As a gamer of many years, I had to hide the fact I was a girl for years, especially in shooters, MMO “hardcore” dungeon raiding or PvP games of one nature or another. For a long time, I refused to speak on Vent, or other VOIP apps because once I did, there would be a bias that wasn’t there otherwise.
Yes. Many don’t really do it seriously, a few disbelieve what they find and some are overruled by publishers who come to the table with their own preconceived ideas and notions.
My testing guild has over 300 members in it and it has people in ages from teens to those in their 70’s but at times, developers refuse to listen to those outside their “targeted” audience. It is quite sad after a while because you realize that gaming could have been so much more if but they had listened to a more diverse set of testers.
With me, it is the simple fact that over time, my tolerance has grown more and more resistant.
When I first PvP’d in MMO gaming, I had am assassin/rogue character named Gouge who was known as a badass, a guy with a killer instinct and a person who was recruited for the top PvP teams of the server. Once it got out that I was a girl, everything changed. I had to prove myself all over and even had to be better then I was.
Nevertheless, over time, a few developers actually listened to feedback and expanded their content to be more open to gender choice. These developers and publishers showed that not only was it possible to make games with strong female roles in it but that they sold as well as the ones insisting otherwise.
After years of pushback from those insisting it can not be done, I grew tired of dealing with them and I find myself washing my hands of trying to open their eyes.