Iron Galaxy on Diversity, Inclusion and Increasing LGBTQ+ Staff
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It's no secret that the gaming industry has a problem with inclusivity. While many developers and publishers claim to want a diverse group of staff, it seems the industry still has a long way to go to achieve this goal.
But some developers seem to be making an effort to change that. Iron Galaxy, a Chicago-based developer — with a second studio in Orlando and a third in Nashville — says it now has 23.3% LGBTQ+ employees. This is a much higher percentage than is typical for the industry. The Audience Representation Index recently released by the World Economic Forum indicates that gaming lags behind other media in terms of representation and diversity.
Iron Galaxy has worked on several triple-A games, including Killer Instinct Seasons 2 & 3, as well as ports of Skyrim, Spyro Reignited, and Crash Bandicoot: The N Sane Trilogy. His current project is Rumbleverse, a 40-player brawler royale. Last year, GamesIndustry.biz named it one of the best places to work in the United States.
GamesBeat spoke with Iron Galaxy Co-CEO Chelsea Blasko and DEIA Program Manager Rejess Marshall about what it does to welcome and respect its staff. Here is an edited transcript of our interview.
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MetaBeat will bring together thought leaders from across the Metaverse to advise on how Metaverse technology will transform the way all industries communicate and do business on October 3-4 in San Francisco, CA.
> register hereGamesBeat: Was there a time when you decided to change things up at Iron Galaxy?
Chelsea Blasko: For a bit of history on this, one of the things we recognized was that we already had quite a few people in this community, so how could we encourage and support this community more and recognize it. For me it had finally come to a point a few years ago, I felt like we had a platform as a company to talk more about our initiatives, and more of a responsibility of us making sure people know about it, so that we were attracting people and letting them know that we were a friendly place to work - that people didn't have to worry about being the first person to come in as a person LGBTQ+. And it's become more of an engine to talk publicly about what we're trying to do.
Want to learn more about the future of the video game industry? Join gaming executives to discuss emerging parts of the industry in October at GamesBeat Summit Next. Learn more.
It's no secret that the gaming industry has a problem with inclusivity. While many developers and publishers claim to want a diverse group of staff, it seems the industry still has a long way to go to achieve this goal.
But some developers seem to be making an effort to change that. Iron Galaxy, a Chicago-based developer — with a second studio in Orlando and a third in Nashville — says it now has 23.3% LGBTQ+ employees. This is a much higher percentage than is typical for the industry. The Audience Representation Index recently released by the World Economic Forum indicates that gaming lags behind other media in terms of representation and diversity.
Iron Galaxy has worked on several triple-A games, including Killer Instinct Seasons 2 & 3, as well as ports of Skyrim, Spyro Reignited, and Crash Bandicoot: The N Sane Trilogy. His current project is Rumbleverse, a 40-player brawler royale. Last year, GamesIndustry.biz named it one of the best places to work in the United States.
GamesBeat spoke with Iron Galaxy Co-CEO Chelsea Blasko and DEIA Program Manager Rejess Marshall about what it does to welcome and respect its staff. Here is an edited transcript of our interview.
EventMetaBeat 2022
MetaBeat will bring together thought leaders from across the Metaverse to advise on how Metaverse technology will transform the way all industries communicate and do business on October 3-4 in San Francisco, CA.
> register hereGamesBeat: Was there a time when you decided to change things up at Iron Galaxy?
Chelsea Blasko: For a bit of history on this, one of the things we recognized was that we already had quite a few people in this community, so how could we encourage and support this community more and recognize it. For me it had finally come to a point a few years ago, I felt like we had a platform as a company to talk more about our initiatives, and more of a responsibility of us making sure people know about it, so that we were attracting people and letting them know that we were a friendly place to work - that people didn't have to worry about being the first person to come in as a person LGBTQ+. And it's become more of an engine to talk publicly about what we're trying to do.
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