IGDA: "We need leadership to step up and speak out against hate"

gamesindustry.biz:

Earlier this month, the International Game Developers Association published a call to action urging leaders across the games industry to consider the consequences of layoffs, and prompting them to embrace sustainability.

Among the IGDA's 'must-do's for studios, the organisation called on them to "support diversity initiatives and internal roles to help retain the increased diverse talent the games industry has developed over the last decade."

When discussing the industry's current wave of mass layoffs at the Game Developers Conference with IGDA executive director Jakin Vela, we mention that diversity programs have been among the first things to be cut by companies undergoing redundancies.

"People are claiming that they're supporting diversity, [that] they're a diverse and inclusive studio, but they're not budgeting for it," Vela points out. "It's kind of hard to believe that that's actually a priority. And we see that with the layoffs, with the release or reduction of diversity programs.

"And the sad part is we need those programs now more than ever because so many more folks are coming into this industry. It's extremely volatile right now, we're continuously having massive layoffs and people are scared, [and] concerned about the sustainability of the industry as a whole. And that's even moreso on marginalised folks who don't typically have as large a social network or social capital to rely on in those times. As we all know, most people get their job because they know somebody, or someone had an in or a reference. And if you don't have that, how are we supporting diversity, and how are we retaining that talent? So, it's quite a big issue right now."

Vela discussed some early findings of the 2023 Developer Satisfaction Survey (which will be published tomorrow), including the fact that about 85% of the game developers surveyed still believe that diversity is important, both in content, in the industry as a whole, and at their workplace.

"So it's not going anywhere," Vela