The gaming industry has been long dominated by men.
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on UnsplashHowever, over the past few decades, women have slowly begun gaining more representation in the industry. We are here to shine a light on this representation including game developers, gaming executives and female CEOs. We believe that as the industry becomes more diverse, the gaming sector will become bigger and better for a variety of reasons.
Let’s kick off with our list of the top 5 most influential women in gaming.
Sasha ‘Scarlett’ Hostyn
FACEBOOK Sasha “Scarlett” HostynScarlett is known to be the highest paid female esports player in the world. She has played in over 190 tournaments since 2011 and has earned a whopping $356,955 over the past 8 years. Scarlett is mostly known for her Starcraft 2 gameplay. She even won the First Woman Ever to Win A Major Starcraft 2 Tournament award. She also ranked in 10th place in the 2019 Starcraft II World Championship Series Circuit.
Yoko Shimomura
FACEBOOK Yoko ShimomuraYoko is one of the most talented video game composers of all time. If you ever played Kingdom Hearts games, you would have heard her unforgettable sound as she is known for her piano compositions. These compositions have proved to be the perfect soundscapes for many games. She also worked on Capcom releases like Street Fighter 2 and Final Fight. She also recently worked on two releases Final Fantasy XV and Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
Nygaard-Anderson
Online gambling giant Entain, which operates in a number of worldwide markets and is currently researching the Canadian market, has recently confirmed the appointment of Jette Nygaard-Anderson as its new chief executive. She has over 20 years’ experience in leadership and operational roles in media, sport, entertainment, and digital businesses such as a number of senior positions during two spells with the Modern Times Group, in which Nygaard-Anderson held roles as CEO of new media and CEO of Viasat.
Laila Shabir
FACEBOOK Laila ShabirShabir is the founder of Girls Make Games, a series of summer camps and workshops designed to attract girls to the world of video games, coding, and game development. Here, girls learn about the basics of game development, and they work in teams to create their own games. At the end of the camp, the girls will have the opportunity to pitch their games to industry leaders in the hope of getting funding to develop their games.
Amy Hennig
FACEBOOK BAFTAHennig is most known as being the writer and director of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, and Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Amy Hennig has been in the gaming industry for a long time, and she is viewed as a role model for women in the gaming industry. Her ability to craft single-player games with movie-like storylines is impeccable and she is clearly one of the most talented directors/writers in the gaming industry.
