With the dual awareness moments of Movember and International Men’s Day (19 November), this month is a great time for studios to turn their attention to how they support male colleagues, male players and the broader conversation around masculinity – and Dovetail Games has created a super video exploring those themes.
International Men’s Day 2025 offered a timely prompt to focus on men’s health, challenging stereotypes and encouraging open conversation about mental and physical wellbeing.
Meanwhile, Movember continues to highlight specific issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer and the fact that men account for a disproportionate share of suicide rates. The combination of both creates a powerful opportunity for the games sector to show meaningful action.
This week Dovetail Games shared its support for International Men’s Day and men’s mental health via a video on social media, acknowledging male mental wellbeing and breaking the silence, encouraging everyone and all genders to participate in supportive discussion.
The studio’s initiative to raise men’s health awareness shows EDI leadership that goes beyond recruitment and gender-balance, and into mental-health culture.
Some practical steps for studios
- Mark dates like Movember and International Men’s Day on your EDI calendar and encourage team participation using hashtags like #IMD2025 and #MensHealth.
- Introduce male-focused wellbeing talks or peer groups, exploring topics such as fatherhood, isolation, identity and screen-time impacts.
- Integrate men’s mental health into your overall wellbeing strategy as an ongoing support theme.
- Review data: look at male-staff turnover, sickness absence and uptake of mental-health services to identify gaps.
- Share stories: enable team members (with consent) to speak on their mental-health journeys, helping normalise vulnerability in male-dominated workplaces.
Men’s mental health is a key part of creating inclusive, high-performing studios where all team members bring their full selves to work. Companies like Dovetail Games are demonstrating how the games industry can step up.
If your studio hasn’t yet, now is the moment to listen, act and embed men’s wellbeing into your EDI strategy.
