Hey I’m Sam, Brand Director here at GamesRadar+ and just one of the people behind our new podcast - G+RLS. Dropping each fortnight, G+RLS blends GR+ staff discussions with guest interviews from across the industry. This is your space on GamesRadar+ to find all the episodes in one place for your listening pleasure!
Created by myself, a whole host of the women working here at GamesRadar+, and a massive support network we couldn't be without, we're making this podcast for women and anyone else who’s felt underrepresented in the games industry.
Through the G+RLS podcast, we'll spotlight the games that shaped our relationship with play, while opening up wider conversations about representation, inclusivity, and who gaming is really for.
Join us and bookmark this page for a new episode every other week. We're available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Deezer, and Amazon Music. And do let us know what you'd love to hear us talking about in the comments below.
EP9 - The legend of FemShep
Heather Wald, Emma-Jane Betts, and I talk through the legacy of FemShep from the Mass Effect trilogy. She's pretty much come up in every single episode of G+RLS so far, so she absolutely deserves an episode of her own. Plus, in light of the news of BioWare's closure, shuttering a 30-year legacy and cancelling all development on the next Mass Effect game entirely, it feels oddly and rather sadly timely.
EP8 - Alix Wilton Regan
The star of the upcoming Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and Tomb Raider: Catalyst joins us to talk periods, strength, diversity, and, of course, Lara Croft. And the power of the dual pistols.
EP7 - What makes good character creation?
The power of a great character creator is that it can make or break a game, especially a game where you consistently see your character in cutscenes or in conversations. Video games have that unique ability to make you feel reflected in a way that nothing else can, so it needs to include the things that we feel self-conscious about. Otherwise, it just becomes a perpetual youth simulator, or beauty simulator, in a way that I don't think is actually constructive for kind of mental health or just how diverse we all are.
EP6 - Cissy Jones
Cissy Jones, known best for Firewatch, Baldur's Gate 3, Starfield, Telltale's The Walking Dead, and animated series Owl House, joins us to talk about her career change from corporate stooge, going into labour mid-recording session, and the game that changed everthing.
EP5 - Have women's roles in games evolved?
Are women in games still reduced to roles like damsels in distress, femme fatales, or dead wives? That's the discussion for this week's episode of the G+RLS podcast with Serena Cherry, Emma-Jane Betts, Ashley Bardhan, and I. We set to work debating whether women's roles have truly come a long way - but the TL;DR answer is yes. We touch on games like God of War Laufey and GTA 6 that are both on the way, but also the games that have done really well representing women over the years.
EP4 - Hannah Flynn
Hannah has been Communications Director at Failbetter Games, the studio behind text-based RPGs like Fallen London, Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies, and the upcoming farming sim Mandrake, for 14 years and has amazing insights into the industry. Our chat takes many different lanes, from being a woman in Steam moderation, how Failbetter makes games, the uniqueness of what the team makes, and more.
EP3 - What genres are we allowed to play?
There's an association or an assumption from certain pockets of the internet that women only play cozy games. Now obviously, that's not true, but also, if it is, who cares? Well, lots of people apparently. So what's an acceptable genre for women to play? That was the question for episode 3 of the G+RLS podcast with Anna Koselke, Jasmine Gould-Wilson, Catherine Lewis, and I, because ultimately surely it's any genre they're interested in. But, whether that's down to the community around it, the judgment of how you're perceived, or the stereotypes around gaming being mainly violent there's still that assumption that women only play certain types of games.
EP2 - Louise Blain
Louise Blain, creative director at Blumhouse Games, is joining us to talk about horror - obviously - but also her journey into games in the first place, why women love horror, what Blumhouse Games is doing differently, and even a game recommendation or two.
EP1 - What even is a gamer?
Our inaurgeral episode had Ashley Bardhan, Serena Cherry, Emma-Jane Betts, and I chatting about what it actually means to be a 'gamer' and whether that term is actually one we see ourselves associated with. IT's a complicated topic but it felt like the right fix for our very first episode.
Join us for a new episode on a Friday every fortnight (aka every other week) and let us know what you'd love to hear us talking about. We're available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Deezer, and Amazon Music.
