Irina Galtsova has to concentrate on what she’s doing. If she makes a mistake, the inhabitants of Bonga Island won’t be able to plant any more palm trees, go fishing, or make pottery. Plus she could ruin the fun for hundreds of thousands of women who love the computer game she designs.
The 29 year-old is a developer for the Hamburg-based computer gaming company Intenium. On average, the company puts a new game on the market every two days. The firm, which employs 90 people – of which 18 are women – is one of the largest games providers for female players. In its studios in Hamburg and Kaliningrad, Russia, games are specially developed for women who constitute a rapidly growing target group. Of the 25 million Germans who regularly play computer games, 11 million are women, according to the German Trade Association of Interactive Entertainment Software (BIU).
In games that are targeted for women – like Alamandi, Lady Popular, Farmerama or Bonga Online – fighting and shooting have been replaced by flirting and craft-making, and players play with and not against each other. The goal is to find solutions to puzzles and crimes -- and things are created instead of destroyed. The main priority is for the games to offer relaxation and distraction.
From Bigpoint and Wooga to Zynga, nearly all gaming companies employ men to create digital worlds. Women are the exception on development teams. At least right now – because gaming companies are actively looking to recruit women. "We need a female influence on development teams," says Christina Barleben, a freelance game designer in Berlin. She intends to open her own studio.
[This article by Jürgen Hoffmann at Süddeutsche Zeitung was translated by WorldCrunch and partially syndicated here.]
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