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International Women’s Day 2022 at Rebellion

Diversity, particularly in the games industry, is always a hot topic, especially around this time of year. International Women’s Day (8th March 2022) and Women’s History Month (March every year) gives us an excellent opportunity to think and reflect about the D&I at Rebellion as well as on the makeup of the industry as a whole.

Working in a male-dominated industry is difficult when you come from a marginalised background and it’s important to remind ourselves of the positive impact diversity has on the games industry.

This International Women’s Day we asked our staff across the business to tell us why diversity is a great thing. Why it makes our games better, why it’s an important goal to be working towards, and why it’s the future of this industry.

These were their answers:

Kirsty Moore (she/her) Interim Head of People and Talent

“Having both men and women in teams means you can benefit from the different points of view and approaches that come from different life experiences. A multiplicity of perspectives can spark creativity and innovation and help organisations spot and seize new opportunities. Plus, it helps you challenge gender stereotypes. According to research, companies with diverse teams have 19% higher revenue, and are 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders in their market..”

Charis Jardim (she/her) Senior Community Manager

Sometimes it’s easy to get bogged down with the weight and complexity of diversity. We all know there is absolutely work that needs to be done, but I find noticing the small wins, even on a day to day basis, can keep you motivated towards the overall goal.

In the last few years, I’ve personally found that my colleagues are incredibly dedicated to having open-minded discussions about a variety of topics. In my opinion, we can’t assure our own issues affect everyone, but we can stay pro-active and learn from one another. Perhaps then, our individual goals will become shared goals.

Hannah O’Hare (she/her) Junior UI Designer

Did you know that a woman wrote the first-ever computer visual adventure game? Roberta Williams wrote Mystery House a visual text adventure game back in 1980. It’s amazing to know that women like Roberta have played a major part in building the computer game industry to where it is today!”

Chiara Tringali (she/her) Animator

“Back in the stone age, gender was created for the partition of roles, and tasks dictated by the need of survival. That is not the society we live in anymore, and our stories and workplace should reflect that. This liberation from these constraints should be seen as a joyous event, where we get to explore a wonderful way for intellect and expression to manifest in ways it wasn’t possible before. The stories we tell and experiences we create should reflect that.”

Katie Moore (she/her) Senior Programmer

“I’ve started a rule where I refuse to play a game that doesn’t let me play as a female protagonist. Has this limited my choice of game? Sure. Has this meant I actually have fun with the games I’m playing? Yes!

Games this has meant I’ve played?  Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart; Returnal; Half-Life: Alyx; The Last Of Us: Part II; Horizon: Forbidden West; Far Cry 6.  All of these games engaged me far more than their counterparts where I couldn’t, and that’s got a lot to do with being able to actually relate and engage with the character I’m playing. There’s actual thought put into character and appearance that makes these games actually thought out.

This year may be the first year that I could play as a female character in every single game I play.  That’s incredible.”

Charlotte Connolly (she/her) Talent Acquisition Partner

Having a diverse workforce means we can aim for a better future for all. We all have different backgrounds and beliefs that when brought together create a better place to work. Working with people of all backgrounds allows us to widen our own understanding of different matters/beliefs/cultures/people etc, and the appreciation of those mean that we can create an inclusive future, free from bias, where people can be free to be exactly who they are and express themselves in a safe space.

Everyone should be able to be that person we all are when we are on our own, our true selves, but free from the fear of how people may react to that or judge us. It all starts by creating a diverse workforce where we spend time with people that we may not usually and are educated on how our differences make us super special! We all shine in different ways, when that is brought together its truly golden!

Em Aspinall (they/them) Community Manager

I drew inspiration from many characters in the video games I played growing up. Ocarina of Time, as an example, featured Sheik – a stoic warrior whose identity is shrouded in mystery through most of the game. The gender of Sheik was irrelevant… Their value came from their remarkable survival skills (and snappy, dramatic exits!), and that’s why I loved them. But that doesn’t mean gender representation in video games is irrelevant. We relate to characters we feel the most connection to. While for me, that’s characters whose gender is ambiguous, young girls should be able to find strong, capable, and inspiring characters that match their own gender. It’s empowering to find yourself, or the person you aspire to be, in the media you consume. We should all aspire to bring that empowering feeling to young girls, and I hope one day, they’ll be pioneering video games to the next level.

