Gaming companies have taken a lot of initiatives to do something for the society. Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has decided to focus on a very important thing. SOE has sent word about a new scholarship program. It has been designed to train and employ more women into the video game industry. They have roped in the Art Institutes for this.
It is called as SOE G.I.R.L, where G.I.R.L. stands for Gamers In Real Life. SOE hopes that the scholarship will give confidence to students toward career paths in the creative and applied arts. The feel that it will result in the development of games that are more appealing to women.
Torrie Dorrell is the Senior VP of Global Sales and Marketing at SOE. She quoted, “It’s no secret to female gamers: Women are out there in large numbers, playing MMOs, action games, first-person shooters, etc. What is absent in the equation are women behind these games and we hope G.I.R.L. can help support this program. SOE’s program is a key component of our G.I.R.L. initiative because the scholarship will be the gateway for one student into this field of expertise; I invite other publishers to join us in supporting this initiative.”
A survey by SOE threw up some surprising results. They questioned the female students who are presently enrolled at the Game Art & Design, Visual & Game Programming and Visual Effects & Motion Graphics at The Art Institutes schools. Here are the details:
61% of students surveyed believe male dominance in the industry is a deterrent to women pursuing a career in gaming
42% of those surveyed would like to see women portrayed as leaders in video games
35% of the students surveyed want to create more games that are fun and interesting for women to play
31% of those surveyed want to become involved in gaming because more women need to represent the industry
The only drawback of the G.I.R.L Scholarship is that the participants should be a present student at one of The Art Institutes schools. It will commence on April 1, 2008. To enter, the students will have to submit an in-game design, concept art and two essays before is May 31, 2008. The winner will be announced a month later and gets a $10,000 tuition scholarship towards his or her education as well as a paid internship of up to 10 weeks at one of the Sony Online Entertainment studios.