UK Competition Encourages Female Industry Professionals

The second annual Game Girl competition has ended in the UK, as Sussex multimedia students fought in the final heat of a video game design competition designed to encourage more young women to enter the games industry. Three winning teams were selected for their innovative concepts, which included an interactive music game, a mobile-based quiz and a TV-style trivia contest. The winning concepts used technologies such as Bluetooth and EyeToy rather than traditional video game avatars. The entrants were judged by experts from local firms Babel Media, Kuju and Galaxy Life, who also sponsored the competition. Chloe Giusti, Marketing Manager at Babel Media, commented: “The lack of women involved in games development means the industry is not only missing out on a massive pool of talent but also on the potential to create products that appeal specifically to women and girls. The Game Girl competition helps encourage young women into the industry and provides them with a platform for developing new gaming ideas.” As part of the competition prize, Babel Media will be hosting the winning students, who are studying for a Higher National Diploma in Multimedia or a National Diploma in Design at City College Brighton & Hove, for a day’s work experience in April. The first Game Girl competition was pioneered by business development and networking agency Wired Sussex last year. Tara Solesbury, Project Manager for Wired Sussex, said: “This competition is an effective way to encourage young women into the gaming community, and to highlight the current male domination of the industry. Women have a huge contribution to make to computer and mobile games development, and it is important that we help to redress the balance before the industry as a whole begins to suffer. We are delighted to have the support of City College for a second year running, and were impressed by the creativity displayed by all the students who entered the competition.”