Spotlight on… Rose Buahin

Rose Buahin is the Games Category Lead for Xbox UK & Ireland. Born and raised in South London, she’s spent her career working in games and entertainment. 

Rose is a fierce diversity and inclusion ambassador and works to drive initiatives and industry activities that assist marginalised groups. 

Rose recently joined us for an episode of the Gayming Podcast Live as a special guest at the top of the show. You can watch back the whole episode below, but I wanted to find out more about her work in the industry advocating for marginalised groups.

Hi Rose, thanks so much for joining me, what was your journey that got you to the position you’re in today? 

I wish I had an amazing origin story to tell, like I rescued a dog whilst backpacking in the US and the owner turned out to be Phil Spencer who promised to repay me one day!  The reality is that my path was quite linear.

I left university with a marketing and psychology degree, applied for a job and got it.  It happened to be at Eidos as an internal sales co-ordinator and I’ve stayed in the industry ever since.  I’ve held mostly marketing positions in large and Indie publishers such as Warner Bros, PlayStation, and Curve Digital and now at Xbox which is fabulous! I’ve been fortunate to have worked on many major games and next-gen hardware launches so it’s been a colourful career to date. 

You’re a member of the Women of Xbox UK group, can you explain what the group’s aims are? 

Yes, the Women of Xbox UK is our content series which launched with a group of uber-talented females working at Rare, Playground Games, Ninja Theory and other Xbox teams.  The objective of the group is to celebrate the women who work in gaming, sharing industry knowledge and experiences to hopefully inspire young women seeking a career in games. We recently launched a visual podcast where the amazing Charleyy from our team sits down with some of the most influential women across the Xbox gaming world.

How important is it that Xbox has these representation groups? 

It’s very important.  In addition to Women of Xbox, I’m a member of other internal groups such as BAME UK, Blacks at Xbox and I’m also part of the core Microsoft D&I team.  These groups allow me to celebrate my culture, race and gender and also drive education and shared initiatives across the company.

From a business perspective, representation groups show our commitment to building stronger diversity in our employees, partnerships, and studios which in turn create better experiences and content for our players. Our consumers are at the heart of everything that we do, and I love that Microsoft works to ensure that the people behind the scenes who create the games are just as diverse as those who play them.   

As both a woman and a person of colour, what challenges have you faced in the games industry? 

I’ve been in the industry for a while and I started at a time when there were very few people of colour and far less women in the industry then there are now.  So as you’d expect my experiences ranged from unconscious bias – I’ve been mistaken for the cleaner when I worked late even though I was the marketing director at the time. Gender bias – a job candidate once assumed that I was the receptionist rather than the interviewer, and his prospective boss… the interview didn’t go well! Overt racism with offensive ‘jokes’ packaged as ‘banter’ and numerous examples of casual racism such as questions about my background… “no, where are you really from?”. The answer is South London!

This is why it’s so important to encourage a diverse working environment with greater representation.  Let’s just normalise working with people of different races, sexuality, gender, age, class, religion, disabilities etc.  It shouldn’t be hard as it’s just a reflection of the world we live in today.

Let’s just normalise working with people of different races, sexuality, gender, age, class, religion, disabilities etc.  It shouldn’t be hard as it’s just a reflection of the world we live in today.

What more does the industry need to be doing to address issues of equality and diversity? 

Firstly, I’m pleased that it has been acknowledged that there are equality, diversity and inclusion imbalances in the games industry.  Last year, the UK’s gaming trade association, UKIE, commissioned a Diversity Census which quantified these issues and gave us a starting point so we can monitor improvement moving forward.  The Census revealed that only 10% of people working in games are people of colour and they are notably less represented in senior positions; 28% of employees are female and 21% of people working in games are LGBTQ+.   

On the back of that report, UKIE set up the #RaiseTheGame Diversity Pledge which is a collaborative D&I initiative involving a number of UK games companies to improve diversity in recruitment, work culture and content.  Xbox is one of the pledge partners because this program mirrors many of our own initiatives and diversity commitments.

Generally, I love that we’re seeing more diversity in games broadcasting, streaming, presenting, and content creation with a burst of previously hidden talent like Nikatine, Deere, Nnesaga, the Rainbow Arcade etc who were never given a platform before.  We’re also seeing more diverse characters in our games and I was sooo proud when we published Tell Me Why on Xbox last year which was the first triple-A game with a lead trans character.  Overall, we’ve still got a long way to go to amend these issues, but I’m glad that we’ve started the journey.

What would be your advice for a young woman starting out or looking to get into the video games industry?

I’d say that they’ve chosen well! Gaming is one of the best industries to craft your career and it’s now larger than movies and music combined, and just keeps on growing. 

We often see a confidence disparity across genders where women don’t feel as confident to apply for roles unless they meet pretty much every criteria.  I would advise that if there is something that ignites your passion, and you know that you can make a difference – then go for it.

When starting out, be comfortable with who you are and don’t conform to anybody’s perception of what a games worker should look like or behave as your contribution is just as valid as anyone else.  Finally, never stop learning to perfect your skill as it’s such a fast-moving tech industry with strong influences on pop culture, so you need to keep an eye on new innovations and digital trends. 

What more could the industry or government be doing to support women into STEM subjects in school?  

Firstly, lets acknowledge that some leaders in positions of power unconsciously influence gender role differences through their career advice and it’s based on preconceived stereotypes and expectations of what they think women should pursue as a career.  Instead, these leaders should be nurturing raw talent and create environments where a student’s gender diversity is accepted.  Gender should be irrelevant when you’re considering studying STEM subjects in school.

I feel that governments should empower our educators and commit to STEM learning by providing the right equipment, research funding and teacher training.  From an industry perspective, we can provide support with hands-on learning experiences.  At Microsoft, we have a free program called Microsoft DigiGirlz which provides high school girls (not exclusive to) the opportunity to learn about a career in technology through hands-on workshops hosted by Microsoft employees. I’ve hosted a few classes and the talent and enthusiasm just blows me away every time.  I’m sure I’ve probably met or trained my future boss and tech leader in these sessions.

What was your earliest memory of video games as a child?

Playing Donkey Kong on the early dual-screen handheld! It’s such a fun platform game that belonged to my big brother, and we used to stand around the small LCD screen like mini spectators as we watched, then passed it around to play. I remember the high pitch ‘pip pip’ audio which got louder and quicker as you progressed through the levels, and we literally jumped when Kong had to jump the barrels. Definitely one of my earliest memories

What are you currently playing?

Grounded on Xbox Game Pass as there’s a new Shroom and Doom update.  It’s the only gardening that I can do as I have crazy hayfever!

Also, Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life so I can get up and close with Jack Sparrow.

What does the future hold for you? 

The immediate future is bright – and very green!  We have an amazing selection of games that are landing this year such as Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5 and MS Flight Sim and I’m excited to bring these to market.  I’m also excited about the industry’s diversity and inclusion journey in that there is a key recognition of the need for change and we’re working collectively to take action. I work to ensure that the next generation of games personnel who look like me do not have the same challenges and are assessed on their merit and nothing else.

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