Grant Connor (he/him) Senior Outsource Manager

“I have been in the industry for just under 10 years now, and I can honestly say that a noticeable difference is starting to be made. The difference has unfortunately been slow, but it is still there. Which each new job I have noticed my colleagues becoming more diverse as the demand of the industry slowly changes.

Diversity is not only good, it is a necessity if this industry wants to continue to grow and thrive. Diversity gives us the ability to better dive into the challenges that different genders, races, or cultures may face, and help the player become immersed in an experience which they might not otherwise be exposed to. This in turn can broaden a players horizons and knowledge of the world, which can help fight against a lot of the narrow-minded attitudes we see in the world today.”

Charlie Talbot (he/him) Customer Support

I have found it’s so important to create spaces in gaming where women can feel comfortable. Not only do these spaces help the women inside them, but can also inspire other women, younger and older, that gaming can be the place for them! I’ve been personally thanked by many after making women’s tournaments that helped women connect with each other and gave them a stepping stone into a community they previously felt excluded from or too overwhelmed to join.

I come from a background in esports where women often have been overly criticised or singled out due to their gender. I hope that by having more women join the gaming industry as a whole, we can snowball and inspire those to take part and take up and join development teams and enjoy gaming more without discrimination.

Michaela Thompson (she/her) Talent Acquisition Partner

Having diverse teams means differing opinions which inevitably leads to a more creative and overall better product. This is true across all industries. When you take into account not just gender and ethnic diversity, but people with different backgrounds from you, people with different interests, different socio-economic backgrounds, these are all differing points of view that help push your creativity and improve whatever it is you’re making.

Diversity of backgrounds and diversity of interests makes the team more creative and gives you the opportunity to make your product appeal to a wider range of people. That what makes a good and effective team, and diversity is essential to that.

Sophie van den Boomen (she/her) Technical Artist

I remember one of my first ‘favourite games’ was Tomb Raider – not only was it the first time I’d seen a female protagonist in a game, she was not the classic ‘helpless woman’ I’d seen in the media and video games up to this point.

I think people underestimate the impact that that kind of diversity can have on people. I came from a really small town so video games were one of the ways in which I could broaden my horizons, see and hear stories from people who didn’t look like me, who had a different background to me. Diversity in games has the power to influence and help people see the world from another point of view and I think that’s very important.

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Inside the Rebellion – How did you get into the games industry?

Breaking into the games industry can seem like an uphill struggle. There are so many ways to enter the industry, and going to university and getting a degree is only one of them.

We asked some of our excellent Rebellion developers about how they got into the industry. A couple of them knew from a young age that was what they wanted to do, they got a degree and stepped straight into the industry – but there is no one ‘right’ way to get a job in the games industry.

Others came from different industries, some started later on, got an internship, or networked. Check out their comments, stories, and advice below. Or check out the full video on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Tasha Nathani - Technical Producer - Rebellion Oxford

Tasha moved industries from telecoms to games.

“I used to work as a Project Manager for a telecoms company. So I was looking for my next role as a Production Coordinator, kind of just moving my way up and I had a combination of project management and production skills. I did apply for a bunch of animation jobs and games jobs and it was actually Ubisoft that contacted me and gave me my first job in the industry.”

Jordan Woodward - Lead Level Designer - Rebellion Oxford

Jordan knew he wanted to work in games, got a degree, and then landed a QA position at Codemasters.

“I’ve always been passionate about games from a young age … In my spare time, I created levels and maps for games, before I even knew it was a job! How I got into it was, I heard my local college was doing a Game Design BTEC. I just jumped on that. I was like ‘That’s what I want to do! I love games, get me into games!”

“The natural progression for me what to go to University, do a Games Design degree. I studied games design at the University of Gloucestershire. When I graduated there I started as QA, I found a QA role at Codemasters based in Leamington Spa, and I did that for around a year. Then there was a role advertised internally for a Junior Level Designer on a game called F1 Race Stars, which was a bit like a Mario Kart Formula 1 game basically.”

