By Elena Zanone

It was only a mere six months ago when the game industry took to Twitter with #1ReasonWhy to voice concerns and share stories about perceptions of women in games.  Based on a couple of incidents at recent industry shows PAX East and Game Developers Conference (GDC), this hashtag isn’t going away any time soon.

The most recent high profile incident happened last week at GDC.  After a party sponsored by IGDA special interest group Women in Games featured scantily clad female dancers, one of the group’s most high profile board members Brenda Brathwaite resigned.  It didn’t help that the party was held hours after Brathwaite was on the women’s issues GDC panel 1ReasonToBe, a discussion meant to continue the dialogue started by the #1ReasonWhy Twitter thread.

After claiming she was bombarded with messages about the IGDA party, Brathwaite took to Twitter and also issued this statement to announce her resignation from the body: “I have been a long-time supporter of the IGDA. However, my silence would have been complicity. I had no choice. And just hours after our panel, too.”

During the panel, Brathwaite had singled out how uncomfortable booth models made her, how they created a sexually charged atmosphere at an event, and that it was an affront to the women of the games industry.  There seems to be a trend, and it’s not just Brathwaite who’s apparently uneasy about it.  The week before GDC at PAX East, Crystal Dymanics’ community manager Meaghan Marie had an experience where a reporter turned an interview of Tomb Raider cosplay models into a sexual Q&A.  She filed a complaint and managed to get the reporter banned from all PAX events, and the incident moved her to detail her personal anecdotes with sexism in the industry in a Tumblr post, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”

The string of these recent incidents started with last year’s Eurogamer Expo in October, where YouTube personality KSIOlaJidebt decided to take what he thought would be a fun approach to reporting on the event with a man-on-the-street style video.  Whatever comedic talents he has, they were misguidedly focused on one shtick — harassing women at the show.  His act went beyond distasteful jokes and verbal innuendos to moments one might classify as physical harassment if not for his subjects being good natured for the camera.  The video prompted an outcry on Twitter, with people eventually direct tweeting event organizers.  Ultimately Eurogamer editor-in-chief Tom Bramwell stepped in and announced that KSIOlaJidebt would be banned from all future Eurogamer events.

That ugliness simmered for less than a month before another incident at New York Comic Con.  Fashion designer and cosplay model Mandy Caruso was subjected to a distasteful press interview which she was forced to cut short. Caruso took to Tumblr to detail her rough encounter, which has now been shared by more than 47,000 followers and supporters.

Since the most recent events at GDC, Brathwaite has received massive support from her Twitter followers and women and men from all corners of the game industry.  One fellow IGDA board member, Darius Kazemi, supported Brathwaite by tendering his own resignation from the IGDA, an act that other members have followed.

The IGDA has since apologized for what transpired at its event, issuing this statement: “We recognize that some of the performers’ costumes at the party were inappropriate, and also some of the activities they performed were not what we expected or approved. We regret that the IGDA was involved in this situation. We do not condone activities that objectify or demean women or any other group of people. One of the core values of the IGDA is encouraging inclusion and diversity. Obviously we need to be more vigilant in our efforts. We intend to be so in the future.”