It’s been nearly a decade since GamerGate, the misogynistic game industry tantrum that harassed women under the guise of demanding journalistic ethics—yet 2023 has felt like we’re not that far past it at all. There are certainly more women working in the industry today than there were in 2014, and many of them are innovators in the space, like Sony Santa Monica’s Mila Pavlin, or Emilia Schatz at Naughty Dog, both of whom are leaders in accessibility.
Esports organizations are creating women-led teams, Sarah Bond is now the VP at Xbox, and women streamers are raking in cash with exclusive deals. Women journalists are doing some heavy lifting when it comes to breaking stories and examining cultural issues, like IGN’s Rebekah Valentine on the Games and Online Harassment Hotline, or Bloomberg’s Cecilia D’Anastasio on the demise of FaZe Clan, or The Verge’s Ash Parrish with coverage of the now-defunct Overwatch Leagu