GamesBeat: What has the growth trend been like?
MacLean: I haven’t seen the historic trends for the last few years. The IGDA has more than 8,000 members across 130 chapters. I do know that on the chapter and special interest group side, we’ve seen a lot of growth there and broader proliferation. Especially for new platforms — we have a VR/AR/MR special interest group [SIG] — and new chapters. Game development has become more global than it’s ever been before. I’m proud of the efforts the IGDA has put into supporting chapters in places around the world.
GamesBeat: When it comes to helping the IGDA itself grow stronger, what needs to happen there? Do you need more corporate support for the IGDA?
MacLean: To me, the IGDA is first and foremost about helping developers succeed. One of the ways that I’d love to see us improve on that mission is helping developers make meaningful connections within their own community. Chapters and SIGs are such a huge part of the value we provide. I believe that’s unrivaled by any other organization in the industry.
For example, I spoke at the New Zealand Game Developers Conference last week. I was able to meet with IGDA chapter leaders there, and that was such a powerful experience for me, learning about the challenges of our industry in a different part of the world. I’d love for every game developer who travels to be able to meet their counterparts around the world. If somebody in New Zealand is passionate about diversity and inclusivity and wants to join our allies’ SIG, I want them to be able to work with someone in Seattle and somebody in South Africa to support the shared mission they all have.
That, I think, is the value we bring — not only personal growth and personal dividends for the game developers involved but also by fostering those connections and sharing new ideas and new perspectives. It helps make the industry a significantly better place as well.
GamesBeat: Diversity and inclusivity have been surprisingly controversial issues in the game space. What’s your view over that?
MacLean: The IGDA Foundation concentrates explicitly on supporting diversity and inclusivity in the games industry. Our goal is to have literally every person on the planet find an amazing experience with games. We believe the best way to accomplish that goal is to have a game development community that’s inclusive and welcoming of every person on the planet. It’s just common sense. Why would you not want to make games that bring entertainment to everyone? We have such a powerful medium. Why not make it open to anyone who wants to participate?
GamesBeat: Accessibility is a big issue across a lot of fronts, then.
MacLean: Absolutely. Accessibility from the perspective of not just playing games but also creating games. We’re so lucky to live in the world we’re in today, with tools like Unreal and Unity that have really democratized game development. With programs like the Global Game Jam, which grew out of the IGDA, which brings people together from all walks of life — you don’t have to be a game developer to participate in the Global Game Jam — to help them make games. The more that we have people making games and loving games, the more successful the industry can be and the more successful individual developers can be. It’s the success of the individual developer that’s really the focus of the IGDA.
GamesBeat: One statistic I remember Kate brought up quite often is that 20 percent of game developers today are women. It seems like that number has been fairly static lately.
McLean: It has been static for as long as I’ve heard statistics on that. To me, that speaks to the fact that as an industry, we must be better. We must be better not just from a perspective of having gender diversity but also ethnic diversity and racial diversity. There shouldn’t be any barriers to entry and success.
Underrepresented minorities leave tech and the games industry at a much higher rate than white men do. We have fantastic talent getting into the industry, if not at a high enough rate but then, we’re not keeping them. We need to take a hard look at how we remove barriers, not just to getting in the industry but also to staying in the industry. Otherwise, we’re not reaching our full potential as an industry, and we’re not creating the kind of games we could create. We should never limit ourselves, and by having a largely homogenous industry, I believe that we do.
GamesBeat: Do you see this as a multi-year job for you?
MacLean: I’ve certainly committed to the board for at least [through] GDC. That’s a question for the board and for me to look at. As long as I feel like I’m making an impact and making a difference, I’ll be happy. That’s my primary criterion about the role that I want. I feel like I have an amazing gift because I have a chance to make an impact on the day-to-day lives and the success of game developers, a community I’ve been a part of and been passionate about for the last 25 years. I can’t think of a better way to spend my time today.
GamesBeat: The crunch-time issue, is that still a priority or the subject of ongoing research for you guys?
MacLean: We’re definitely working on both advocacy and research. As far as whether we have one spotlight issue — there are so many things we need to be working on. For me, first and foremost, it’s about empowering developers to understand and implement what’s successful for them. Some developers choose to crunch to get out a game like Grand Theft Auto V. I don’t agree with that personally. It’s not the choice I would make. But I feel like our responsibility is to educate developers and studios on the consequences of that choice.
There are a lot of other issues that are just as meaningful and just as powerful that go beyond crunch time — things like diversity and inclusivity and things like our responsibility on platforms like VR, which is a whole different issue that you’re going to hear a lot more about as we start to understand the consequences of VR. In many ways, it’s like the early days of MMOs. There are issues people haven’t had to consider before. That’s going to be a really interesting field to watch.
As I say, we don’t have a signature issue. Our signature issue is helping game developers, helping them make choices with all the information about the consequences that we can provide and making sure they can do what’s best for themselves.
GamesBeat: As far as working with other organizations, how much of your job is going to be to strengthen ties with groups like the ESA or Diversity in Gaming?
MacLean: I’m really excited about that. It’s something I already have a lot of experience with through my role in the IGDA Foundation — participating in the Diversity in Gaming group, working with Megan Gaiser, working with the AIAS Foundation. As far as I’m concerned, we all have the same goal, which is support our industry and support game developers. The more that we can, as an industry and as different organizations, work together to achieve change more quickly, more efficiently, and on a larger scale, absolutely, let’s do it.
One thing we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about, both with the IGDA board and the Foundation board — we believe our goal is to support a gaming development community for everyone and make games for everyone. That’s a goal everyone should be able to adopt and pursue with a full heart. We’re all passionate about games — not only the experiences we create but the ones we enjoy. Sharing them with everybody is something that is meaningful and powerful. It gives a purpose to the work we do.