Game Jam as Feminist Methodology: The Affective Labours of Intervention in the Ludic Economy

This article examines the evidenced and the potential impact of all- female games jams as an element within a feminist interventionist approach to improving women’s equal participation within the ludic economies of the games industry. The article examines two specific projects – a single site 24-hour event that took place in 2012 and a restaging of the format 4 years later across 5 different sites in the UK. These two case studies offer two critical contributions to the ongoing research regarding the wider challenges of diversifying games design, games development and games culture more generally. The first is a consideration of the range of labours – free, hopeful and affective – that underpin these endeavours and provide a significant contribution in general to the ludic economy. The second is valuable evidence of the impact and ongoing validity of these all-female initiatives as an effective and transformative methodology for feminist intervention.