Brianna Wu

Brianna Wu

Brianna Wu in 2015
Born United States
Nationality American
Occupation Game developer
Known for Tweets and essays on issues related to women in gaming
Spouse(s) Frank Wu
Website www.briannawu.net

Brianna Wu is an American video game developer. She cofounded Giant Spacekat, an independent video game development studio with Amanda Warner in Boston, Massachusetts.[1] She is also a blogger and podcaster on matters relating to the video game industry.[2]

Career

Brianna Wu and Giant Spacekat co-founder Amanda Warner

Brianna Wu was raised in Mississippi by adoptive parents. She grew up in an entrepreneurial environment, as her father was a retired US Navy doctor who opened his own clinic, and her mother ran a series of small businesses.[3][4] The first video game she recalls being passionate about was Super Mario Bros. 2, in which Princess Peach's being a playable character was a powerful influence.[5] In 2003 she enrolled at the University of Mississippi, studying journalism and political science. At the age of 19, she formed a small animation studio to create an animated pilot episode. The venture was unsuccessful, resulting in her withdrawal from college and a move to Washington, DC to work in political fundraising for several years.[3] She later returned to college to finish her degree in investigative journalism, then worked as a journalist until she was inspired by the release of the iPhone to work as a graphical designer and create a videogame. In 2008, she married Frank Wu, four-time winner of the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist. In 2010, she co-founded the company "Giant Spacekat" with Amanda Stenquist Warner,[3] adding Maria Enderton as lead programmer.[2]

Revolution 60

Wu's company Giant Spacekat demonstrated its first iOS game Revolution 60 at Pax East in March 2013, where the game was listed as one of the 10 best indie games of the conference.[6] In July 2013 the company ran a Kickstarter campaign to fund a PC release of the game in addition to the iOS version. The fundraiser brought in $12,728, over 250% of the original $5,000 goal.[7] The game, created with the Unreal Engine for a total budget of a few hundred thousand dollars, was released for iOS devices in July 2014. Wu, who described the sci-fi themed action-adventure as "Heavy Rain mixed with Mass Effect", was credited as head of development.[8] The game features female protagonists, said to echo the founders of the game studio.[1] The Guardian describes it as "a cartoonish science fiction adventure for smartphones, notable for its all-female cast and cinematic story, a rarity on mobile platforms."[9] One reviewer on Pocket Gamer called it intelligent and "hugely entertaining". Another cited some issues with pacing and a heavily linear storyline, but overall found it "enjoyable and compelling."[10][11]

Commentator

Wu is co-host of the weekly Isometric podcast on Relay FM. The podcast was launched in May 2014 and covers the video game industry.[2] Wu also writes essay and opinion pieces about feminism and antagonistic attitudes towards women in game development.

Gamergate-related harassment

Main article: Gamergate controversy

In October 2014, Wu posted multiple tweets about Gamergate advocates,[12][13] ridiculing them for "fighting an apocalyptic future where women are 8 percent of programmers and not 3 percent."[14][15][16][17][18][19][20] While she was monitoring 8chan's pro-Gamergate chanboard (/gg/), anonymous users posted sensitive personal information about her, including at least one post containing her address. Subsequently, Wu began receiving multiple, specific rape and death threats including her address, forcing Wu to flee her home. These threats have been widely attributed to Gamergate supporters.[21][14] "I was literally watching 8chan go after me in their specific chatroom for Gamergate," she told Kotaku in an interview. "They posted my address, and within moments I got that death threat."[22][23][24] Stating that she would not be intimidated by the threats, Wu continued as an outspoken and notable critic of Gamergate. Along with Anita Sarkeesian and Zoë Quinn, she is frequently cited by the media as one of the targets of the GamerGate campaign's penchant for misogynistic, violent harassment of women in the gaming industry.[12][21][24][23][25] She has begun a legal defense fund for women targeted by Gamergate, and the Wu family is offering a $11,000 reward for identifiable information leading to the prosecution of those who have sent her death threats.[26][27][28] In December, Wu received e-mails at her corporate account with images of mutilated dogs from people who identified as Gamergate supporters, following the recent death of her dog, Crash.[29][30] As of February 2015, she has received dozens of death threats over a five-month period,[31] deals with law enforcement at least one day a week, and only attends events in the U.S. with a security detail, but notes that because of the harassment "I’m one of the best-known women developers in the world today. That’s a fact. What’s funny to me is that by attacking me so viciously, they’re helping give me the visibility to usher in the very game industry they’re terrified about." [5] In a September 2015 interview, Wu stated that she was "taking a step back" and no longer responding to hateful posts before blocking them.[32]

