Speaking to Official Xbox Magazine, Carr stated that, “Isn’t there a stat now that says that 55 per cent of gamers are now girls? I think handheld devices and things like the Nintendo DS, these are really accessible, and girls are drawn to the market perhaps more than in our day, where it was either a console or the Amiga or something like that, a PC. I think as developers, in terms of job applicants, we’re noticing now that we’re at last getting the diversity we want when you’re coming up with a creative team. I don’t want to sit in a studio full of blokes, I want to be part of a diverse team.

“I don’t just want guys making games for guys. I want guys and girls making games for guys and girls. You have to reflect that in your workforce, and it’s starting to happen. I think that five to ten years from now, it’ll be pretty much 50-50.”

As GIBiz reported, “Our audience is leaving us behind. The world is changing, it has already changed, and we have not been doing a very good job of keeping up with it.”

He cited various studies showing the amount of diversity in today’s gaming audience including research from PopCap and the EA. “Women are not a small special market on the fringe of the core. Women are the new core.”

And while more diverse game are good for business, he states that as far as the industry is concerned, “you need to persuade people that it’s OK, and won’t hurt sales but might help them.

“Nobody in the room admits to being against making characters female or nonwhite. But they’re scared because they don’t know how to defend that choice to their bosses.”

“Our industry, our art, and our business stand to gain in every sense simply by holding a mirror up to our audience and reflecting their diversity in what we produce.”