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ANDREW PHELPS — President

Andrew Phelps serves as a Professor in the Film & Media Arts division of the School of Communication at American University, and as Director of the AU Game Center, a multidisciplinary effort that engages faculty, staff, and students from several divisions and departments across AU. He also holds a joint appointment as a Professor in the Computer Science Department in the AU College of Arts & Sciences. AU offers several degrees and certificates relative to games and media, including an MA in Game Design and an MFA in Games and Interactivity, and Phelps advises students in these programs as well as other areas of media arts and computing.

In addition to these permanent roles, Phelps also holds a visiting lectureship at Uppsala University in Sweden through the transformative play initiative within the Department of Game Design. This work is centered largely on collaborations involving his interests in existential, transformative play, and theorizing a design framework for games of this type through collaborations with Dr. Doris Rusch and other faculty at the Gotland campus.

Prior to July of 2019, Phelps served as a Professor of Art & Design in the College of Art & Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and before that as a Professor in the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing & Information Sciences at RIT, for nearly 20 years. He is the founder of the RIT School of Interactive Games & Media, the founder of the RIT Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction & Creativity (MAGIC) and the founder of MAGIC Spell Studios at RIT, the last of which is a $25M public-private partnership between RIT and the State of New York to help expand the games, film, and media industries in New York.

His work in games programming education has been featured in The New York Times, CNN.com, USA Today, National Public Radio, IEEE Computer, and several other articles and periodicals. He regularly publishes work exploring collaborative game engines and game engine technology and maintains a website featuring his work as an educator, artist, programmer, and game addict. Primary research and teaching interests include online gaming, electronic entertainment, 3 dimensional graphics and real time rendering, virtual reality, and interactive worlds.

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Finding Work in the Video Games Industry

A total of 387 participants completed the 2019 Survey of Program Graduates. These individuals identified themselves as having completed or being in the process of completing a video-game-based program at a post-secondary institution. The participants included both undergraduate and graduate students.

For those based in the United States, the average salary of all employed survey participants was $61,000. For full-time workers, the average salary was $68,000. This is significantly higher than the median salary of all American workers, which is reported to be $36,300. This average includes all workers, regardless of education level.

Compared with workers with similar education outcomes, game program alumni seemed to earn slightly more, though exact comparisons proved challenging. For example, respondents between 22 and 30 years of age earned an average of $57,500 per year. In comparison, starting salaries for all post- secondary graduates in the US in 2018 were reported as $50,390.

Across the survey sample, women on average earned $61,750. Men, on average, earned $59,730.

Salaries steadily increased, except for the oldest cohort. For example, the youngest cohort of respondents (17-21 years) earned an average salary of $40,000, while those between the ages of 31- 40 earned approximately $76,200.

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Employment in the Video Games Industry

A total of 387 participants completed the 2019 Survey of Program Graduates. These individuals identified themselves as having completed or being in the process of completing a video-game-based program at a post-secondary institution. The participants included both undergraduate and graduate students.

84% of respondents stated that they were currently employed. This included full-time, part-time, and contract work, as well as self-employment. The rate of employment increased with the age of respondents. For example, 70% of the youngest cohort of respondents reported being employed compared with 100% of the oldest cohort.

Of those in the 2019 survey who reported being employed, approximately 77% had full-time work, 16% had part-time work, and 5% were self-employed. 12% indicated that they had secured contract work.

From the data, it is reasonable to conclude that respondents engaged in multiple forms of work. For example, of the 251 respondents who described their work as full-time, 34 also indicated that they did contract work on top of their employment (9% of the entire sample). With respect to employment type, the percentages did not change significantly from the 2015 survey, although the previous survey did not explicitly ask about contract work.

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Ethnicity in the Video Games Industry

A total of 387 participants completed the 2019 Survey of Program Graduates. These individuals identified themselves as having completed or being in the process of completing a video-game-based program at a post-secondary institution. The participants included both undergraduate and graduate students.

