Gaming as a pastime is often perceived as a male dominated pursuit. And it is. Similarly, the industry behind the games is also filled up mostly by men. However, that doesn’t mean that women are not involved, and some would argue that they are an important part of the future evolution of the industry.
Business Magazine Fast Company recently named their top women in the tech industry, including a sub-category dedicated to 2010’s most influential females in game creation, and here they are:
Jane McGonigal Director of Games Research & Development at Institute for the Future
McGonigal works on games that have the potential to change the world. Not a traditional game industry role, she is known for her work on unique alternative-reality games where players have to solve real world problems, such as In a World Without Oil and Evoke.
Lucy Bradshaw Senior Vice Presiden at EA/Maxis
The game that made her want to get into the industry was SimCity, so when she found out that EA had acquired the developer, Maxis, she decided “I want to work there; that’s what I want to do.”
After a stint with LucasArts, Bradshaw joined EA where she became an executive producer on SimCity 3000. She also led the development of Spore, and her job description, in a nutshell, is to control a team of around d 80 developers as they execute concepts dreamed up by Maxis founder Will Wright.
Nicole Lazzaro Founder XEO Design
Lazzaro designed the first iPhone game to make use of the device’s accelerometer. Apart from that, she is respected within the industry for her work on “emotional profiles.” Through her research into player emotions, Lazzaro has attracted companies like EA, Ubisoft and Sony. She works with designers, and using her intimate knowledge of the psychology behind gaming, she helps guide them toward the player base they are aiming for, whether it be casual, social, hard-core etc.
Trina Schwimmer Founder of GamingAngels.com
Schwimmer started GamingAngels.com about six years ago. A girl gamer, frustrated with the overwhelmingly masculinity that pervades the gaming industry, she started a gaming news site for girls.
You can check out the rest of FastCompany’s featured women in gaming here.
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