PC Mag recently dropped their latest issue, celebrating their 30 years of covering all things gaming.
The company proudly blasted the issue on X, the platform formally known as Twitter, but the crowds did not react as expected.
Celebrating All the Influential Male Voice
The issue highlighted some of the top contributions to the PC gaming world over the years.
But after a quick glance through the pages, one thing was glaringly obvious: Women weren’t included.
Social media exploded into a fury as female gamers questioned the magazine’s choice to exclude so many gaming fans from its celebration.
– no women named in pc gamer’s list of influential voices over the past thirty years
– no women on stage at the game awards last year
– last week a woman of colour was replaced by a white man after she was denied the right to use her platform at the golden joystick awards https://t.co/Yp60xi28IC— slashie101 🐈⬛ free 🇵🇸 (@slashie101) November 12, 2023
Women across the platform commented on the oversight.
Here are some of the best responses.
WHERE WOMEN???? pic.twitter.com/C9LghKBCrF
— Savannah Shire (jolly era 🎄❄🎅) (@savannahXYZart) November 14, 2023
Name a woman challenge
— @carlivelocci.com on the other app (@velocciraptor) November 10, 2023
So apparently ya’ll have never heard of Roberta Williams huh? Ya know the women that wrote one of the most influential games series of all time?
A little thing called the “Kings Quest” series?
No? Disappointing to say the least.
Do better. It’s not the 1950’s anymore.— Craftyfox/Adventure Network (@craftyfoxing) November 14, 2023
Wow. Few things could scream “This magazine is no longer relevant” louder than ignoring the legion of women who are top talent in gaming.
— Fiona (@GenXBanshee) November 14, 2023
are yall doing this on purpose for the rage? is this really the editorial decision you choose?
— Alina 🔜 a16z demo day (@alinalikescozy) November 14, 2023
Wooooow 30 years and 0 women. That’s has to be a record.
— Arlene Musume (@arlenemusume) November 14, 2023
Where’d the women of pc gaming go bc they’re clearly not with you? I’ll go celebrate with them.
— Lesley (@geekily_me) November 13, 2023
Women earasure in gaming is a thing and @pcgamer just reiterated it. I’m embarrassed for you….
— Christina-Marie (@ChristinaSaidSo) November 15, 2023
gamers not beating the misogyny allegations. not a single woman on the list
— jess (@JessOrWhatevs) November 15, 2023
Men Saying It’s Fine
Of course, it wouldn’t be Social Media if men didn’t crawl out of the woodwork to bash women and attempt to explain why this is perfectly okay.
Some just used the opportunity to make fun of women.
Lmao at all the foids seething, you aren’t owed anything.
— Harmless (@HarmlessPower) November 15, 2023
Others attempted to justify the issue by claiming that there aren’t any influential women in gaming or that the magazine was only covering people who worked for them (though that falls flat when you realize that over 30 years, the magazine never hired influential women?)
People complaining about lack of women and then can name maybe 1 woman who could possibly be listed. Video games is far and away a male industry.
— Que (@kingofdominosp) November 14, 2023
This isn’t about game devs, people…. pic.twitter.com/eAr9IDvNjj
— Faziimoto (@Faziimoto) November 15, 2023
So Much Misogyny in Responses
The responses to the women (rightly) highlighting the issue were even worse than the responses to the original post.
-Maybe none of them deserved it more than the men named.
-Maybe they didn’t deserve to be on the stage.
-Maybe don’t use that moment to make political statements, which isn’t a right.
It sounds like you want special treatment based on gender and race, which is beyond ironic.
— Jason “ジェイさん” Jordan, あいみんちゅ🦁, 笑顔の輪 ☻⭕ (@jasonjordan2814) November 15, 2023
It’s the golden age of gaming.
— Shabby Boy (@ShabbosBoyem) November 15, 2023
Nice! Timeline has been pretty grim lately, thanks for the optimism post ☺️
— Two Wrongs (@2WrongMakeRight) November 14, 2023
Maybe if they actually did something other than ruin franchises and whine on social media they would be represented.
— spud bud (@spud_bud_98) November 14, 2023
Lots of Male Support
The good news is a lot of men also noticed the glaring lack of women and expressed their outrage at the omission.
you’d have thought you might’ve found some influential women to name but apparently none exist at PC Gamer?
— slightly chilly pat (patmac.bsky.com) (@pat_mcaleenan) November 10, 2023
This has to be intentional rage bait for clicks. There’s no way this got approved without a single person realising how bad it looks.
— Jack Lawson (@HazardsIGD) November 14, 2023
I just became aware of this. Going to throw a few names out because Jesus Christ really?
Robert Williams, Dona Bailey, Carol Shaw, Junko Kawano, Corrinne Yu, Yoko Shimomura, Amy Hennig, Kellee Santiago, Mie Kumagai…
— Mark Kilborn (@markkilborn) November 14, 2023
Lots of Work To Do
All this shows that despite the great strides women have made in gaming, much more work still needs to be done.
The misogyny isn’t hidden in the darkest corners of the internet. Women who simply want to enjoy a hobby face it every single day. It’s neverending.
It doesn’t just come from a small subset of losers on the internet but from the biggest names and most well-respected publications.
To showcase how bad it is, I’ll leave a final Tweet from a female streamer who dared say something about the disparity in gaming. It’s a photo she put together showing a number of the horrific responses she received from men for daring to be a woman in the space.
Her experience highlights the daily uphill battle women face when trying to enjoy a video game.
No amount of these comments and quote tweets will get me or other women to leave the gaming space.
We’re here to stay, and hopefully make it a better place than it was when we entered it. pic.twitter.com/hrzl5rHt0g
— Rebecca Stone (Taylor’s Version) (@forestminish) November 15, 2023