. >> reporter: the harassment became part of what's now known as gamergate.hat started as an online spat about the ethics of gaming journalism quickly escalated into a full-blown culture war. >> women shouldn't be mere disposable objects or symbolic pawns in stories about men. >> reporter: and a small but hardcore group of gamers resistant to change. >> god ordained that it is one man, one joystick. >> reporter: but gamergate doesn't just affect boys playing in a basement. the stakes are much higher than you might think. we're now spending more money on games than movies and music combined. to the tune of $21 billion. and what might surprise you, there are now more adult women playing video games than there are teenage boys. we're talking about fantastical scenarios like the ones in bio shock, epiced a ventures in games like mirror's edge. what is it that's so disturbing in some games that's making women like anita willing to face death threats? >> just when you think your hurt the worst example, the most misogynistic example, you find another one. escapism i

year we woke up to the role gender plays in the internet and tech industry. .14 was the year of gamergate female videogamers were viciously harassed. it was the year of the icloud breach where most celebrities affected were women. it was the year of uber, that began when the company was responding to a female blogger who was critical of the company's practices on gender. silicon valley, to its great credit, has started to issue transparency reports on diversity of their workforce. what i want to ask you, do you personally think it is important that the tech industry hire a diverse workforce? if so, why? >> i do think that is important. i'm pleased to see companies are being open about their numbers and also taking steps to address the issue. it is important for a multitude of reasons. let me touch on a couple. any company that seeks to be at the cutting edge and innovative, you need to make use of the full talent pool that is available to you. i'm not hiring and not -- by not hiring and ensuring that your workforce is diverse, you're missing out. another dimension of some of the issues we

we woke up to the role that gender plays on the internet and tech industry. 2014 was the year of gamergate where you saw female video game develop areers harassed and threatened. as well as critics of the industry. the apple icloud breech, where most of the celebrities effected were women. and the year of uber. a lot of folks forget the uber scandal began when the company was responding to a female blogger who was critical of the company's practices on gender. silicon valley to its great credit has started to issue transparency reports on the diversity of their workforce. so i want to ask you, do you personally think it's important that the tech industry hire a diverse workforce? and if so, why? >> i do think that's important and i'm really pleased to see that companies are talking about these issues and being open about their numbers and also taking steps to address the issue. so look, i think it's important for a multitude of reasons but let me just touch on a couple. i think that any company that seeks to be at the cutting edge and innovative, you need to make use of the full talent poo