Panel: Better Games Together: Uniting the Industry Through Pride and Pixels

[Music] [Music] to give a bit of context uh for this uh for this panel uh in 2022 better games together was founded and is a it is a collaborative uh made up of metacore next games supercell uh Roo and Wei in games Finland uh that works towards making the Finn games industry uh more safe and inclusive uh place for uh lgbtqia plus uh game makers in this panel they will discuss their Journey so far and offer tips and insights uh for companies looking to team up in other countries as well so without further Ado

I would like to introduce our panelists thank you thank you for the introduction and um without further Ado let's start by introducing ourselves um I can start my name is Essie ukala and I always joke that I'm a game programmer by day at supercell and the president of wing games Finland by night and I also work closely with these folks here and other also inside superar with other Dei matters so that's why I'm here today hi I'm Lea pren my pronouns are they them I uh Am A diversity inclusion and HR specialist uh at next games yes just recently joined the HR team so it still feels weird to say it out loud um and I'm also a board member of Wei games Finland and I've been handling the better games together cooperation uh from the next game side for the past two and a half years hi my name is VI Al pronounce she her um I am leading supercells corporate comms and brand Team and I'm an active

Dei uh Advocate uh in the company and and uh one one of the founding members of better games together like most of us are hi everyone my name is Anie makalo my pronouns are she her and I work as a Communications and Partnerships manager at metacore um I joined the game industry a little under two years ago and prior to that I worked in the tech industry also with initiatives related to inclusion and Equity thanks for the intros um for a short introduction of then better games together and what it is would you we like to say a few words yeah sure so uh better games together is a collective of uh finish game companies coming together to work for better industry for lgbtq AI plus folks so we we want to make the industry safer and and better more more more um I don't know like more approval

for for everyone and and and more inclusive for everyone and and our focus is especially lgbtqai folks thanks yeah do youa want to tell us how this all got started as you are kind of have been there from the beginning yes sure so uh in the spring of 2022 uh we got a message from someone from supercell I'm so sorry I forget his name that is terrible uh asking if we'd be interested in sponsoring Helsinki Pride alongside supercell and we were like well that sounds amazing of course so then we had kind of our first steering call around this initiative where there was also uh people from medicor as well and so the first call we sort of just agreed that like okay yes we're going to do it but then over the next couple of weeks we started to discuss more and more of like okay so are we just going to sponsor a truck in the March or could this be something more could this be something bigger and and and kind of do doing more

than just sort of throwing money at something and then hoping that something comes of it because we knew you know from the next game side that we had quite a thriving lgbtqi plus Community actually um and I know that was the case for other companies as well so from there it just sort of grew and then in 2023 roio joined us which is really exciting um and so it's sort of grown over the years into something much more than just a sponsorship and I think we're all really proud of that yeah and to add to to that like founding story it's like uh it was spring 2020 uh2 when when some superans reach out and and they were asking like what are we doing for pride and before that we hadn't done we hadn't done anything I think one year we had like the pride flag during the pride month or the pride week uh at the office but that that was it and we were like okay let's figure out together what could we do and uh people wanted to have the pride and in case you're not

familiar with pride Helsinki in Finland we don't do Pride floats we do Pride trucks so people get on the truck and and party on the truck cuz it's I don't know maybe it's more finish way of celebrating than than creating an actual float uh but yeah anyways like we were discussing it within super salans and we figured that if we actually want to make a change uh it it's not enough that we do something within superal in needs to happen throughout the industry and that's when we started reaching out to other companies and and ask like hey would you like to join us like this is perhaps a good starting point we can start from Helsinki pride and and see where it can take us thanks that's a great seg actually to my next question CU I was wondering if you'd all like to maybe only you can start and others can then chime in to tell more about what else have we done than just participated in the pride March cuz we have done quite a lot yeah I think we we summarized the the

beginning pretty well um it was quite quite clear from the get-go that pride is not the only thing we want to do but if I say a few more words from the pride collaboration besides the the truck and the March um we've hosted also events during the pride week we've done um events for lgbtqi plus youth um with pride and then with the last year and a half I would say we've added other things to the collective so we now host quarterly get togethers for all of our employees we have Roundtable talks where we talk about how can we take this Collective forward what do our employees want to see more and then also have time just for like casual mingling and and getting to know each other and stuff um within the collective we've also hosted some uh trainings for example on the history of lgbtqi plus also on intersex awareness um and then the survey yeah we've uh col uh conducted a survey on the belonging of the like the feeling of belonging for the lgbtqi plus community within the fin or Finnish game industry

