On 12 September 2016, the IGDA released our Diversity Report for the game industry, our latest research compilation based on the 2014 and 2015 results of our annual Developer Satisfaction Survey.

GamesIndustry.biz broke the news with this article. The actual PDF of the Diversity Report can be downloaded here.

According to a new analysis of the past two years of data from the Developer Satisfaction Survey (DSS) by the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), only three percent of women in the game industry reported earning more than $150,000 per year in contrast with 10 percent of men.

31 percent of respondents also reported some sort of disability, predominantly in the area of mental health, whereas only 19 percent of all US citizens and 14 percent of Canadians report having disability.

Other crucial points of this most recent analysis of the DSS include:

Diversity in Type of Work

• Men reported working in technical roles at more than twice the rate that women did (28% to 11%, respectively)
• Workers of color were particularly underrepresented in senior management roles, at only three percent, as compared to 23 percent of white respondents who reported similar roles
• Male and female respondents report some parity in senior management roles (37 and 38 percent, respectively)

Diversity in Compensation

• Men occupy the highest and lowest income brackets while women are more clustered around the middle income brackets. Respondents reporting earnings of $75,000 or more were 44% male and 35% female, whereas those earning between $40,000-$75,000 were 41% female and 29% male.
• 10% of men report earning $150,000 or more, while only three percent of women do. In contrast, 19% of women reported earning between $50,000-$75,000, whereas only 15% of men reported being in the same bracket.
• 26 percent of workers of color reported earning less than $15,000 per year, while only 17 percent of white workers reported earnings in this bracket.
• 81 percent of freelance workers of color reported earning less than $40,000 per year, while only 66 percent of white freelance workers did; 18 percent of white freelancers reported earning $75,000 per year, while only three percent of freelancers of color did.

Perception of Diversity

• 49 percent of responding workers of color in 2015 reported that there was equal treatment for all in 2015, as compared to 23 percent in 2014.
• Male workers were more likely to report witnessing inequity towards others (39 percent) than experiencing it directly (26 percent), while women were more likely to experience it (67 percent) than witness it towards others (59 percent).

The Developer Satisfaction Survey 2014 & 2015 Diversity in the Game Industry Report was conducted and analyzed by: Johanna Weststar, assistant professor, DAN Program in Management and Organizational Studies, Western University; Marie-Josée Legault, professor, École des sciences de l’administration, TÉLUQ; Chandell Gosse, PhD Candidate, Media Studies, Faculty of Information and Media Studies Western University, Ontario, Canada; and Vicki O’Meara, PhD Candidate, Media Studies, Faculty of Information and Media Studies Western University, Ontario, Canada; with assistance and guidance from Kate Edwards, executive director, International Game Developers Association.

The IGDA’s Developer Satisfaction Survey is made possible by a generous grant from the IGDA Foundation.