Works

Game
Writing

References

  1. 1 2 Starr, Michelle (30 July 2014). "Revolution 60: A game by and about badass women". CNet. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Isometric podcast". 5by5 Studios. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "Depth takes a holiday with Amanda Warner and Brianna Wu" (podcast). newdisrupt.org. July 24, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  4. ↑ Wu, Brianna (April 11, 2013). "Choose your character: Faced with change, an all-female indie dev team evolves to a higher form". The Magazine (14). Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Takahashi, Dean (February 9, 2015). "Brianna Wu speaks up about death threats and personal cost of opposing #GamerGate". VentureBeat. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  6. ↑ Montanez, Angelina (March 26, 2013). "The 10 best indie games of Pax East 2013". Evolve. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Kickstarter: Bring Revolution 60 to PC and Mac". August 30, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  8. ↑ McClatchy, Todd Martens (August 13, 2014). "The women behind the sci-fi adventure 'Revolution 60' work for gender parity". Southern Illinoisan.
  9. ↑ Stuart, Keith (October 17, 2014). "Brianna Wu and the human cost of Gamergate: 'every woman I know in the industry is scared'". The Guardian. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  10. ↑ Slater, Harry (September 30, 2014). "Revolution 60, the hugely entertaining unique action adventure, is on sale right now on iPad and iPhone". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  11. ↑ Grannell, Craig (July 25, 2014). "Revolution 60". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  12. 1 2 Wingfield, Nick (October 15, 2014). "Feminist critics of video games facing threats in 'GamerGate' campaign". The New York Times. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  13. ↑ Bahadur, Nina (August 28, 2014). "One woman's amazing response to sexism in the tech industry". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  14. 1 2 1Teitell, Beth; Borchers, Callum (October 29, 2014). "GamerGate anger at women all too real for gamemaker". The Boston Globe.
  15. ↑ Dewey, Caitlin (October 14, 2014). "The only guide to Gamergate you will ever need to read". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  16. ↑ Hathaway, Jay (October 10, 2014). "What is Gamergate, and Why? An explainer for Non-Geeks". Gawker. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  17. ↑ Totillo, Stephen (October 11, 2014). "Another woman in gaming flees home following death threats". Kotaku. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  18. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (October 11, 2014). "Game developer Brianna Wu flees home after death threats, Mass. police investigating". Polygon. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  19. ↑ Reid, Joy-Ann (October 13, 2014). "Sexism and the battle of the gamers". The Reid Report (MSNBC). Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  20. ↑ Smith, Carly (October 13, 2014). "MSNBC's Reid Report covers GamerGate, Sexism in the Industry". The Escapist. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  21. 1 2 Sreenivasan, Hari (October 16, 2014). "#Gamergate leads to death threats against women in the gaming industry". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved October 20, 2014. That sparked a campaign that came to be dubbed GamerGate, highlighting perceived corruption among video game journalists. From there, GamerGate has grown to include outright harassment of women like Quinn and Sarkeesian who work in or critique the industry. Threats on Twitter even forced Brianna Wu, another game developer, to leave her Boston area home after her address was made public.
  22. ↑ Hart, Andrew (October 11, 2014). "Game developer Brianna Wu flees home after death threats". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  23. 1 2 Elise, Abigail (October 13, 2014). "What Is The GamerGate Scandal? Female Game Developer Flees Home Amid Online Threats". International Business Times. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  24. 1 2 Dockterman, Eliana (October 16, 2014). "What is #GamerGate and why are women being threatened about video games?". Time. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  25. ↑ Singal, Jesse (October 20, 2014). "The Gamergate controversy". The Boston Globe. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  26. ↑ Eisen, Andrew (October 31, 2014). "Harassed Game Dev Setting Up Legal Defense Fund For Harassed Women". GamePolitics.com. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  27. ↑ Cox, Carolyn (31 October 2014). "Brianna Wu Setting Up A Legal Defense Fund For Women Targeted By Gamergate". The Mary Sue. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  28. ↑ Levy, Karyne (November 6, 2014). "Woman Who Left Her Home Because Of 'Gamergate' Death Threats Is Offering A Reward For Information". Business Insider. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  29. ↑ Beres, Damon (December 2, 2014). "#GamerGate Harasses Brianna Wu After She Tweets About Her Dead Dog". The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  30. ↑ Hall, Chris (December 4, 2014). "To Gamergate, the Death of Brianna Wu's Pet is Another Opportunity for Abuse and Harassment". Dogster. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  31. ↑ Bray, Hiawatha (March 8, 2015). "Brianna Wu makes stand at PAX East". Boston Globe. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  32. ↑ Borchers, Callum (2015-09-15). "Brianna Wu, the self-proclaimed 'Godzilla of tech feminists'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2015-09-24.

External links

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