For years, Facebook has worked to build a community of Women, and here it has also formally launched a campaign to promote diversity into the video game industry, and encourages more women to get into the field.
Calling it 'Women In Gaming' initiative, it includes a dedicated website with videos featuring women in various roles across the industry, including game design, marketing, HR, sales, and more.
The lead video features Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.
Facebook's approach is non-judgmental, showing that nearly half of gamers are women (46 percent in 13 countries, according to the reported data), and many games have women as most of their gamers.
Here, Facebook is providing role models and success stories in its approach to eliminate gender inequality. As for some of the success stories, there is a page on the site that compiles videos of women, including employees of Facebook, where they speak about their success.
Another showcases talks about gaming and diversity, and invites more women to participate.
According to Sandberg, women who enter the industry will face some pretty steep struggles:
"In this industry, women also face stereotypes and prejudice that hold them back, just like they do in every industry. And when they become the target of online threats, it’s even harder to convince young women that this is an industry full of opportunity; and industry that not only values their work - but needs it."
She also went on to cite statistics about how women make up half of all games worldwide, and also to list some female characters are some of the best known, including Tracer from Overwatch, Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn, and Chloe and Nadine from Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.
The Women In Gaming campaign is an effort to build a global community for women in the industry, and creating a place where they can share their own stories about the challenges they've faced, and also more about their experiences.
Sandberg went on to say that Facebook wants to organize meet-ups so that women in gaming can come together for support and empowerment.
Both gender and diversity in gaming are sensitive topics. And here, Facebook is betting that the initiative can affect the gaming industry, by playing it safe: provide role models, and reassure that the industry can also be a friendly place for women.
Facebook is also partnering with the non-profit “Women in Games WIGJ,” which recruits more women into the industry.
Further reading: Women Developers Are Getting Better, But Still Experiencing Gender Diversity Problems
