The global gaming market is booming. It’s expected to exceed 300 billion dollars in the coming years. Half of gamers are women and girls.

As the number of women and girls who game grows, so has online harassment. Mike speaks with Verta Malone, co-founder of GameHERs, an organization for women gamers, whose mission is to elevate the role, voice, image, and power of women in gaming. “We’re not just talking about that toxicity. We want to talk about how do we get jobs and how do we change this, how do we have marketing that is geared towards us in ways that actually meet our needs.”

The e-sports game Valorant awards 1 million dollars to the winning team of the world championship tournament. Head coach Christine “Potter” Chi made history as the first female coach to win the tournament in 2023, along with her team, Evil Geniuses. A former Evil Geniuses player herself, Potter brings firsthand experience to coaching, focusing on each player’s strengths, maintaining a high work ethic, and coaching with intense purpose. 

The gaming industry has long faced criticisms for its lack of diversity. A report by the International Game Developers Association found that 71 percent of game developers globally are men. When it comes to racial diversity, 69 percent identify as white, while only 2 percent are Black. This is something that a new generation of developers is trying to change in the gaming space. Mike talks to game developer and professor, Mitu Khandaker, founder of Glow Up Games, a game studio dedicated to creating characters and storylines that highlight under-represented audiences.