In the landscape dominated by the men of game startups, women were only 0.11% of the value of the VC agreement in the game in 2024, worse against 0.18% in 2023, according to a pitchbook report.
Women have always had a low performance among the technological startups funded. But it is much worse in the game industry in terms of female representation among the financed startups. I will tell you more about the figures, then talk about the reactions of founding women and VC women.
The founding women of game companies raised approximately $ 215.7 million in 2024, against 163.2 million dollars in value in 2023. And the founders were 0.26% of the total number of transactions for game startups in 2024, against 0.56% in 2023.
“It is not a shock that there are so few founding women in the game that successfully succeed in venture capital – there are simply not much. Many founders come from management positions in large game companies, which has always been masculine (around 85% in a study in 2020), “said Amy Wu, partner of Menlo Ventures, in a message to Gamesbeat.
This subject draws more attention. Many women have recently participated in a “2%” campaign where they stressed that founding women received only 2% of the funding capital. Shelby Moledina, a long -standing game developer, recently made a satirical film, Pitch face at restHow difficult it is for women to increase venture capital for a startup. She showed it during our recent Gamesbeat event in 2024 and obtained a strong reaction.
But there is a disadvantage, because the Trump administration works to make diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) illegal in various contexts of the government, which could have a frightening effect on efforts aimed at collecting more money for companies led by women.
There is also Biases signs Regarding the types of questions, women arise when collecting funds, in relation to the questions that men are asked.
Charmaine DUFF, responsible for games led by women, said in a message to Gamesbeat: “I think that at this stage of history, when the climate for games is so tumultuous, Dei is dismantled and women already deal with so much adversity, we will only see investments towards empires founded women.”
DUFF said she wanted to be optimistic.
“But that’s what I say to women who start independent studios after being dismissed,” said Duff. “You already see it with major AAA studios that retreat and put the Dei teams. I also see a lot of people who were delighted to sponsor things like WLG or delays or any other window or diversified initiative to support. There is a lot of uncertainty and fear and the first teams that will be affected will be those led by women and people of color. »»
Tina Merry, co -founder of Simply Sweet Games, said in a message: “This article highlights a persistent funding gap for the founders, especially in games. Yes, this is not all bad news and there are a few longer -term positive trends, but as a studio founded and led by women with active funding for funding, it is particularly discouraging for us to see the trends go back in 2024. ”
She added: “The financing of companies led by women is not a charitable organization – it is an intelligent commercial decision. Research shows that women entrepreneurs often perform their male counterparts. We also note that women constitute an important part of the public of the game, representing a major and often neglected demography that Simply Sweet Games is on a mission to address. »»
And she said: “It is time for investors to support teams like ours, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it is the profitable thing to do.”
Terry Redfield, co -founder of Wicked Fox Games, said in a message to Gamesbeat: “I feel 2% because even if I was told that I was the first woman to collect more than a million dollars in 2015, and my pedigree has greatly improved. However, I meet the same friction to raise today that I did it at the time. I am told “but it’s a difficult period to raise”. However, companies led by women are still set for the same ratio as before the current market challenges. »»
She added: “I believe that this figure comes down to the current investor basin being mainly men. They seek to minimize the risk as much as possible and that means investing in what they know. It will take a studio led by women who evolves and succeeds in breaking the mold and attenuating the bias. However, this is a problem of chicken and egg without any seeds to do so. However, this is my goal for Wicked Fox. »»
There is search that shows That women generally work better than men in startups.
“Growing up, I was often the only girl in the group, because most of my colleagues players were guys. Now, as an investor, it is not surprising to see that so few founding women in the games successfully increase the venture capital – only 0.11% of the total venture capital value in 2024 – because there are simply not many things to start, “said Ernestine Fu Mak, general partner of Brave Capital, in a message to Gamebeat.
Another venture capital, Eitan Reisel, co-founder of Vgames, said in a message to Gamesbeat: “At Vgames, let’s do everything we can to promote female led studios. On the flow of the agreement, it represents around 10% of opportunities, while conversion to investment is difficult. This worries me especially because of the fact that it does not align itself at all with the data of gender games. We are trying to promote women in industry in many ways. I think that one of the main points is the lack of female leaders in game companies. Many of our founders “left the school” before starting their own and I believe that this will considerably increase the percentages over time. »»
Both Women in Games International (Wigi) has a GDC annual networking event linked to the conference of game developers in March, and Games led by women Recently made a showcase before the GDC.
Perrin Kaplan, founder of Zebra Partners Public Relations, said in a message to Gamesbeat: “I see growth rays for women’s leaders or collect funds. I want the day when it is a uniform playground, and I hope it is soon. As a founder myself, I was raised to turn for the stars, and most of us only know this way. »»
Not everyone wants to talk about this subject. I asked a seasoned woman who was thinking about it. She said she was raising funds and preferred not to sting this bear now.
