Pride and Diversity: Events, Tips and Resources 2023

Gamecity Hamburg's 2023 Pride Month roundup curates events, resources, and organizations for LGBTQ+ game developers, employers, and allies, with particular attention to the German games industry and Hamburg. Published on June 13, 2023 as an update of a 2022 article, it frames diversity as a central topic for the industry and positions awareness, networking, and practical action as the key steps toward change. The list is explicitly a starting point rather than a comprehensive directory, and readers are invited to submit additions.

The resources section highlights the German games association game's diversity guide, which covers basic questions, company best practices, and concrete steps toward more diverse studios. It also points to Games for Change, which curates socially impactful games through its G4C Award, and the LGBTQ Video Game Archive, maintained by Adrienne Shaw to document the history of LGBTQ+ representation in digital games.

Organizations and networks include the "Hier spielt Vielfalt" campaign launched in 2019 with a signable diversity declaration, the international #RaiseTheGame initiative from Ukie, and GAME:IN, a collective formed in 2022 that supports FLINTA people, opposes sexism, asks signatory companies to commit to a 50% FLINTA workforce share, and is building a speaker database to diversify panels. Gay Gaming Professionals offers education, job search, and company-founding support, while the Orbital Discord community has roughly 400 users.

Events span the digital DIGIPRIDE festival from Gayming Magazine (May to July), the virtual Pride Our Way event for disabled and chronically ill LGBTQIA+ people (June 23-24), and the Queer Games Bundle on itch.io (June 1 to July 7, over 300 games). Corporate activity includes Sega's Twitch fundraiser with Kaleidoskop Trust (June 22-30) and Hamburg developer Bytro's June 30 stream for Trans Lifeline. Locally, Hamburg Pride Week begins with Pride Night on July 29 and culminates in the CSD Parade on August 5.