Dames Making Games

Dames Making Games (DMG) was a Toronto-based non-profit organization that provided resources for gender minorities interested in the video games industry. Providing resources and hosting workshops, Dames Making Games aimed to create a comfortable platform for women, non-binary, femme and queer people the exploration of video game development.

History
The beginning of the organization can be traced to a 2011 program held by TIFF Nexus called The Difference Engine Initiative, also held in collaboration with the Hand Eye Society, to help educate young women in game development. The co-founder Cecily Craver, inspired by her experience in the program, thought of creating a platform to diversify the demographic of people in the game developing industry. Organizing around the name Dames Making Games, Craver recruited Jennie Faber to help host meetings. Soon after, Alex Leitch was recruited to help with the creation of DMG.

After being founded in 2012, the group held workshops, game jams, social events, and other gaming-related activities, aimed to educate and support gender-diverse gamers, citing the male-dominated culture of gaming as a barrier faced by many would-be players and developers. DMG's goals also included diversifying the depiction of gender in games to better reflect the breadth of human experience. In 2015 and 2016, the group collaborated in organizing Indigicade, a video-game development initiative aimed at Indigenous girls and women.

Challenges
By 2013, Dames Making Games had a small group of supporters ranging from around 30 to 40 members. As Dames Making Games grew, criticism towards the organization's stated purpose and benefits became more vocal, primarily from men within the gaming world that would question whether women needed a specific safe space within the industry.

Insolvency
In 2024, the Dames Making Games directorship filed for insolvency. Key reasons stated for the insolvency included a loss of grant opportunities to fund the organization, resulting in over $100,000 CAD in debt, core member and directorship burnout, and severe accounting errors resulting in an inability to correctly manage their financial situation.

Damage Camp
Dames Making Games hosted Damage Camp, an event consisting of workshops and discussion panels, with guest speakers talking about a variety of topics related to women in gaming. Topics included creating an inclusive environment for video game developers, gaining financial stability in the industry, and the incorporation of different minority groups within the gaming community. This event was made available to the general public and no membership was needed to register.

New Game Makers
In part of DMG's Fall speaker series, New Game Makers was a workshop that introduced individuals to game development and supplied them with tools to get started.