way - A virtual event for the LGBTQIA+ disabled/chronically ill" on June 23-24, an online event for all those from the LGBTQ+ community who cannot participate in "traditional" Pride parades due to chronic illness or disability: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pride-our-way-2023-a-virtual-pride-event-for-the-disabledchronically-ill-tickets-650197346767
Once again the Queer Games Bundle on itch.io spotlights games made by queer devs and offers the oppportunity to support the community by buing this bundle. It is available from June 1 to July 7. Since there are over 300 games included, we took a closer look and chose five games you might want to start out with when getting the bundle: https://gamecity-hamburg.de/news/queer-games-bundle-2023-our-top-5-games/
A number of companies like Square Enix, Ubisoft and Microsoft are highlighting LGBTQIA+ characters and storylines in their games. Sega has also partnered with the charity Kaleidoskop Trust, a British institution advocating for the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. Sega will conduct and live stream a fundraising event from June 22 to 30 on their Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/sega
Hamburg-based developer Bytro will also host a fundraising event for the organisation Trans Lifeline on June 30. They'll bringt together a group of LGBTQIA+ content creators like Jonii, Mochamage, SegaGirlEnby, Villy, Prince Raglan, and more to for this special livestream: https://www.twitch.tv/bytro_official
Pride in Hamburg:
The Hamburg Pride Week 2023 will be kicked off by Pride Night on July 29. During the week more events will follow and finally there will be the CSD Parade on August 5. All information can be found here: https://www.hamburg-pride.de/