so that's what's been going on in the last few years and excited to see like what more we will be adding on in the future yeah we we did the survey uh with we in games Finland uh with two researchers uh t m and sus no and back in 2022 2023 uh the results of that you can find on the wean games website actually uh and that gave us a really good understanding of kind of where we are at in the Finish game industry in terms of LGBT tqi plus inclusion and one of the things that I found Most Fascinating actually from that survey was that when it comes to kind of sexual minority issues our industry is very much in a good place um especially compared to how it was perceived to be the first time we in games did a survey but when it comes to issues of trans people and non-binary people there's still a lot of work to go so I think there's a lot of really awesome things happening um and a lot of progress has been made but there's still of course lots to do so yeah cool I would also like to hear cuz I know that we've done

these um youth events VI would you want to tell a few words about those cuz I think those been also super cool yeah so when when collaborating with pride we figure that uh it's it's not only that we want to create something for our employees and and and show support for all of us but but also to reach out and and to um kind of like learn from the youth and like how how they feel of games industry and and and games how can we serve the players better uh who are like coming from different backgrounds and also uh to Showcase that we as an industry can be a pretty cool place to work at so um yeah we've organized now two different youth events together with Helsinki Pride uh they they have their own like youth workers and uh who who coordinate like these uh lgbtqa plus specific groups and uh We've invited them once to superal office and once to

next gamees office and uh hosted like nice sessions together uh where they like actually got to design these mini gamess which was really cool we got like really great game game ideas from there um and uh yeah then just like having discussions around like how to make the games more inclusive I can say yeah at the next games at the next games meet up we also had kind of like different interviews that people could have with different people who work in different roles um just to show people that you don't need to be like an expert programmer or a super good artist to join games there's lots of other roles within a game studio and within our industry as well um so lots of skill sets are absolutely valued and needed so uh you know for the next game's meet up we had really good Role Models I think Essie weren't you there being a role model I can't remember but I know some of you were and we had people from all the different companies kind of coming and giving their experience in their expertise and I

think this is really the thing that um helps sort of make the change is when you empower the Young Generation when they're still young and you show them that like hey there is space for you in this community there is space for you in this industry regardless of what you know the media or what stereotypes say I think that's how we make change yes that's a really good point and from yesterday's igda leadership day I learned this that raising awareness is just as important as action and I think this goes kind of both both ways and seeing what we have all done it's kind of we are going both ways and it's it's a great thing um then I'd like to hear on what kind of reception has this better games together initiative received both internally in the companies and then outside in the further games industry h i I can answer that uh internally people are super excited that we're doing this uh the participation for uh HSI Pride March has been pretty high and like we we made these t-shirts

for everyone and and like people were mad about them like they wanted to give hand them out for their friends and family and and we let them uh we we created um merge also with supercell logo that's in like Pride colors or the rainbow colors and uh like people wear them all year round and and they are asking for like more of them uh but to be like bluntly honest um it has been a bit of disappointment to see like how long the rate of attendance is to different trainings um I would say that the attendance rate is is rather good for the like quarterly Hangouts that we that we organize because it's mainly for the community uh of course like including allies uh but the training part is meant for everyone so that we can actually make make change uh within the industry and and that has been a bit disappointment so uh I I think we need more communication and

more trainings to to really be loud and clear of of what what are the changes needed externally I would say that uh we we've gotten some interest from other game companies as well uh but so far like none of them have been uh like after Rio like we haven't got any any new members to join the collective even though we're accepting applications at all times um but yeah the overall like sentiment has been really good from ler side I don't know like like you can you can imagine like every time we post something to our corporate channels about Pride or or like any minorities uh it's just like storm in the in the comment section like it's it's terrible but uh it is what it is and we we try to moderate and and we're not going to back down from communicating externally because of some uh I don't know trolls what I call them homophobic is the word true true

that's the word yeah yeah maybe I could elaborate on on a few of viv's comments uh firstly the training part that's definitely a bottleneck right now VI I think stated it really well um the get togethers they bring the community together but because the trainings are for everyone how do we communicate it better that's I think an obstacle that we are looking to solve in the future so often um the trainings attract those who already maybe part of the community whether as a member or an ally but they are also often maybe already a bit more advanced or educated in the topic whereas the trainings would definitely provide like valuable information and knowledge for for everybody in the company um and then on the sort of feedback internally I think at metacore is also been super well received I think if we just look at Pride numbers uh every year it's like doubled every like the people who are joining also metacore is a relatively young company just four years old so I think the opportunity to just like share our learnings work

together hear what's worked for other game companies what's the best practices tips like collaborating on this it's been really really helpful for for metacore yeah and for next games I think internally it we've had a super great response even today uh a few of the next Gamers who were here walking around are actually wearing our pride shirts which is amazing um during pride month every week this year I was uploading different articles to intra our internet um about different private related topics so for example one week I posted about uh conversion therapy since uh it seems that that is still going to be legal in Finland for this foreseeable future for some reason uh and then also different issues related to like trans rights and so on and I was able to see from our analytics that we're reaching about half the company uh with these articles internally so I think that's really impressive we've had pretty good uh response rates to Pride definitely could have higher attendance numbers to trainings as well uh but I'm I've been

