Abertay graduate aims to get women into video gaming

An Abertay University graduate has said more young women should follow her into the computer games industry.

Sophia George,co-founder of Swallowtail Games, was speaking as it launched its first title, Tick Tock Toys, a puzzle game for the iPhone and iPad.

“The popular stereotypes of gamers just being young men couldn’t be more wrong,” she said.

“What’s really worrying, though, is that this male-dominated idea is so pervasive and it influences what families think about games, and what young women think as they grow up and make decisions about their careers. I just hope that the release of Tick Tock Toys will help show young women that they can get into the games industry and that they too can create the games they love to play.”

Swallowtail, which includes graduates Mark Bamford, John Cooper and Kristian Francis, won Abertay’s Dare to be Digital game design competition in 2011 and went on to pick up a Bafta award. The company has been backed by a £25,000 grant from the university’s Prototype Fund.