As a woman in a male dominated industry, I was wary of getting pregnant and having a family. The video game industry isn’t conducive for family life, with crunch, poor maternity/paternity leave, and layoffs. When I worked at V1 Interactive, it was the first time in career I felt comfortable with starting a family. The leadership and studio culture was inclusive and respected quality of life. About half the developers were parents so there was a lot of understanding if there were unexpected family emergencies.
Everyone at V1 was so supportive during my pregnancy. My boss/owner of the studio, Marcus, worked with me on V1’s maternity leave program (since I was the 1st person pregnant in the studio) which was 3 months off and then 2 months of ramping back into the office. It was generous for a game studio.
When I found out I had to unexpectedly have the baby that weekend, my co-workers rallied and told me to go home and relax, despite the fact I had some unfinished work I wanted to get done before maternity leave. I never thought I would ever have this much support at work, and I’m forever grateful for it.