really happy to be honest with how things have gone and I think people are are happy that we're part of this organization I think it's a sense of pride no pun intended for a lot of people so um yeah I I think it can only kind of get better and go up from here I think cool great to hear I think I've also perceived this kind of very well received all over the industry and can't wait what we do next um then I we already kind of touched on the topic of learnings but I'd like to hear from your point of view especially like on the collaboration between companies I think this fairly new that we have sustained this kind of longer collaboration with the several companies or any other learnings regarding the kind of events or whatever we're doing yeah I could start um yeah I already touched base a little bit on the on the learnings part but just like sharing is caring here as well so like sharing our best practices also hosting like um trainings together so we've had

trainings where we streamed it to for every company um I think I don't know if grass rot level is the right term for for like learnings but just on like how can we make events as inclusive as possible what what is what kind of communication do we want internally what kind of communication do we want to do to the external audience of better games together and how can we make like our workplaces more inclusive um create a space of like um safe safe work working environment the sense of belonging and things these kind of things that may sound small when they're like when they're um pointed out but they are actually like concrete things that we've been able to add and like learn from each other and then um imp apply at our workplaces yeah I can I can go next I think one thing um is definitely to kind of understand your focus area so I think a lot of times uh and we in games has very good experience with this as well you know you start out with these good

ideas and you realize that like wow Dei is the super broad topic we can help everyone we can do all kinds of things and then you realize wait a minute we have jobs on top of this and also all kinds of other things going on in our lives so for us I think it was a really great moment when we realize that like okay we are going to focus on lgbtqi plus rights and inclusion and if we look at this from an intersectional lens of course by helping one group we are also helping uh other groups so kind of learning just to focus and learning to understand our own kind of limitations within the project I think has been super super beneficial I think another thing um that was really uh good to kind of learn and call out early on was the fact that if you're going to invite the whole company to a training it is expensive it is expensive to use those hours on a training so it needs to be something that is worthwhile you need to have a practitioner or a facilitator who is knowledgeable who really really sets the bar High who is going to come in and

actually bring you something kind of unique and and special because the last thing you want is to you know spend thousands of Euros on one hour if you will only to get feedback in the form that like well it was nice to meet my colleagues but I didn't learn anything that's not what we want we want you to leave actually kind of learning something right so I think really knowing to set the bar high and really vetting the people that you have come in to do the trainings will hopefully and should yield better results in the end and tapping on that like also setting the expectations uh so that being clear uh of like what level information we're sharing and so that like is it for people who've never heard of lgbtq plus people or or issues or or challenges or or is it someone who's more on the advanced level or would like to already like learn some skills like how to how to actually be more inclusive in their work so that cuz I I think that was one

of the feedback that we got from first training that it was more about the history and I already know knew about this like I didn't learn anything new like I I thought this is going to be a deeper dive so I think that's important like with any kind of trainings that you do that you set the expectations that what is this for yeah for sure and I think um then looking back into the kind of further better games together um collaboration I think we've evolved a lot in kind of with the realization that we want to focus on the lgbtqi plus folks and their rights and inclusion having the kind of clear focus on who takes part in what meetings and all that because we of course have a lot of interest towards a group too and we have a lot of people who want to volunteer and help within their work but do you have any insights on how to kind of for any tips on like how to do this kind of cross compan collaboration effectively I can start so I would say um understand why you're in

it that's a really big thing like for us I think it's very clear that we are in this to support the industry and to support our colleagues for us this is not a branding Endeavor um and it's okay if you want to have a branding Endeavor but I think then you just have to be all on the same page that it is a branding Endeavor right or is it if it's not in our case we are all lined there so I think that's super important um I would say you know really know who your audience is what you're trying to do as VI kind of said set the expectations about what you're doing um and you know don't and this is something that's easy for us to say from like the mobile mobile game industry but like don't look at your other companies as competitors all the time right of course we are all in the same industry together but when we work together we have the opportunity to actually create meaningful change and that would be impossible if we all saw each other as being from competing companies so I think just just understanding kind of your mission and

and being unified I think that's super important anything to add from I think you had it pretty nicely there oh okay well well sorry yeah all right then we are shortly running out of time we'll try to make this short uh my final question and I think Lia you'd like to take this one is how can other companies join we already tapped in this that we like open to new applications to join better games together but how do you do it so if you're in Finland you go to better games together.i and you read up on there and if you read the things and it sounds good you send us an email if you are not in Finland you can steal the idea uh we only work within Finland again that's about like setting the boundaries and setting the scope uh this is for our finnished Studios but if you're like from Sweden or Germany or Japan or anywhere and you're like hey I want to do that do it please we don't gatekeep steal our idea um you know and and we'd love love to we'd love to see

