Gender Pay Gap Report 2018

April 2, 2019

GENDER PAY GAP REPORT

“At Splash Damage our mission is to foster lifelong friendships amongst our players. Our industry moves faster than most, and I believe that diversity in our teams is an essential part of staying relevant. I recognise that we have work to do to increase representation at all levels of our studio, and this report supports that. We’ve already launched some great initiatives to help us make progress, and as CEO, I am fully committed to creating a workplace that is open, inclusive, and fair.”

Rich Jolly, Co-Founder & CEO

“We’ve made great progress in our organisation and are proud of the initiatives we have already put in practice. But we also know we must go further to move the needle on equal representation and must face challenges head-on in areas such as unconscious bias, hiring practices and promotion processes. We work in an environment full of natural problem solvers and people passionate about shifting the imbalance. I am looking forward to seeing the positive change we can accomplish together.”

Kate Lindsay, HR Manager

WHAT IS THE GENDER PAY GAP REPORT?

Enacted in 2017 the UK Government’s Gender Pay Gap (GPG) reporting legislation is an amendment to the Equality Act 2010 and requires employers of over 250 people to report:

  • The proportion of males and females in each pay quartile
  • The Mean and Median gender pay gap in hourly pay
  • The Mean and Median bonus gender pay gap, and the proportion of males and females receiving a bonus payment

This is different from the wider terms of the Equality Act which ensures parity in pay for men and women in the same role.

THE LANDSCAPE

The Gender Pay Gap in the UK has reduced in the last 10 years but is still in favour of men. According to the April 2018 data, the games industry has a median gender wage gap of 17.85%, compared to a national median of 9.7%. Read More

OUR RESULTS

Splash Damage has a median gender pay gap of 25.7%. This is higher than the industry average, and due to us having a high proportion of men in senior roles. There are currently no females at Exec level and few at Lead level, which goes some way to explain the imbalance.

To be clear, Splash Damage does not have a disparity for men and women performing the same job role. Men and women at Splash Damage are being paid equally for equivalent roles.

1. GENDER REPRESENTATION

Gender Representation Explained

We have a very small representation of women in our studio and we recognise that lack of female leadership in games is an industry-wide issue.

We are committing to improving this imbalance by attracting and nurturing female talent within the studio.

2. PAY QUARTILES

Pay Quartiles Explained

Quartiles are calculated by first listing the rates of pay for each employee across the business from lowest to highest, and then splitting that list into four equal-sized groups and then calculating the percentage of men and women in each of these groups.

At Splash Damage, men are overrepresented in our studio’s best-paid jobs, and the proportion of women falls the further up the pale scale you go.

3. MEAN & MEDIAN PAY GAPS

Mean & Median Pay Gaps Explained

The mean pay gap compares the average pay for women with the average pay for men. The median pay gap compares the mid-point hourly rate of pay for all female employees with the mid-point hourly rate of pay for all male employees.

MEAN HOURLY RATE

MEDIAN HOURLY RATE

4. BONUSES

Bonuses Explained

At Splash Damage we offer generous referral bonuses, while 1% of the studio’s revenue is equally distributed across all staff with at least 1 years’ service with us. In addition, we had ad-hoc bonuses in the past, which is why the mean is lower.

OUR COMMITMENTS

At our bi-annual Leadership conference in November we committed to key initiatives that form part of our strategy to redress some of our gender and diversity imbalances.

  • We created a Diversity Board which meet weekly to focus on creating a solid foundation for diversity initiatives across the studio.
  • We launched a regular Women at Splash Damage meetup which provides a space for our women to network, promote initiatives that will help reduce bias in the workplace, as well as to share and seek advice.
  • We’ve become the first games studio to sign up to ACCESS: VFX, a body which pursues inclusion, diversity, awareness and opportunity within the UK visual effects and creative industries.
  • We’re driving our outreach programme so we can reach girls and young women in schools and universities, to inspire them to consider a career making games.
  • We’re working to become a Women in Games Corporate Ambassador which provides a way for the studio to give back to the wider games community.
  • We’re reviewing our appraisal system to ensure it more effectively counteracts unconscious bias.
  • We’re working to identify and close any gender gaps in our hiring and promotion processes.
  • We believe representation is important in games, and we continually strive to improve diversity and inclusivity in the characters that inhabit our worlds.

We want to close by saying that we know we still have significant work to do, but we are committed to improving. Our Gender Pay Gap is a business priority for us and we’re working hard to cultivate an inclusive environment that fosters diverse teams. We also believe that levelling the playing field becomes easier the more people within the studio are involved, and we actively encourage and nourish additional diversity initiatives within Splash Damage.

DECLARATION

I confirm that the data contained within this report is accurate and meets the requirements of the Gender Pay Gap reporting regulations.


Richard Jolly, Co-Founder & CEO