Pixelles
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
|---|---|
| Location | |
Official language | English, French |
| Website |
pixelles |
Pixelles, located in Montreal, is a non-profit initiative committed to get more women make and change video games especially those who have never tried before. Through incubator events, women are empowered to express themselves in a new medium by learning new skills that they may use in their future careers.
The organization's contributions have been recognized by CNet. [1]
Pixelles provides motivation and the resources to help these women take the first big step and create their first game. Alumnae have gone on to create more games and be empowered to participate in the Montreal's game community as a culture, professional, and a creative space.
Background
In response to issues of sexism in video gaming, Pixelles aims to promote diversity in the game-making community and video game culture on a grassroots level. The idea for Pixelles was inspired by Toronto's Difference Engine Initiative, a game-making incubator organized in 2011 by the Hand Eye Society, a video game arts organization. Feminists in Games, an organization of feminist digital researchers, approached game-hobbyist Rebecca Cohen Palacios and game designer Tanya Short to bring a similar project to Montreal.[2]
The debut of the Pixelles in Montreal coincided with the Twitter awareness hashtag campaign called #1reasonwhy, where women in the game industry provided personal experiences about sexism in the industry.[3]
Activities
Programs are targeted towards Montreal-based women who are interested in making games but for one reason or another have never managed to do so.
Games as artistic medium
Through our annual incubator, game jams, and monthly workshops, we help women realize their own potential at making whatever game they can dream of. As an art form, games benefit from having more diverse voices contributing to its growth. [4]
Incubators, Follow Along, & Showcase
The free workshop follows a six-week format that provides advice on tools and applications, input from mentors, and support from the rest of the group. The incubator is open to anyone who identifies as female and can attend the workshops in Montreal, no former development experience required. Participants are selected through an application process. In 2013, ten women were chosen from over sixty applicants.[5]
At the end of each incubator, Pixelles hosts a showcase to celebrate the new game makers. The 2013 showcase clocked over 150 attendees from friends to indies to people from AAA industry coming out to support and celebrate women and video games.[6] The showcase is archived on the official website where you can play games from the 2013 and 2014 showcases.
Men could not sign up, but are able to participate either as mentors or as play-testers. They are also able to sign up for the follow-along program, where material and exercises covered in the program were posted online.[2] Follow-Alongs do not have access to the meetings or the workspace, but they can still follow the deadlines and make a game.[5] In 2013, out of over thirty follow along sign ups, four successfully made a game during the allotted time.
Games as career
Through the 1:1 mentorship program and socials, Pixelles helps women network to gain role models and career advice. Monthly workshops encourage them to learn new game development skills such as programming languages, 3d modelling, game design, etc. [7]
Workshops
Volunteer led workshops are about 2 hours long with a maximum of 20 participants. They are usually hosted on the 2nd last Thursday or Tuesday evening of the month. Previous workshops covered topics such as working with Twine; an introduction to game design, 3D sculpting with ZBrush, 3ds max animation, programming with C#; and making a dating sim.[8]
Mentoring
The mentorship program is for women wanting to join the games industry. Mentors, who come from a network of experts from every discipline, are male and female. Mentors provide feedback on your portfolio, code, and/or CV while also discussing how to improve your chances in an increasingly competitive industry.
Social Events
See also
References
- ↑ "Leading Ladies: Amazing indie games made by women". CNet. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- 1 2 "Lady-Players". thelinknewspaper.ca. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ↑ "Pixelles: Calling all (game-designing) ladies". Cult MTL. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ↑ "Pixelles Montreal". Indiegogo. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- 1 2 "Pixelles Postmortem: How to Increase Game Creator Diversity NOW". Gamasutra.com. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ↑ "Empowerment through development: The Pixelles Game Incubator". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ↑ "Pixelles Montreal". Indiegogo. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ↑ "Tutorials". Pixelles.ca. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ↑ "Girls Make Games : le succès de jeunes créatrices dans le monde du jeu vidéo.". standalonepost.com. Retrieved 20 January 2015.