Girls Make Games is a series of summer camps, workshops and game jams designed to inspire the next generation of designers, creators, and engineers. Launched in 2014, the program has reached 6,400 girls through workshops and camps, and over 23,000 through tutorials, games and resources. GMG was created by Laila Shabir and Ish Syed, founders of LearnDistrict, an educational company committed to creating educational access through video games and enrichment programs.
While gaming is seen and portrayed in the media as an activity for young boys, the reality of what a gamer looks like is quite different. More women over 40 play games than boys under 18!
Three of our biggest drivers at Girls Make Games include:
Representation: Women make up over 45% of the gaming population but less than 24% of the video games industry.
Social responsibility: The video games industry is one of the biggest content creators that influences society, and especially our youth (9 out 10 US kids play games) When women don't make games, their perspective and contribution is left out of this incredible vehicle for social change.
Opportunity: The video games industry is growing in revenue annually, creating jobs and wealth. Global revenues are expected to reach $312 billion by 2026!
Girls Make Games is fortunate to have support from generous sponsors like the Xbox, PlayStation, Humble Bundle, and Google Play among several others. These sponsorships help make camp affordable in the form of need-based financial aid to students who wouldn't otherwise be able to attend our programs.