Worth noting that for a lot of video game industry people, whether they're indie and need to do it for the exposure, or work for a large company and are overtly or tacitly required, working these conventions is not optional.
Some companies give you comp days if you're salaried and have to work the weekend at a convention, but not all. And salaried employees don't get overtime for hours outside the workday.
It's often even worse if the company runs its own conventions or its own parties/workshops/etc. at larger conventions. Or if you're indie. Because either way, you're expected to stay out socializing with fans, representing the company, even after the convention hall has closed.
So you end up working 12-16 hour days, on weekends, without compensation. MAYBE you get a comp day.
And I can't speak to how it is for POC, trans people, etc., obviously, but as a woman, it's often hell. The ways in which women and our bodies are considered public property are amped up to 11 at conventions.
You get groped A LOT, especially if it's crowded and busy. Fans hug you without asking if it's okay. If you agree to go somewhere (e.g. out in the hallway to chat, to a seating area, etc.) with male fans, they often do that hand on the back to guide you thing with their hand low.
Side note, guys: if you have a long-established relationship with a woman, fine, whatever, it's between you. But outside of that? WE DON'T NEED YOUR HANDS ON OUR BACKS TO "GUIDE" US TO A DOORWAY OR A BAR OR WHATEVER. We can find it on our own. Keep your hands to yourself.
Other side note: the fact that someone worked on a video game you liked, that you've read interviews with them, that you interact occasionally online? Doesn't mean you have a friendship with them. Fucking ASK before touching strangers, or non-strangers you don't know well.
Okay, back to being a female creator at conventions. So you're working 12-16 hour days for which you're not getting paid, people are touching you all the time without asking, etc. and then, also, people you have known for 5 min will act like you're their Convention Girlfriend.
They'll insist on sitting next to you at company social events, they'll go on for an hour about how terrible their ex was, they'll get pissy if you talk to other men.
And usually this is a result of them walking up to tell you they played a game you worked on & you interacting.
And usually this is a result of them walking up to tell you they played a game you worked on & you interacting.
Which comes back to a basic tenet of not being awful: don't hit on people who can't escape. Don't hit on people on the bus. Don't hit on waitresses. If you want to express interest, give them a card with your number on it and then back off.
Don't take advantage of the fact that someone is trapped in a small physical space, or trapped by virtue of being on the clock and required to interact with people and be polite, to attempt to get a date out of them. It's coercive and gross as hell.
Same goes for game devs working convention booths, company-sponsored events, etc. They're there to advertise a game/company. They're not there to be offered up as sexual fodder for attendees. Don't touch without asking. Don't monopolize. Don't start talking about your love life.
(The exception to "don't start talking about your love life," at least for me personally, is "I met my wife/husband/spouse/partner playing your game" stories. That's great! But don't start telling a game dev at a booth about how much you're hoping to get laid at this convention.)
Just remember, the internet might create the illusion that you know someone you've never met in person well, but in most cases, you don't. So when you meet them at a convention, treat them like you had a great 5-minute convo at a party once, not like you were college roommates.
Because here's the thing: genuine overtures of friendship, like inviting you to dinner with other devs, are more likely to happen if you *aren't* overfamiliar when you meet in person for the first time. Respect space and boundaries.
I talk about this from a gendered perspective because it happens more frequently to female/femme-presenting devs. But it happens to men/masc-presenting devs too. And it's also not always sexual--an uninvited hug doesn't have to involve groping to be uncomfortable. Ask first.
