Women represent half of the gaming population.

"Women don't know how to play video games."

"A girl can't be that good."

"You lost to a girl?"

"We have all heard some of these stereotype phrases about women in the gaming world - machismo is still very visible in this industry. However, while playing consoles or computers was once considered a 'boy's thing', the reality has become quite different - there are more and more women gamers, in Portugal and around the world. Nationally, they represent 35% of gamers and internationally, they reach 48%. But are they given a stage to shine?"

Dimension Seven, or D7, as she is known, was a professional player of Counter Strike Global Offensive for the Spanish team Vodafone Giants Red, until the beginning of 2021. Despite being one of the best players at the national level, she complains about hearing sexist comments daily and feels discriminated against for being a woman in this universe.

D7 is one of the only professional Portuguese female players, but she says she still can't make that her only income. In Portugal there are still very few women's teams and those that exist are not paid. The situation is quite different when we analyze the male universe - more and more professional teams are emerging with sponsorships.

'Although they represent almost half of the gamer population, women hardly hold creator positions. The total number of games developed by them is only around 10%, according to Women Up Games. Another study from 2020, conducted in the 14 largest gaming companies worldwide, reveals that 84% of executive positions in the industry are held by men. Outside of the executive area, only 24% of the workforce are women.'

Most companies continue to create products whose target audience is men, and the idea that this is a male-dominated industry harms brands. There is still a lack of representation of female characters in video games. Several studies reveal that gender stereotypes continue to prevail, often resorting to objectified and sexualized images. When this does not happen, female characters are portrayed as objects of romantic interest or as damsels in distress who need to be rescued.

But there is good news! Feminist Frequency reported a significant improvement in 2020 in the representation of female characters. In 18% of the games released last year, there were female characters. But it is still too early to know if 2020 was an anomaly or if it represents the beginning of a new trend to showcase female protagonists, free from gender stereotypes.

At an international level, the Women in Games Ambassador program has over 400 ambassadors worldwide, working to support women who want to enter the gaming industry - the goal is to double the number of women in gaming in the next 10 years.

In the business environment, initiatives such as the #RaisetheGame, based in the United Kingdom, encourages companies to create more inclusive work environments. More than 100 companies have already joined this initiative, thus creating spaces with opportunities for all.

'Despite the achievements of women in the gaming world, there is still a long way to go, especially in Portugal. It is important to support the development of inclusive initiatives and communities, and practice is often the first step.'

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