Former PlayStation Narrative Director Kim MacAskill admitted that gaming studios are discriminating in their hiring practices by prioritizing women.
Kim MacAskill via Young BAFTA YouTube
Back in March 2022, MacAskill responded to a user on X claiming, “Today I met someone who thinks there is an advantage to being a woman in the games industry.”
She stated, “Well…there is. Studios are on a push to be seen as inclusive. I won’t name the studio but I was at a studio where they genuinely considered doubling the finders fee if the hire was female.”
“This was veto’d after some protest but it does show how by good or bad intentions, some people will always see anyone that isn’t a white male as a diversity hire,” she added.
MacAskill continued, “Is it the case? HELL NO. Games Industry is an industry where there is no room for slack or not being good at your job without it being uncovered quickly.”
Kim MacAskill on X
Next, she wrote, “Women in their jobs are fantastic but there will be rippling under currents of people being rejected that see the hire and go ‘oh…well’ and its a bitter stance to take. or example, when I did stand up, I was billed higher than a guy who emailed the club to complain as he believed I was only billed higher because I had a fanny.”
“Some people would rather get bitter at diversity / inclusion than consider that they aren’t right for the position and when you’ve got other people affirming you are right along with a world history of misogyny and racism, its easy to see how people will always find it easier to go ‘you got this job cos you have a vagina’ with the comfort of all that hardwiring spanning decades rather than go ‘well done you, not only did you get the job, you are good at the job even with the added weight of casual / brutal sexism.’. In short, the person is ignorant,” she concluded.
Kim MacAskill on X
Not only did she reveal that gaming studios are discriminating in hiring practices by prioritizing women, but back in 2020 she implied that any opposition to the organization Black Lives Matter is discrimination. She also implied that support of BLM is an acceptable litmus test for whether a person is acceptable.
Kim MacAskill on X
In September 2021 MacAskill also attempted to mock individuals who oppose race swaps.
Kim MacAskill on X
In response to a now deleted post, MacAskill wrote, “So amongst all the white characters still being white, your issue is that the black character isn’t Asian?”
She added, “To digress. I am a huge advocate of getting more Asian and Polynesian visibility in casting (im known for it) but I don’t see how making a character black can cause more upset than keeping a character white.”
Kim MacAskill on X
According to her LinkedIn profile, MacAskill started her career working for British TV productions such as Channel 4 and the BBC. She transitioned to video games in 2016 when she was a Senior Screenwriter on the Arkham Games for Rocksteady. She remained at the company until 2019 where she moved to Playground Games as a Senior Scriptwriter on Fable.
In 2021 she became the Narrative Lead at Riot Games. She became a Narrative Director at PlayStation in November 2022.
A screenshot from Fable (TBA), Playground Games
However, she shared on X that she left PlayStation recently. She posted, “Going to just put this out there as it’s getting cruel for me not to. I left PlayStation not too long ago for another project. Having worked across a few of their games (proudly), I’ll be updating as soon as we’re able. Long and short is, I answer to no one.”
She added, “I am absolutely here for anyone who has been affected by this new hate wave but trust me, it’s all just a bunch of baws. For me, this isn’t my first rodeo. Not even close to it and I know I shouldn’t laugh but I do. Nothing else for it. It’s been too good a day.”
Kim MacAskill on X
What do you make of MacAskill’s comments?
