UK game development needs more women

Newsbrief: When a Tory MP claimed that a devastatingly low percentage of UK game development were women - only 17 percent - Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central Chi Onwurah told him his figures were inflated. "The figures I have for females in the video games industry are even worse than the honorable gentleman's 17 percent," Onwurah said in an address to UK Parliament, according to MCV. "My figures show that only six percent of those who work in [Information and Communication Technology] in the UK games industry are women, despite the fact that they make up 50 percent of those who play the games." Onwurah cited statistics in which last year only 2,400 female students from the UK went on to pursue computer science courses in university, as opposed to 15,000 male students. The overall percentage of women in the tech field has dropped by 5 percent since 2001. "It is certainly the case that the video games industry is a modern one," said Onwurah. "One would hope that it would be reflective of society, including those who play games, but it is not."