So I hear "We feel really strongly about a diverse team" from a lot of very well-intentioned people, but ultimately, if you're one of those studios and aren't ACTIVELY scouting and pursuing diverse candidates, you're going to end up with a team of white dudes.

The reason
A) The games industry is majority white dudes
B) If you're starting a studio, you're probably looking for legacy/experienced candidates. Video games have been an old white boy's club for a long time. so all those people with experience will be white guys.

C) The diversity you're looking for have historically not been given the same amount of opportunities or leadership roles you're looking for when you look at resumes. In a new studio, a lot of times you're looking for people who have experience and these candidates are a risk.

HIRING PRACTICES AS THEY ARE NOW DO NOT FAVOR DIVERSE CANDIDATES. In fact, they actively work against them. if iw was working, we would have way more diversity in studios already. So if you're not proactive about finding them, you're saying it's not actually that important.

You want a diverse candidate to go into a studio of majority white men & be the sole diverse voice who fights for change & feels the weight of trying to represent diverse voices everywhere? To constantly educate? It's exhausting and isolating & that person will burn out FAST.

So if this is important to you, you HAVE to put it into practice from the start. You have to put diversity into lead roles. And not just one person, LOTS of them, so they have room to make mistakes without the pressures of constantly pushing back against a system.

This is just me candidly speaking from my exp in the industry, not an attempt to throw shade because this is a COMMON pattern and this can be about a LOT of studios. The bottom line is if you're not actively chasing progress, you're going to end up supporting the status quo.

I also need to add, this is a CONSTANT thing through the life of your studio. You're fighting against an established system. Just putting diverse people into your lead team at the start is NOT enough. It's bare minimum. Actively chase diverse candidates every time you hire.

Also actively promote the ones you have in your studio. Support their growth through their time with you or you will lose them. ...thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

I swear, my last add to this thread. When thinking about diversity, don't just think in terms of race & gender. There's a whole spectrum of people. As cis, "straight," able-bodied, I am privileged in lots of ways & there's a LOT of underrepresented groups in our industry.

I've gotten many replies about how this thread isn't comprehensive & yeah, it's a twitter thread. It's a spark notes of some pitfalls I see studios fall into. If I tried to cover everything, I'd spend all my time writing about diversity in games. If you want that, please pay me.

OR you could pay the organizations that already exist to help you turn your workplace into a healthier place for diverse gamedevs like @WeAreGameheads @fearlessfutures @inclusiveBoards @pocinplay