Drawings of phallus on boardroom boards, internal porn mailing lists, daily jokes about rape, even touching of female employees by people in high places… the World has garnered more about thirty testimonials from women, victims or witnesses of sexist behaviour. Only a tiny minority of them agreed to testify openly. Even more than in the worlds of cinema or music, where the Weinstein affair has freed speech, omerta remains particularly strong in the video game sector.
The few cases of harassment made public have taken place across the Atlantic, on forums, in the e-sports community or in the specialized press. But not within the industry itself, which has been able to drown out the few openly accusatory voices. Like the American studio Naughty Dog, which, on October 15, published a terse statement to deny the allegations of a former employee, David Ballard, who accused one of his two former superiors of harassment, without announcing any internal investigation.
"Making waves is dangerous"
Free speech is the challenge of this sector crushed under the weight of large groups and their "corporate" culture. Several professionals, contacted individually, acknowledge having raised the questions of Le Monde to their hierarchy. “There are employee behaviors that range from self-censorship to omerta. Making waves is dangerous, especially for women who are few in the industry and isolated, ”explains with spite Vincent Cambedouzou, of the young Video Game Workers Union (STJV).
Even members of activist associations are bound by confidentiality agreements prohibiting them from discussing their employer. “It is specific to this industry, this omerta, these confidentiality agreements, these duties of reserve… We no longer know what we have the right to say”, sighs Saïda Mirzoeva, of the Inclusive Video Game Gathering (RIJV ).
Especially since, very far from those of the star industries, salaries in this environment are low, especially in France, and jobs are rare, as Pia Jacqmart, screenwriter at the Ile-de-France studio Cyanide points out:
“In the cinema, the women who have testified have a privileged situation or have nothing more to lose, but the video game is an ultra-precarious environment. Already that there are few girls, but in addition there is no financial mattress… ”
Ambient sexism in the studios
In France, according to the SNJV, the industry employs around 5,000 people, 85% of whom are men, a proportion which rises in jobs related to programming.
The atmosphere there oscillates between good-natured geek culture and a clumsy locker room humor, close to that which is observed, for example, in the walls of the School of Computer Science 42. According to the testimonies reported to Le Monde, Many women, especially in design studios, face a sexist, even misogynistic culture.
Not all companies are affected. “Women are rather protected, treated with respect, and respected for their qualities as coordinators. In twenty years, I have only known one cad, but I may have been lucky, “says Carole Faure, former studio manager, careful not to discourage newcomers.
For others, the finding is overwhelming. Even in studios that claim to be progressive, sexist remarks, erotic wallpapers or even pornographic files exchanged by e-mail set the tone for an environment in which women have little place. This sometimes goes as far as degrading public photomontages. Like this montage that qualifies an employee as a “bitch”, sent to the whole company.
For Miryam Houali, co-developer of the game A Normal Lost Phone, this climate is part of a vicious circle:
“A lot of women end up leaving because they don’t feel welcome. For some, it is precisely because of the sexism and, sometimes, the harassment they experience. »
This is the case of Julie Fétis, who left the sector at the end of the 2000s following the indelicacy of a rejected colleague. Nicknamed by the latter "frigid slut", she was ostracized by the group of testers in which she worked, suffering from strong misogynistic jokes. His contract had not been renewed. "As soon as you refuse advances, you can come across people who forget all professionalism and do everything to rot you," she regrets. Reached by Le Monde, his employer says he was not informed.
Jokes about rape
Failing to free the voice of the victims, the testimonies on #balancetonporc and #metoo have at least made some male professionals aware of the problem. “Two colleagues sent me messages apologizing [for the behavior of the men]. It gave me hope,” smiles Sandra Duval, narrator designer at the Arkane studio in Lyon. But the extent of awareness remains limited. “Perhaps the Weinstein affair will change something, change mentalities, wants to hope Jehanne Rousseau, founder of the Parisian studio Spiders, but that still remains to be proven”.
In a blog post on Friday, October 19, which has since been deleted, the director of the Ankama company described himself as "quivering with excitement like a rookie actress performing in front of Harvey Weinstein" about a movie, then wrote feeling less embarrassed by harassers than by journalists. "Bullshit", he will regret on the phone, but so representative of a world where rape remains a joke.
In one of the most prestigious video game schools, students have drawn Princess Peach, passed out and skirt up, carried on the shoulder by a lustful Mario. In a video game start-up, the developers filmed themselves touching the private parts of a character in virtual reality, in front of a frightened employee. Sandra Duval deplores this:
“They don't feel concerned by the subject of rape. Often they do not realize that the woman identifies with the victim. »
A casualness that is all the more cruel since, at the same time, several women contacted by Le Monde have been discouraged by their superiors from filing a complaint for cases of sexual harassment that have occurred in their company. According to Miriam Houali:
“People in the industry are either flabbergasted or in total denial. »
Abuse of power
Characteristic sexual harassment also exists in video games. According to the women interviewed, it most often comes from executives and managers, both in terms of creation and publishing.
In the United States, a CEO, Mike Wilson, co-founder of the American publisher Devolver and the company Good Shepherd, is one of the few to have made his mea culpa:
"Although I have never forced anyone physically or in any other way, I have reveled as much as I could in the artificial attraction enjoyed by men in positions of power," he admits on the hashtag #metoo […]. I crossed the line of professional and personal regularly. »
In France, according to testimonies collected on condition of anonymity by Le Monde, it is an industry pundit who invites an employee on his knees and kisses her by force. A member of a representative body who misplaces his hand on his neighbor's thigh during a professional evening. A studio boss who locks himself in a windowless office with an intern, against his will. Another who makes advances to an employee in the middle of a meeting prior to her dismissal…
These abuses of power can also be exercised between publishers, who hold the money, and studio employees, who design the games with erratic funding. "People of power at publishers who wanted to monetize their influence for sexual favors, or just inappropriate gestures, attempts to touch, forced kisses, I've seen it several times, it's a reality", confirms Jehanne Rousseau. “Shameless pigs”, many of whom she says have left the video game industry. Another evokes "Weinstein in power". Each time, cases passed over in silence, for fear of the consequences.
