Ep.67 – WOMEN and VIDEO GAME CULTURE with REBECCA DIXON

https://thegamehers.com/ Video games were a formative part of my upbringing, but I have gotten away from them since my Atari 2600 and Nintendo/Sega habits. I was surprised to learn that the video game industry earned approximately $160B in 2019. It has out-earned the movie and music industries COMBINED for the last 10 years. It is estimated that there are over 2B gamers worldwide. Most telling, and maybe the most surprising to the uninitiated, women represent almost 50% of the gaming community. (The industry is made up of Publishers, Distributors, Retailers, Hardware Manufacturers, the Gamers themselves, and many other constituencies. Here is the Entertainment Software Association's deeper dive into the emerging demographics of the Video Game Industry Data. And Newzoo's is Here.) And if you weren't sure if the female gaming community was ready to "cross-over", Congresswomen, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, played the video game "Among Us" on Twitch. With 12 hours notice, the event drew 440,000 concurrent viewers and represents one of the high-water marks in female gaming so far. Superstars like Pokimane (24yrs old) have gigantic followings (Twitter 2.5mm, IG 5.3mm, YouTube 5.8mm, Twitch 6.6mm). The major talent agencies like CAA, WME and UTA have divisions to represent these people. I wanted to find out more about this phenomenon, so I spoke with REBECCA DIXON one of the Co-Founders and Chief Marketing Officer at TheGAMEHERS. They can also be found on other social media platforms at @thegamehers (facebook, twitter, linkedin, twitch, youtube). Her company, TheGAMEHERs, is "a women-led community dedicated to amplifying and centering the voices of women, femme-identifying gamers and non-binary gamers who are comfortable in spaces that center women. This is a sexist-free space for the casual players, the hardcore gamers, the techies, the streamers, the designers, the cosplayers, the developers, and programmers. Their mission is to advance the role, voice, image, and power of all the*gameHERs in the gaming world." Enjoy the discussion- I'm sure it will open your eyes! Rebecca and TheGameHers are a group to watch in the female gaming space. Introduction Rebecca, tell us a bit about your background . . . How did you get into the gaming world? What Does the Gaming World Look Like Now?   How do you break down the various gaming communities / size of the market? Women habitually underrepresented in the space- describe what the demographics in the space look like and what they look like for women? Intersection with Social Media- what are the relevant platforms? How are the platforms used?  And how does GameHers intersect with them? What is GameHers Intersection with the Gaming Companies? Whom do you get involved with in video game development?  What are they looking for? Talent Agencies? UTA, CAA, WME Who is big in female video-game field? @Pokimane @annhandLA @br The @Pokimane example ESports Twitch, Twitter, and the "Power Users" of Discord With open source coding and other tools, what are the avenues for women to get involved? What Are Some of GameHers' Initiatives? Community, and Awards, Podcasts, Advocacy: combatting exclusion, bullying, and hypersexualization Advertising as their start to revenue and talent development. What is your path to revenue/profit? What is the next step for GameHers?   And how do we keep track of your Progress? @thegamehers (facebook, twitter, linkedin, twitch, youtube) Fun Question: What was your favorite video game growing up? The GAMEHER's Co-Founders Laura Deutsch, Rebecca Dixon, Verta Maloney, and Heather Ouida https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/