(AUSTIN) -- The computer game industry is trying to cut the testosterone.

Leading designers and executives in the $10 billion computer game industry have gathered here to discuss ways to attract more women into computer gaming, as players, and as game designers.

Sharon Grainer Ray, Senior Game Designer for Sony Online, told 1200 WOAI's Stacey Young at the Austin Convention Center the industry's inability to branch out to women is threatening its ability to grow.

"The industry is coming to realize that by diversifying the work force, we get better quality products, and we would like to have more women."

While a significant number of women say they have played computer games, the audience for the monster titles like the recently released Doom Three is overwhelmingly male, and more than 90% of the designers, creators, and code writers who craft the games are male. Ray concedes that in many cases, the game designers have brought this demographic dilemma upon themselves.

"If you've gone some hypersexual female on the cover wearing a chain mail bikini, the girls are never going to pick it up to play."

Software designers here say the key is to reach out to women as players and designers, while not damaging the edge which makes the games fun.

"We can't start making games about fluffy pink kitties, or make a game about putting your lipstick on," Ray says. "We actually can make really, traditional, good games."

Executives here say the industry cannot continue to be profitable if it fails to branch out beyond the 13 to 21 year old white male demographic.

"Getting more women involved in designing games creates a diversity of ideas," said Christopher Sherman, Director of the Women's Gaming Initiative. "This leads to new types of games, and, ultimately, new players. This is about expanding the industry."

Ray says the computer game industry has been successful in designing popular games that appeal to women.

"Probably 'The Sims' is probably the top game with a predominately female audience," she said, referring to the quirky virtual reality game which recently became the top selling computer game of all time. "'The Sims' is a 70 to 80 percent female market, with most of the players between the ages of 14 and 17."

Some efforts are being made to attract more women to computer faming. Womengamers.com and Southern Methodist University in Dallas have joined forces to create an industry-funded scholarship in gaming design specifically for women.