With respect to the respondents from the United States, most were White (54%). Those who identified as being of Asian descent were 17% of respondents, while those of Latinx descent were 16% of respondents. Black or African-American individuals made up 7%. Less than one percent of respondents identified as either Middle Eastern or Native American. When reporting their ethnicity, respondents could choose more than one option. Approximately 6% of people identified as being of “Mixed” ethnicity. Most frequently, individuals of mixed ethnicity identified as being White and one other ethnicity.

“Not a lot of African Americans in the industry. It’s so far not been negative, but there’s always just a sense of perspective that I rarely can share with someone else without having to fully articulate it.” – Game Designer

Compared with the overall US population, the 2019 Survey of Program Graduates had a significantly lower number of Whites (54% versus 76.6%), a higher percentage of Asians (17% versus 5.8%), a similar number of Latinx (17% versus 18.1%), and a lower number of Black or African Americans (7% versus 13.4%). There were notable differences with respect to the ethnicity of respondents between the 2015 HEVGA Survey and the results of the 2019 survey. The 2019 survey had approximately 20% fewer White respondents. This is a remarkable difference, which could reflect changes in admissions to games programs across the US. Alternatively, it could be a sampling discrepancy, especially considering that the 2019 survey had approximately twice as many participants. There was an increase of 11% for respondents identifying as Latinx and an increase of 8% for those of Asian descent. There was a slightly more than 1% increase in respondents who identified as Black or African-American.

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Sexuality in the Video Games Industry

A total of 387 participants completed the 2019 Survey of Program Graduates. These individuals identified themselves as having completed or being in the process of completing a video-game-based program at a post-secondary institution. The participants included both undergraduate and graduate students.

Approximately 20% of respondents identified as LGBTQ+. When compared with data gathered in large nationwide surveys, this is significantly higher than the national average of approximately 4% to 5% for LGBTQ+ individuals in the United States.

“Being gay in the industry has shifted my career towards smaller studios and indie developers. Any time I’ve applied to larger companies, the ‘bro’ nature of them has defined, for me, ‘bad culture fit.’” – Game Designer

The high percentage of LGBTQ+ respondents in comparison with the general US population should not be dismissed as a statistical anomaly. Other studies that examine the sexual orientation and gender identity of individuals in the games industry have found similar distributions. The IGDA Developer Satisfaction Survey for 2017 Summary Report indicated that 25% of those who responded to their survey identified as LGBTQ+. Previous years of IGDA reports describe similar percentages. It is possible that there are factors at play that attract LGBTQ+ individuals to the video games industry.

Methodological circumstances may also explain the difference. For example, the percentage of those who identify as LGBTQ+ is consistently higher among young people, which would align with the younger nature of our sample. Furthermore, our survey guaranteed the anonymity of the respondents. Surveys where such assurances are put in place tend to have higher rates of people identifying as LGBTQ+. As part of the same question, we gave respondents who did not identify as LGBTQ+ the opportunity to indicate that they were an LGBTQ+ ally. Approximately 20% of respondents chose this option. Another 6% of respondents preferred not to answer.

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Job Satisfaction in the Video Games Industry

A total of 387 participants completed the 2019 Survey of Program Graduates. These individuals identified themselves as having completed or being in the process of completing a video-game-based program at a post-secondary institution. The participants included both undergraduate and graduate students.

The number of respondents who stated that working in the video games industry would be their first choice for a job dropped significantly the more years they spent in the industry. For example, at five years since graduation, the percentage of men who said that the video games industry would be their first choice for employment was 64%, compared with 95% of men who just graduated.

Women saw a much more precipitous decline, going from 85% to 40%. The rate drops particularly quickly for women after in the industry, falling from 90% one year after graduation to 64% after two. There could be many reasons for this. One might be the well-documented toxicity of some aspects of the industry to women—a factor already covered in-depth by both academics and games journalists.

It is also worth considering other factors that may be at play. Further research on this topic could shed valuable light on how people’s desire to work in a particular industry changes over time, and whether the trend stabilizes or potentially reverses over a longer period of time.

