Sexism Problems at Riot Games?
The US magazine Kotaku reveals the sexist climate prevailing at League of Legends developer Riot Games. Women are said to have been actively disadvantaged.
In recent years, the subject of sexism has been taken up more and more frequently in the media, with one scandal following another. Hashtag campaigns like metoo followed, which should help to point out the prevailing grievances. Women still face prejudices and disadvantages in the video games industry and the eSports scene.
In a report by the US video game magazine Kotaku, Riot Games, developer of League of Legends, now reported on the culture of sexism. The article denounces the problems and hostilities that the female employees of the US company face.
Research for the report began last December when Kotaku interviewed former and current employees of Riot Games about the discrimination against women. While some spoke anonymously on the subject, there were also employees who spoke openly about it. Some sad findings such as experiences were brought to light, which is basically due to the "bro culture" prevailing at Riot Games.
Opinion: So what if the company has a "bro culture" in place? It clearly is there for a better work environment and if you don't fit that signals that you don't fit into the company too.
Like a Students' fraternity at the workplace?
According to the official website, Riot Games wants to have core gamers as employees. People who burn for video games are the best employees. However, as some women reported to Kotaku, they are not really taken seriously when it comes to games because of their gender. An interviewer tried throughout the interview to prove why the applicant was not a real gamer.
Opinion: If Riot Games wants core gamers, they will test female and male applicants. Calling this sexist is over the top. Plus, if you are applying for a job where the opposite gender is dominant you usually have to prove that you are the real deal. That applies for both directions. If a man applies for a job in a woman dominated area, he will have to prove himself. We never hear sexism from that.
But even when a woman was employed at Riot Games, sexism did not stop, as Meagan Mary reports in a private blog post. She worked for Riot Games for six months in 2014 and repeatedly fell victim to sexism.
Already in her first week, she met colleagues who were shouting sexist swearwords at each other during a game of League of Legends. For Mary, over time, it felt more like a fraternity than a workplace.
Opinion: That is not sexism directed towards her. She was clearly not a target and if that is her best example of sexism at the workplace, this whole article is a waste of time. Men say sexist things all the time, but so do women- that is just not seen as sexist.
In the course of an internal AMA (Ask me anything) with the studio founders, she openly asked why there were no different types of women in the game, while male champions in all sizes and weight classes came along. Before she could even begin to return to her workplace, she was already approached by her first male colleague.
According to him, "women don't want to play unattractive champions. In the following months it should get even worse and eventually lead to their dismissal."
Opinion: Why in the hell would any serious game-designer make an unattractive character? One reason why people play LoL is because it is not reflecting the normal world and that the characters look not real! This proves again that she is not fitting into the company.
Men's ideas preferred
Other employees also reported similar experiences in the course of the unveiling of Kotaku. Ex-Riot employee Lucy* spoke about a meeting during which she wanted to present a new and exciting idea, but it was talked down and rejected relatively quickly by the employees present. As a result, Lucy asked a male colleague to pass her idea off as his next week.
Despite scepticism, he did so and was acclaimed for "his" idea.
Opinion: I doubt that this is the full story. Sounds too much like those "and then they clapped" stories from r/thatHappened
But it is not only when it comes to ideas that male employees repeatedly come to the fore. For example, three of the riot games staff interviewed by Kotaku reported injustice in relation to the job itself. The women took over jobs and tasks over a longer period of time, which were far above their job title and salary level, only to suddenly get another man in front of their noses instead of being promoted themselves.
Riot Games wants to eliminate grievances
After the article was published by Kotaku, ESPN received a statement from Riot Corporate Communications lead Joe Hixson upon request. In it he goes into the individual aspects of the article and promises improvement.
"This article sheds light on areas where we have not lived up to our own values that stand for Riot. We have taken action against many of the specific cases in this article, and are committed to diving deep and addressing the underlying causes," Hixson said.
Riot Games employee Anna (name changed), who, unlike Kotaku's article, was not confronted with sexism:
"Personally, I have not really experienced any discrimination. If I didn't get the promotion or the job, it was deserved."
Other employees also spoke of conflicting experiences on Twitter. The whole company could not be held responsible for this, but one could very well point out the grievances and call those responsible to account.
Revelations help to improve
The subject of sexism is omnipresent today and women are still at a disadvantage compared to men. Especially in the gaming industry this is still a more common problem.
Opinion: Maybe, just maybe women are not so into gaming as men are?
However, articles and reports such as Kotaku's contribution help to uncover the injustice and provide a platform or at least help to create a more harmonious climate for all.