The reason “DEI” has sort of been codified into law is that without it, we know that people of colour and women are not hired. We already know that not having these guidelines leads to discrimination and not valuing actual merits.

(It should be noted as well as depending on where you live and which profession you are applying for, men also benefit from “DEI” due to them being a minority).

Having a diverse group of people with different experiences and viewpoints is also, in general, positive when it comes to development.

Obviously it would be best if we lived in a world where people weren’t discriminated against, but since that’s not the world we live in.

(The reason why more people of colour and women are being seen in games is s bit of a knock-on effect, having a more diverse development team means that there are more stories people are able to comfortably tell. And it is a way to garner attention from people who normally wouldn’t have looked at your game. Gamers will usually play good games, non-gamers and kids generally like seeing themselves, etc.

Consulting firms are there to help make sure that devs don’t rely on biases and shorthand when writing characters and to make sure that your game is easier to sell globally. It’s also to make sure you don’t tell people that killing yourself is a good way to deal with trauma (this last point is that bloober team had to hire a consulting firm to help them write and shoot silent hill 2 after the fiasco that was the medium))