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Gender in 2019 Survey of Program Graduates

A total of 387 participants completed the 2019 Survey of Program Graduates. These individuals identified themselves as having completed or being in the process of completing a video-game-based program at a post-secondary institution. The participants included both undergraduate and graduate students.

Most of the respondents identified as men (70%), which is slightly lower than the rate reported in the 2015 HEVGA Survey (73%). There was a higher rate of respondents who identified as women in this survey (26%) compared with the 2015 survey (22%). Approximately 2% of respondents identified as non-binary, genderqueer, and/or third gender. Another 2% did not answer.

In a separate anonymous question not tied to the other demographic questions, we asked respondents “Do you identify as a transgender person?” Most people (76%) stated that they did not identify as a transgender person. 72% identified as cisgender, a term used when an individual’s gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth. 4% indicated they did not identify as either cisgender or transgender. A little over 10% of respondents identified as transgender—including as a transgender man, a transgender woman, or as “non-binary, genderqueer, and/or third gender.”

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Games Programs in Community Colleges & Universities

The total number of technical training centers, community colleges, and large universities with games courses and programs is considerable. In the US alone, over 520 institutions offered 1200+ game-related programs and degrees in 2018. An even greater number offered courses, but no program or degree. Meanwhile, the number of games-related programs in post- secondary institutions in Canada has increased ninefold over the past decade.

Survey respondents reported a dizzying array of diplomas and degrees. The percentage of respondents pursuing Bachelor of Arts degrees increased from 13% to 20%, while those pursuing Bachelor of Science degrees increased from 11% to 18%. Graduate degrees in game studies appear to have declined in popularity between the 2015 and the 2019 reports. With the exception of Master of Arts degrees which increased from 2% to 7%, there were fewer respondents pursuing Master’s and Doctorate degrees in game-related areas compared with those in 2015. The general improvement in the economy over this time may have been a factor in this decline, with more people entering the workforce shortly after graduation, rather than pursuing further education.

With respect to specific courses, respondents most commonly reported participating in classes on Game Design, Game Production, and Game Programming. Animation, Level Design, and 3D Modeling were also popular. Interestingly, fewer students reported taking critical game studies courses, compared with those in the 2015 HEVGA Survey. Given the remarkable challenges the games industry is facing in terms of equity, marginalization, and labor conditions, this could be a worrying trend.

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MEDIA INCORRECTLY REPORTS ‘GAMING DISORDER’ INCLUDED IN ICD-11

WASHINGTON, DC – June 25, 2018 – Recent articles circulating in the news concerning the World Health Organization’s (WHO) proposed ‘gaming disorder’ inaccurately report that it has already been included in WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD). In fact, this is still only a proposed draft, currently under review by experts around the globe.

As researchers concerned with careful, evidence-based recommendations, we note that no definitive evidence has yet been published that links video games as a medium to a disorder deserving of its own classification.Without sufficient evidence, WHO will only repeat a cycle of media scares that we’ve seen before in books, music, radio, and television. In our opinion, WHO should first demonstrate the proposed disorder is not due to other underlying evidence-based disorders or diagnoses, as opposed to video games as a medium, before including it in the ICD-11. Not to do so has the potential to cause great harm to individuals in true need of other substantiated and effective mental health diagnoses and treatments. We urge WHO to consider the lack of evidence supporting a causal link between a disorder and the medium of video games prior to including it in the ICD-11.

In order to continue the conversation, HEVGA Vice President Lindsay Grace will be participating in a panel discussion at the Games for Change Festival this week on Friday, June 29 from 3:15-4:00pm ET. Other panelists include: Jennifer McNamara (Vice President of Serious Games, BreakAway Games), Kelli Dunlap (Mental Health Manager at iThrive Games, psychologist), and Victoria Van Voorhis (Founder and CEO of Second Avenue Learning).

Panelists will address WHO actions and the continued critique of games from social and scientific communities, present research findings and heuristics to critically assess claims, and equip attendees for meaningful dialogue around this classification driven by evidence, findings, and knowledge. A recording of the panel will be available to the public online following the Festival. If you will be at G4C, we encourage you to attend.