Wikipedia

Dames Making Games

Dames Making Games (DMG) was a Toronto-based non-profit organization that provided resources, including game-development mentors and a multitude of events such as game jams, social gatherings, and workshops, for gender minorities interested in the video games industry.[1][2] Through the opportunities they provided, Dames Making Games aimed to create a comfortable platform, that was inclusive and contrary to male-dominated gaming culture, for women, non-binary, femme and queer people to explore video game development.[2]

Dames Making Games
Formation2012
FoundersCecily Carver, Alex Leitch, Jennie Faber
Dissolved2024
TypeNonprofit
Headquarters32 Lisgar St, Toronto, Ontario, M6J 0C9, Canada
Location
  • Toronto
ServicesDamage Camp, New Game Makers
Official language
English
Websitedmg.to

History

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The beginning of the organization can be traced to a 2011 program held by TIFF Nexus called The Difference Engine Initiative (DEI), also held in collaboration with the Hand Eye Society, to help educate young women in game development.[3] The co-founder Cecily Carver, inspired by her experience in the program and sensing desires for the continuation of the community, thought of creating a platform to diversify the demographic of people in the game developing industry.[2][4] Such a platform differed from the DEI's hierarchical structure of an expert instructing participants, as it emphasized the importance of a supportive, community-based space for game designers to collaborate.[5] Organizing around the name Dames Making Games, Craver recruited Jennie Faber to help host meetings. Soon after, Alex Leitch was recruited to help with the creation of DMG.

After being founded in 2012, the group held workshops, game jams, social events, and other gaming-related activities, aimed to educate and support gender-diverse gamers, citing the male-dominated culture of gaming as a barrier faced by many would-be players and developers.[6][7] DMG hoped to help make the scarce amount of women in video game development more proportional to account for the fact that women make up about half of the population of game players.[8] DMG's goals also included diversifying the depiction of gender in games to better reflect the breadth of human experience.[8] In 2015 and 2016, the group collaborated in organizing Indigicade, a video-game development initiative aimed at Indigenous girls and women.[9]

Challenges

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By 2013, Dames Making Games had a small group of supporters ranging from around 30 to 40 members.[7] As Dames Making Games grew, criticism towards the organization's stated purpose and benefits became more vocal, primarily from men within the gaming world that would question whether women needed a specific safe space within the industry.[4] According to some perspectives, challenges lie in the fact that putting an end to mistreatment of underrepresented groups in gaming requires total change in the perception of such groups to emphasize the importance of their place in gaming's community and culture.[10] These strides would entail changes in game development and audience reception.[10]

Some argue that women struggle with how their participation in gaming communities in general evokes a focus on their gender, making them spokespeople for all women in gaming industries.[11] Others find issue with the creation of Women in Games initiatives to begin with, arguing that their emphasis on women is inherently exclusionary to others.[11]

Insolvency

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In 2024, the Dames Making Games directorship filed for insolvency.[12] Key reasons stated for the insolvency included a loss of grant opportunities to fund the organization, resulting in over $100,000 CAD in debt, core member and directorship burnout, and severe accounting errors resulting in an inability to correctly manage their financial situation.

Programs/Events

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Damage Camp

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Dames Making Games hosted Damage Camp, an event consisting of workshops and discussion panels, with guest speakers talking about a variety of topics related to women in gaming.[6] Topics included creating an inclusive environment for video game developers, gaining financial stability in the industry, and the incorporation of different minority groups within the gaming community.[6] This event was made available to the general public and no membership was needed to register.

New Game Makers

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In part of DMG's Fall speaker series, New Game Makers was a workshop that introduced individuals to game development and supplied them with tools to get started.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Dames making games at Ryerson". The Eyeopener. 2015-03-23. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  2. ^ a b c Walschots, Natalie (January–February 2014). "Game Over: Dames Making Games Bridges the Gender Digital Divide". This Magazine. 47 (4): 39 – via Gale Academic OneFile.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  3. ^ Patterson, Megan. "Girls Make Games Too: A Chat with Dames Making Games". Toronto Standard. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Kaszor, Daniel (2014-10-24). "Jennie Faber explains how DMG (Dames Making Games) aims to make game creation more inclusive". Financial Post. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  5. ^ Harvey, Alison; Fisher, Stephanie (2013). "Intervention for inclusivity: gender politics and indie game development". Loading... Journal of the Canadian Game Studies Association. 7 (11): 25–40 – via University of Leicester.
  6. ^ a b c Sapieha, Chad (27 September 2017). "Dames Making Games' Damage Camp set to help create an "alternative system" for marginalized game makers | Financial Post". Financial Post. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  7. ^ a b Kotzer, Zack (24 July 2013). "Dames saving games". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  8. ^ a b Nursall, Kim (2 January 2014). "Dames Making Games organization helps women make video games | The Star". Toronto Star. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  9. ^ Kestler-D'Amours, Jillian. "Creating video games help indigenous girls boost self-confidence". Toronto Star. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  10. ^ a b Cote, Amanda C. (2017). ""I Can Defend Myself": Women's Strategies for Coping With Harassment While Gaming Online". Games and Culture. 12 (2): 136–155. doi:10.1177/1555412015587603. ISSN 1555-4120.
  11. ^ a b Harvey, Alison; Fisher, Stephanie (2015-07-04). ""Everyone Can Make Games!": The post-feminist context of women in digital game production". Feminist Media Studies. 15 (4): 576–592. doi:10.1080/14680777.2014.958867. ISSN 1468-0777.
  12. ^ "DMG's Board of Directors File for Insolvency". Dames Making Games. 2024-04-20. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
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