“So I progressed from QA to Junior Level Designer after gaining some experience working alongside the developments teams. And that was a wicked game to work on as a first game!”

Rose Russell - Senior Programmer - Rebellion Oxford

Rose joined us as one of our very talented Summer Interns and is still here over five years later!

“I started as an intern on Sniper 4, doing that over the summer of 2015. And that was really good because I was basically doing the work of a Junior for the summer. Rebellion was really good at bringing me in, actually introducing me to what it means to make a programme from the point of view of code rather than just writing code.”

“And obviously they said, ‘We like you, we want to offer you a job once you’re finished with your degree.’ I then decided that academia wasn’t for me, decided that I wasn’t going to finish my fourth year of university and came to Rebellion, which is why I started in January.”

Scott Hamilton - Junior Level Designer - Rebellion Oxford

Scott won himself a shadowing day courtesy of his university and one of our Lead Artists, made some amazing contacts, and joined us a few months later!

“My university has an event called CJam where people from the industry come and they talk to students and then one or two lucky students get picked to have a shadowing day at that company. Saija Wintersun from Rebellion, one of the Lead Artists, came down to my University and we were told that she was looking for Artists, and I’m not an Artist. But I thought, might as well go down, have a chat to someone from the industry. What could go wrong? I turned up, we had a really nice chat. Talked about what I did, talked about why I love games. Showed her some of my work. I really didn’t expect anything to come out of it.”

“Afterwards, I’m just sat in class doing work and then suddenly my phone starts blowing up. And I’m like ‘what’s going on’ and everyone was ‘you got the shadowing day, you get to go to Rebellion.’ It turns out she picked me and one other guy. We went down, got to look around the office, meet a bunch of people from the level design team, got to sit in on a level design meeting, everyone was really nice and it was a really cool day!

A few months go by, I’m finishing up my third year at uni and then a Junior Level Design spot opens up at Rebellion. I was like ‘ooh, ok, you know I want this!’ So I applied for it, it made for a really good cover level that fact that I’d been down there, and that got me through to interview. Next thing I know I’ve got the place! I hadn’t even graduated yet.”

Anna Ljungberg - Senior Programmer - Rebellion Warwick

Sometimes you have to go into the games industry just because someone said you can’t!

“I went to a uni open day thinking that I wanted to do robotics. Because I didn’t really know what to do and I realized I was quite technical and enjoyed that kinda side. So I went to an open day. Went to the robotics lab, where they show what they do and they were basically just building Lego. So I was like … hmm … I guess I realized I didn’t really want to do the hands-on building side. So I got talking to them and they said maybe you should go and have a look at programming and maybe games programming would be something for you.”

“I then went to the games programming showcase and the Lecturer there told me there was a lot of maths and stuff so maybe I should go and have a look at something else. So that’s why I decided to do it. Just pure – I don’t know what to call it. Determination? Rage? I would have probably done programming anyway. But that was literally my trigger.

Beck Shaw - Assistant Lead Level Designer - Rebellion Oxford

Beck always knew he loved games, studied games and eventually, found his way into the industry!

“I’ve always been a big fan of games, I’ve been playing then since I was like 5/6 years old. So I went to college to study computing, and I never thought I’d get into games. But then an opportunity arose to study games at college, at a very basic level, I studied that. When then took me to University. I studied at University and got a first-class degree. And then I struggled to find a way into the industry. It is quite difficult because I guess there was a lot of graduates around, and you kind of need to find a way in.”

“I did kind of know someone who worked at Codemasters, a friend of a friend, so they got me in for an interview. I didn’t make it the first time but they did call me back a few months later to come and join them. And after that, I was a Level Designer at Codemasters.”

“I was there for 4 years or so. And then I came down to Rebellion and I’ve grown so much since. So I started Rebellion as an Experienced Level Designer I believe, and then I’m a Senior now [now Assistant Lead].”

You can watch the full video from our staff on our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn pages, including all of the Rebellion staff that are listed above as well as a very special cat cameo!