Here Are the Winners from the 2016 Women in Games Awards

Women only make up 19 percent of the video games industry workforce. Which is absolutely ridiculous when you consider that just as many women play video games as men, in their everyday lives. But B2B games media publications MCV and the Women in Games organisation (WIGJ) are trying to change that by highlighting inspirational figures for young women to look up to via the Women in Games Awards, the second of which took place in London yesterday (May the 20th).

Presented by VICE Gaming contributor and BBC host Julia Hardy, the Facebook- and Twitch-supported awards featured six categories, celebrating the contributions of women towards the ever-advancing medium of video games. In addition to the main awards, 30 key figures in gaming were toasted for their continuing high-quality work, amongst them another sometime VICE Gaming writer, Kotaku UK editor Keza MacDonald, The Chinese Room composer and studio head Jessica Curry, public relations MDs Kat Osman and Caroline Miller, and State of Play co-founder Katherine Bidwell.

The main winners at the Soho-held awards were as follows:

Rising Star: Karen Stanley, Environment Artist, Sony London Studios
Businesswoman of the Year: Debbie Bestwick, CEO, Team17
Creative Impact:Siobhan Reddy, Co-Founder, Media Molecule
Unsung Hero:Tanya Laird, Director, Digital Jam
Campaigner: Kirsty Payne, VP, SpecialEffect
Outstanding Contribution:Dr Jo Twist, CEO, Ukie

MCV's Chris Dring said of the event: "The traditional male-orientated games business is changing… but the games industry still lags behind other creative sectors including film, TV and radio. These awards have been launched to recognise female talent from across all sectors of the business. But, equally as important, we hope that highlighting these women will inspire the next generation to choose games as a career choice."

WIGJ CEO Jenny Richards-Stewart commented: "When I first joined the games industry, women were very much in the minority, particularly in senior positions. More still needs to be done, but it is really fantastic to see the contribution made to the games industry by women in all disciplines. We're delighted to be rewarding their work."

2015's winners included author Gabrielle Kent, recently interviewed on VICE Gaming.

Congratulations to all of the winners – your work is awesome, and important, so keep it up, please. There's no reason whatsoever for gaming to be so male dominated – it's not like you need a dick to develop using Unity – and the more that can be done to illustrate that games development, marketing, publicity and journalism are valid career paths for women, the better. The full list of 30 women in games can be found at the MCV website.

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