Several studies have highlighted the potential contribution of gender diversity to creativity, while noting challenges of conflict and lack of trust. Thus, we argue that gender diversity requires inclusion as well to boost team creativity. We analyzed teams in 4011 video game projects, recording weighted network data from past collaborations. We developed four measures of inclusion, based on de-segregation, strong ties across genders, the incorporation of women into the core of the team’s network, and the coincidence of the three above. We measured creativity by the distinctiveness of game features compared to prior games, and success by review score and unit sales. Our results show that gender diversity without inclusion does not contribute to creativity, while with maximal inclusion one standard deviation change in diversity results in .04 to .09 standard deviation increase in creativity. Inclusion at low diversity has a negative effect. Gender diverse teams seem to face a penalty in success measured by review scores that is due to a lower probability to review games with higher female participation. Adding diversity first, and developing inclusion later can lead to higher diversity and inclusion, compared to the alternative of recruiting developers with already existing cross-gender ties, suggesting that developer firms should encourage building inclusive collaboration ties in-house.