“It’s extraordinarily hard to exist as a woman” – Jessica Curry calls out systemic issues in the games industry

“The games industry has been the best and the worst of times for me,” said Jessica Curry in an interview with Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour on January 28. “It’s extraordinarily hard to exist as a woman, it kind of broke me in many ways.”

Curry, who co-founded The Chinese Room in Brighton alongside Dan Pinchbeck, composed the music for almost all of the studio’s games. In 2015, Curry became the first solo woman to receive the British Academy Games Award for Music, which she won for her soundtrack to Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (pictured above). Over a decade on, she is still the only solo woman to have received the award.

When asked why that is, Curry pointed towards endemic problems. “The games industry, I would say, is still resistant to any form of difference. Within the industry, it is very protective of its roots, which were male and white. I’d like to say it’s changing, I’m not sure it is.”

Curry said that being one of the few high-profile women in games was a double bind. “Because if I don’t talk about it, I’m seen as ignoring the systemic issues within the games industry, but every time I do talk about it, I make myself and other women less employable, because people within the industry say, ‘Oh, this is why we don’t employ women, they talk about all the problems’. So you’re kind of left in this impossible situation.

“And I also spend a lot of my time mentoring women, bringing people up, speaking about equality on all fronts, and that takes time and energy, whereas the guys in the games industry get to talk about their work. They’re bigging themselves up all the time, they’re being asked about ‘how did they compose something’. Whereas we become emblematic of the problem. So it’s really hard to know where to stand on it.”

In December last year, a dozen women spoke to GamesIndustry.biz about their experiences in the games industry in the decade since Gamergate. Although many reported some positive changes, the consensus was that there is still a long way to go in terms of achieving equality. “In general, it is still the case that women have to work harder to progress in the industry,” said Maria Sayans, CEO of Ustwo Games. “Their competence is questioned more often, and they are less likely to be included in formal and informal networking events.”

The Woman’s Hour interview also saw Curry praising the fans of games made by The Chinese Room. “They are wonderfully erudite and articulate emotionally,” she said, adding that she receives messages from them emphasising how important the music from Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture has been in their lives.

“People are saying, ‘During the pandemic I buried my parent to your music’. I get messages saying ‘I’m escaping a war-torn country, I have Rapture in my ears, it’s the only thing that’s keeping me going’.”

Curry was speaking to Woman’s Hour ahead of BAFTA Games in Concert, which will take place at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Saturday, with further dates scheduled around the UK for later in the year. The concert will feature music from games like Assassin’s Creed, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, all performed by a 65-piece orchestra. “It’s something I never could have dreamed of early in my career,” said Curry.

In 2015, Curry announced that she was stepping away from the games industry, citing health reasons, the “toxic relationship” with publishers, and the industry’s treatment of women. The Chinese Room was acquired by the Sumo Group in 2018, which in turn was acquired by Tencent in 2021. But in July 2025, The Chinese Room announced it was once again going independent.