Alison Rapp, a loss for diversity in video games and technology at large

Earlier in the week, Alison Rapp was let go from Nintendo. Patrick Klepek has reported the turn of events that led up to the dismissal.

The following tweet puts it quite succinctly:

As the technology field moves towards hiring diversely, it’s a shame to see one of its biggest sectors continually face challenge after challenge in the form of unrelenting harassment: the video game industry.

Contrary to popular belief, nearly an equal amount of men and women play video games. Wait — doesn’t this sound familiar? The video game industry suffers from the same problems that the technology field does in terms of diversity, if not many more. It’s a shame that despite large efforts to inspire and get more women into technology, even large companies like Nintendo will buckle to outside pressure over the employment of a single woman. This is the exact opposite of what needs to be done to promote better computing, better entertainment, better workplaces, a better industry.

Women in game development have been consistently targeted for the past few years, and this is sure to discourage many of them in the industry now from speaking up against diversity and harassment. When even the largest of video game giants fail to stand up against harassment, and even dismiss employees who are victims of it, who can we look to for protection? This is far more than a step backwards for women in tech — it is leaps and bounds backwards. It is a loss for the whole of the tech and video game industries.