everyone kind of doing these similar kind of initiatives and and cross compan collaborations in other countries as well I think that would be amazing so please steal it or go to better gamest together.i if you're in Finland and of course it's not only for lgbtq AI plus like if if if the concept is something that you find interesting apply it to like different topics as well like other Dei matters or or something else like world is your oyster thank you that was all of my panel questions for for today and now I think we have some short minutes still left if we have any Q&A from from the audience and if we don't just so everyone knows I was very smart this morning and I remembered to grab a small handful of better games together pixel heart sticker sheets so if anyone after this would like some stickers uh come find me does anyone have any questions for our lovely panelists got one here just

there yeah have you had a chance to uh explore like why why the the uh participation in the uh in the trainings is so low like what are the reasons have you had any chance to like query on that maybe I can start at least from like the company level so I think we can definitely do a better communication uh when we've established better games together it was like okay this is a community for the LGBT Qi Plus members or Allies so when the message of the training has come from the better games together I think some people automatically assumed okay if I'm not part of the community maybe this isn't this doesn't apply to me or this isn't relevant for me so doing a clear separation between this is a like get together for all the community members or Allies and this training like whoever you are whether you're a minority or not this training is important to you so I think at least internally we could have and we will do a better job on like communicating like who this is is for and the trainings are absolutely for

everyone I think at supercell um it was too formal I I think we should have gone like the same way that we we share about learnings with anything like in D game development side for example we organize Brownback lunches where we share learnings like I I think the next training should be in a form of that or even more casual like what what Lea has been doing in next games like I I think we're getting like good learnings from there like how you can share bits and pieces of information and and like for example these heart t-shirts with different PR Flags uh we we have the stickers we have temporary tattoos made out out of these stickers but we haven't really explained what the pr flags are so people are just like posting these stickers everywhere and and um I'm just's wondering like do they even know what what those like different colors mean Soo uh we're we're trying to explain uh also these short thing like smaller things like what what is this

actually so that it doesn't have to be this massive 2-hour training it can be just bits and pieces every now and then I actually have a flag guide on internet and I never shared it with any of you and that is an oversight on my part so this is learning in real time folks I will share that to you after the meeting but I think from the from the next game side I think part of it has to do with the timing so uh we are a Netflix Game studio so we have a lot of of um kind of cross time zone collaboration so a lot of times these things have been starting at like 400 p.m. or 5:00 p.m. when we've had kind of joint events and that's right when The Californians are starting to get to work so sometimes people have like their last meeting of the day and there's been a bit of an overlap and uh so one thing could also be just exploring different timings for example having breakfast or brunch or or something that doesn't interfere as much with the work could definitely be um one thing and I think the other thing is again expectation man agement and sort of saying what's going to be there I

during pride month this year I had no less than three straight people tell me well I'm an ally so I can't go and I've been like no that's not how this works like you are an ally so you come so I think just making sure allies understand that they are welcome and as long as they're not taking up space then I think we need those straight allies there to to you know boost us up and to show our show us support yeah and I think like keeping the communication going and kind of flowing between people and folks like I've been saying like Okay I'm our team meeting like hey remember this week we have this Pride training and or if it comes from the lead it kind of comes closer to you than when it comes from this distant comes person somewhere as an email so also making it more personal is usually super effective getting our leaders involved yeah like for example I'm going to embarrass Kaa now who's our art director who's in the audience she's been really amazing at reminding the art artists for example to attend the

trainings um so just you know having a good relationship with the people managers and with the team leaders to remind them to remind the team then it's more personal brilliant thank you so much uh I we'll have one more question there and then we'll wrap up thank you very much for the discussions and the initiative that you're doing um so I'm not working for a company I'm working for school in this case University and game students um is there any like collaborations or like uh actions that not just the company side but also the institutions can also work together with your group um for the future game developers why not team up with each other like why don't why not why not the schools team up like that would be amazing to have a unified line from the schools especially in the current finished Climate about you know these sorts of things like of course I know your question was about working with us but I'm going to ball it back to you basically and say why don't the schools join together that would be amazing yeah and I guess like it would

be also really great to have uh because we have these quarterly meetups like perhaps one of them could be like with students yeah and I mean our quarterly meetups we usually um open some positions for wi games members so if the students are interested and are Wing games members then they are um eligible to sign up for for these events so nice plug yes that's a nice way to also promote wi games and to join as a member but I think that's Al that's why we games is a part of this better games together thing too because we want to kind of make it game industry wide and open it further than just on our companies but we also want to kind of understand how do we do it sustainably so that we just don't open it to everyone so that we actually keep it focused and keep it for those people that it is for so I think that's that's the way to go exactly brilliant can we get a round of applause for our panelist please [Applause]

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