Thousands of developers come together to make games, but we usually only see a small number of the faces behind our favorite worlds. Here at AllGamers, we wanted to take a closer look at notable women within the gaming industry.
Over the years, women have made major contributions to gaming in a multitude of ways from game design and development to writing and management.
After reflecting on our own gaming experiences, we decided to put together a list of seven influential and inspirational women within the gaming industry.
Carol Shaw – First Female Game Programmer/Designer
Shaw’s initial impact in the world of gaming dates all the way back to 1978 when she became the first female game designer and programmer. Her first project? 3D Tic-Tac-Toe for the Atari 2600.
Following the release of 3D Tic-Tac-Toe, Shaw went on to design and program the game Happy Trails in 1983 before taking a quick break from the industry.
When she returned in 1988, she oversaw the production of River Raid II at Activision. While Shaw has since retired from game design, there’s no doubt that her contributions in the late 70s through the 1980s helped pave the way for female programmers moving forward.
Roberta Williams – Game Designer/Co-Founder of Sierra On-Line
Anyone who grew up playing Sierra’s lineup of classic point-and-click adventure titles will likely be familiar with the name Roberta Williams. Williams and her husband Ken co-founded Sierra On-Line back in 1970 and released their very first game, Mystery House, in 1980.
During her time at Sierra, Williams lent her talents to a variety of memorable games including King’s Quest and Phantasmagoria (the latter being Williams’ favorite Sierra title).
Despite retiring in 1999, her status as a major player in the world of game design lives on. Plus, you’d be hard-pressed to find a 90s gamer who wasn’t in some way influenced by Williams’ work at Sierra.
Donna Bailey – First Female Arcade Game Designer
Donna Bailey’s career in gaming began in 1980 when she accepted a position as an engineer at Atari. At the time, Bailey was Atari’s sole female designer.
Among her many achievements, her most notable includes creating and designing the immortal arcade staple Centipede alongside Ed Logg. Following the release of Centipede, Bailey went on an extended hiatus before returning over 26 years later to serve as a keynote speaker at the 2007 Women in Games Conference.
Since then, Bailey has continued to encourage women to pursue careers in the world of gaming. She also works as a college instructor with one of her courses being – you guessed it – game design.
Amy Hennig – Game Designer/Writer/Development
In regards to modern achievements in gaming, Hennig’s name may sound familiar. This is thanks to her work on the Naughty Dog games Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
Surprisingly, though, Hennig’s experience dates all the way back to the 1990s and her work on the game Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City. Prior to leaving Naughty Dog for EA’s Visceral Games in 2014, Hennig contributed to other Naughty Dog titles (aside from Uncharted) such as Jak and Daxter.
When EA decided to shut down Visceral Games in October of 2017, EA reported that they were actively working with Amy on deciding her next move. She then left to join Skydance Media, the film studio working on the Mission Impossible franchise with a burgeoning games division, with The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners already under their belt. Overall, we’re eager to see where Hennig’s talents lead her next, especially considering how much ground she broke during her time at Naughty Dog.
Bonnie Ross – Corporate VP at Xbox/Head of 343 Industries
Another modern name in the realm of gaming is Bonnie Ross, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios and head of 343 Industries. When it comes to major industry players, it’s tough to find a woman who holds a more prestigious role than Ross.
This is because Microsoft is not only a dominating force within the gaming industry, the 343 Industries subsidiary currently presides over the Halo series.
While Ross is undoubtedly high on the list of modern women in gaming thanks to her roles at Microsoft and 343, it’s worth noting that Ross has actually worked at Microsoft dating as far back as 1994. With over 20 years of experience, we can’t help but tip our hats to Ross and her many achievements.
Robin Hunicke – Game Designer/Producer/Professor
Robin Hunicke is a multi-talented face in the game industry, having served as a game producer, designer, and professor of game design at UC Santa Cruz. Hunicke first got her start at EA where she contributed to a variety of projects including MySims and Bloom Box.
Following her exit from EA, Hunicke joined indie studio thatgamecompany where she worked as a producer on the award winning PS3 game, Journey. Hunicke then co-founded Funomena with thatgamecompany engineer Martin Middleton.
There, she worked on games such as Wattam and Luna. Aside from Funomena, Hunicke also joined Katamari Damacy and Keita Takahashi at Tiny Speck to develop the MMORPG, Glitch.
Due to Hunicke’s work advocating for women with the industry, her contributions to indie game development, and her milestones in game design, we felt it fitting to celebrate her on our list of influential women in gaming.
Rhianna Pratchett – Video Game Writer
It’s challenging to find a more influential female game writer than Rhianna Pratchett. This makes sense, considering she’s the daughter of literary icon Terry Pratchett. After getting her start as a journalist, Pratchett decided to delve into the world of video game writing in 2002.
In 5 short years, Pratchett managed to earn a BAFTA nomination for Best Video Game Writing in 2007 thanks to her work on Heavenly Sword. Looking through her list of credits, it’s hard not to be impressed by Pratchett’s contributions to the gaming industry.
For example, Pratchett served as main writer and co-story creator for Mirror’s Edge. She also worked as the lead writer on the 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider, and on 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider.
What’s more, Pratchett has written comic book spin-offs for both Tomb Raider and Mirror’s Edge, and background dialogue for titles like Prince of Persia and BioShock Infinite. If you’re a fan of sweeping video game stories, you can’t help but be a fan of Rhianna Pratchett. After all, she’s arguably one of the best in the business!