Meet the all-woman gaming community igniting creative culture in Saudi Arabia

Gaming, they say, can make a better world. Games make us better at being hopeful, forming social bonds, being productive, seeking meaning in our lives, and surviving suffering, gaming expert Jane McGonigal has argued.

Yet gaming today is just as known for its dark side: its bro culture where sexual harassment is commonplace, calls for more female protagonists earn a stream of vitriol on Twitter, women executives are viewed with skepticism, and 88% of employees are male, despite the fact that almost half of gamers are women.

One of the places where that is swiftly changing is perhaps a bit unexpected: Saudi Arabia.

While the tradition of gender segregation in the Kingdom poses challenges for its workforce (and gender segregation isn’t a recommended solution for sexism on the whole), the realities of Saudi society have allowed a group of female gamers to forge a community, foster solidarity, and reclaim gaming as a tool for cultural transformation.

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Meet the all-woman gaming community igniting creative culture in Saudi Arabia