The Very Secret Society of Women in Games

Start Small. Dream Big. Build Differently.

Mentoring irregular witches of irregular degrees since 2024.

A free-of-charge mentoring program — a coven for the ones the industry hasn’t made room for yet.

What we are

The Very Secret Society of Women in Games is not a network but a free-of-charge mentoring program.

We exist to reduce the gender gap in self-promotion and address the lack of diversity in the gaming industry by starting early, with women who’ll shape what games become.

We think that changes not by fixing broken systems from within, but by equipping young women with the values, imagination, and courage to build new ones. We don’t just need diverse hires, we need diverse architects.

Why we start early

In a competitive industry like games, self-marketing plays an outsized role in standing out. Research suggests women often underestimate their abilities while men are more likely to overestimate theirs ^1,2,3 which is a gap that shapes confidence and, in turn, opportunity.

So we start early, with students: stopping women and female-identifying people from underselling their skills, helping them recognize their value before they enter the industry, and supporting them to become their most confident, capable selves. We need more women to lead, because that’s how you enrich the creativity and innovation of an industry that still lacks diversity ^4,5 and diverse teams are measurably more creative and better at solving complex problems ⁶.

+0.1%

The change in women’s share of leadership positions in Germany over the last decade — from 29% in 2014 to 29.1% in 2024. Progress has all but stalled. That stagnation is the backdrop we work against: games is where we’ve chosen to start changing it, early.

Source: Tagesschau, “Zahl der Frauen in Chefetagen stagniert” (03.11.2025), based on Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis) data.

The bigger picture

When someone is hired into a system that wasn’t built for them, whether in terms of gender, background, neurodiversity, or race, they too often walk in expected to be grateful just to be there, with little room to actually contribute.

But it’s not just about getting in the room⁷., it’s about being able to change the room. Inclusion doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful. It just has to begin. This program is our small, early, deeply personal way of beginning and anyone who shares the goal is welcome to build it with us.