Despite the fact that more women are playing games than ever before - 46% of Australian gamers are female according to a recent survey[1] - less than 10-15% of game developers are women.
This year's Women In Games 2009 Sydney Mixer is being hosted by the Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) at their brand new Sydney campus. AIE has been a support of the Women in Games Initiative since 2002 and offer a yearly scholarship aimed at helping more women pursue a career in the game development industry.
“I think it is a great initiative.” Steve Wherrett, Director of Promotions, Sponsorship and New Business, Sony Computer Entertainment Aust. Pty Ltd. “It is an event we are proud to be sponsoring and supporting.”
Coming to the event will be this year's scholarship recipient, Anita Breitbarth.
“It's a great opportunity to meet some of the people work in industry and talk about what they're doing and what opportunities are out there at the moment” says Anita.
Autodesk, Sony Computer Entertainment, BigWorld, 2K Australia, Team Bondi, PC Powerplay, Hyper and Academy of Interactive Entertainment are generously helping support the event.
The Women in Games Initiative was created in order to increase the numbers of women in the game industry in Australia, and to promote game development as a viable career path for women.
Women from games companies and other related organisations along with girls training at TAFE or Uni to get into the industry will be getting together on Thursday 17th September at AIE Sydney for the 2009 Women In Games Sydney Mixer. This will be a great networking event for women to promote the industry and encourage more women to get involved.
As this is an 18+ event, a follow-up event for girls at high school will be held on Thursday 17th November 2009
Women interested in attending this event should go to: http://www.womeningames.org.au/index.htm where they can register online.