Rhianna Pratchett has criticised the head of Britain’s bosses for comments he made about the gaming industry .
In an interview with The Independent, John Cridland, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said extra coders were needed in Britain to support the booming computer games industry.
“We need extra coders - dozens and dozens of them but nobody is going to play a game designed by a spotty nerd,” he said. “We need people with artistic flair.”
Pratchett, the daughter of the late author Terry Pratchett, has written for video games including Tomb Raider and Heavenly Sword. She joined the backlash against Cridland’s comments on Twitter, dismissing them as “insulting and out of touch”.
Encouraging students to study STEM is great, but his comments about the games industry are insulting and out of touch http://t.co/p0sXUblhCB
; Rhianna Pratchett (@rhipratchett) August 13, 2015
Agree that making students aware that artists have a part to play in games is important. But he proclaims it like they aren't already there.
; Rhianna Pratchett (@rhipratchett) August 13, 2015
Pratchett’s frustration was echoed by a number of coders and gamers, with the hashtag #notaspottynerd. One user wrote: “As a spotty nerd, coder & game dev, #notaspottynerd is not okay. We do need diversity tho, spotty nerds or otherwise!” Another added: “What's wrong with being a spotty nerd anyways? Power to ANY person who makes the games they want.”
