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Brianna Wu

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Brianna Wu
NationalityAmerican
OccupationGame developer
Known forTweets and essays on issues related to women in gaming
SpouseFrank Wu

Brianna Wu is an American video game developer. With Amanda Warner, she founded Giant Spacekat, an indie development studio in Boston, Massachusetts. She is also known as a blogger and podcaster on stories related to the video game industry.

Career

Wu grew up in Mississippi to adoptive parents. Wu was exposed at an early age to a dynamic environment of small businesses and the computers to run them, as her father had grown up in town of D'Lo, Mississippi, then joined the U.S. Navy to get a medical degree, and upon returning to Mississippi, opened his own clinic, and then with his wife, a series of other small entrepreneurial businesses. In 2003 she enrolled at the University of Mississippi, studying journalism and political science. At the age of 19, she raised $250,000 to form a small animation studio and create an animated pilot episode. The venture was not successful, resulting in her withdrawing from college to move to Washington, DC and working in political fundraising for a few years. While returning to college to finish her degree in investigative journalism, she decided to work as a self-taught graphical designer. She then worked as a journalist until she was inspired by the release of the iPhone and decided she wanted to create a game and do more work with her art, resulting in her traveling to different convention art shows. In 2008, she married artist 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, adding Maria Enderton as lead programmer.

Revolution 60

Wu's company Giant Spacekat demoed its first 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. Originally targeted to release in late 2013, the development schedule was extended. In July 2013 the company ran a Kickstarter campaign, asking for $5,000 to accommodate the extra time, and to fund a PC release of the game in addition to iOS. The fundraiser brought in $12,728. 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. Reflecting the all-female development team, the game features an all-female cast. 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." 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."

Commentator

Wu is co-host of the weekly Isometric podcast on the 5by5 network. The podcast was launched in May 2014 and discusses stories related to the video game industry. Wu has also written high-profile essays and opinion pieces about issues related to feminism and antagonistic attitudes towards women in game development.

Harassment

In 2014, Wu posted multiple tweets about sexism in video games and the GamerGate controversy, which "mocked members of a shadowy and threatening gaming movement called GamerGate, ridiculing them for, among other things, “fighting an apocalyptic future where women are 8 percent of programmers and not 3 percent," according to The Boston Globe. Users on the pro-GamerGate message board 8chan began posting personal information about Wu in GamerGate-related discussions, including one post containing her address, and subsequently she 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. "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." 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 Zoe 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. 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.

Works

Game
  • Revolution 60, July 2014 iOS game
Writing

References

  1. ^ Starr, Michelle (30 July 2014). "Revolution 60: A game by and about badass women". CNet. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Depth takes a holiday with Amanda Warner and Brianna Wu" (podcast). newdisrupt.org. July 24, 2014. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  3. Wu, Brianna (April 11, 2013). "Choose your character: Faced with change, an all-female indie dev team evolves to a higher form". The Magazine. No. 14. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  4. ^ "Isometric podcast". 5by5 Studios. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  5. Montanez, Angelina (March 26, 2013). "The 10 best indie games of Pax East 2013". Evolve. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  6. "Kickstarter: Bring Revolution 60 to PC and Mac". August 30, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  7. McClatchy, Todd Martens (August 13, 2014). "The women behind the sci-fi adventure 'Revolution 60' work for gender parity". Southern Illinoisan.
  8. 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.
  9. 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. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. Grannell, Craig (July 25, 2014). "Revolution 60". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  11. ^ Wingfield, Nick (October 15, 2014). "Feminist critics of video games facing threats in 'GamerGate' campaign". The New York Times. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  12. Bahadur, Nina (August 28, 2014). "One woman's amazing response to sexism in the tech industry". Huffington Post. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  13. ^ GamerGate anger at women all too real for gamemaker. Teitell, Beth and Callum Borchers. The Boston Globe, 29 October 2014
  14. Dewey, Caitlin (October 14, 2014). "The only guide to Gamergate you will ever need to read". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  15. Hathaway, Jay (October 10, 2014). "What is Gamergate, and Why? An explainer for Non-Geeks". Gawker. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  16. Totillo, Stephen (October 11, 2014). "Another woman in gaming flees home following death threats". Kotaku. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  17. McWhertor, Michael (11 October 2014). "Game developer Brianna Wu flees home after death threats, Mass. police investigating". Polygon. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  18. Reid, Joy-Ann (October 13, 2014). "Sexism and the battle of the gamers". The Reid Report. MSNBC. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  19. Smith, Carly (October 13, 2014). "MSNBC's Reid Report covers GamerGate, Sexism in the Industry". The Escapist. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. Hart, Andrew (October 11, 2014). "Game developer Brianna Wu flees home after death threats". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 14, 2014.
  22. ^ 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.
  23. ^ Dockterman, Eliana (October 16, 2014). "What is #GamerGate and why are women being threatened about video games?". Time. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  24. Singal, Jesse (October 20, 2014). "The Gamergate controversy". The Boston Globe. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  25. Eisen, Andrew (31 October 2014). "Harassed Game Dev Setting Up Legal Defense Fund For Harassed Women". Game Politics. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  26. 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.
  27. Levy, Karyne (6 November 2014). "Woman Who Left Her Home Because Of 'Gamergate' Death Threats Is Offering A Reward For Information". Business Insider. Retrieved 8 November 2014.

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