It's no secret that men outnumber women in the field of computer and video game development. Even so, it's absolutely no surprise that some women thrive as game designers in this traditionally male-rich industry. If history is our guide, there is no denying that women's contributions to digital game history have been every bit as successful and influential as those of men.
The exact reason for the gender disparity in the game industry has been the subject of vigorous discussion over the last decade, and it is not my intention to go into that here. Instead, let us celebrate ten talented women who have excelled at their craft—all of which we'll see in the slides ahead.
Robin Hunicke
Robin Hunicke gained prominence as Design Lead for MySims (2007), an adaptation of the popular Sims franchise for the Wii and for her work on Boom Blox (2008) for the same console. She is currently an executive producer at thatgamecompany where she works on a new title called "Journey" scheduled for release on the Sony PS3.
Carol Shaw
Quite possibly the world's first female video game designer, Carol Shaw was responsible for early Atari 2600 classics like 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe (1978), Video Checkers (1980), and, more prominently, River Raid (1982), which was a smash hit for Activision, the world's first third party console developer. After a few more titles with Activision, Shaw retired from game development to focus on other pursuits.
Kim Swift
Kim Swift began her game development career as a student at the DigiPen Institute of Technology. There, she co-created a game called Narbacular Drop (2005) that involved a princess who used portals to move around. Valve (creator of Half-Life) learned of the game and eventually hired Swift and her team to re-create Narbacular Drop as Portal (2007), a puzzle-FPS which took the industry by storm. After a few years with Valve, she left to join Airtight Games in 2009, where she currently works.
Jane Jensen
Jensen began her career as a writer for Sierra On-Line but soon found herself co-designing King's Quest VI (1992) with Roberta Williams. Shortly after that she designed her first solo game, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1993), which became a critically-acclaimed hit adventure for Sierra. Jensen followed-up Gabriel Knight with two sequels in 1995 and 1999. Her most recent title is "Gray Matter," a point-and-click adventure for Windows and Xbox 360 released in 2010.
Amy Henning
Amy Henning is an industry veteran with over two decades of experience in game development. Her credits extend back to the Atari 7800, and her first game design role came as Lead Designer for Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City (1994). After working on the Legacy of Kain series and Jak 3, Henning played key creative roles in the development of the critically-acclaimed Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007) and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009).
Dona Bailey
As the only female employee of Atari's coin-op division, Dona Bailey co-created (with Ed Logg) Atari's arcade classic Centipede (1980). The game quickly became a favorite with female game players and was a smash hit for Atari. She currently teaches in the department of Rhetoric and Writing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Christy Marx
Christy Marx is a writer with credits that span nearly every media format: TV, film, books, graphic novels, and yes, even video games. She wrote, designed, and directed two well-received adventure games for Sierra On-Line: Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail (1989) and Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood (1991). She has since contributed writing and creative consulting to titles like URU: Ages Beyond Myst and The Matrix Online.
Brenda Brathwaite
Brathwaite, an outspoken proponent of women in gaming careers, holds a long resume in game development that goes back to the early 1980s via the well-respected Wizardry RPG series. More recently, she was lead designer for Playboy: The Mansion (2005), a Sims-like simulation set in Hef's famous house. She is still active in game design at Loot Drop, a studio she recently co-founded.
Sheri Graner Ray
Graner Ray is perhaps best known for her writing and creative work on Origin's Ultima series, especially the Ultima VII expansion packs. Later, she moved on to full motion video PC titles, heading up a division of American Laser Games called "Her Interactive" that focused on games for girls. After a stint working on Star Wars Galaxies, she is now Studio Design Director with Schell Games.
Roberta Williams
Legendary game designer Roberta Williams co-founded Sierra On-Line with her husband Ken in 1979. In 1980, the pair released Williams' first game, Mystery House, which also happened to be the first graphical adventure game ever. She is best known as the creator of the King's Quest series of adventure games (which she stewarded through seven sequels) and Mixed-Up Mother Goose, an edutainment title for children.