I’m speaking with Taylor Lyles. Taylor is an Associate Tech Editor at IGN. We’re going to cover her journey today from working as a Paralegal Contract Specialist to her work speaking with young professionals through the DreamWakers.

This is episode 52 of She Plays Games.

Janet is a video games critic and content creator who has bseen working hard establishing herself in the industry. She has her own site Gaming For The Culture where she posts features and reviews, a YouTube channel and Twitch under the name Gameonysus, and is a co-host on podcasts like Kinda Funny’s PS I Love You XOXO and The Minn Max Show. On the show we speak about her childhood where she’d rent games from Blockbuster with her brother to her career now and her amazing work raising money for BLM charities through her streaming.

This is episode 50 of She Plays Games.

Janet is a video games critic and content creator who has bseen working hard establishing herself in the industry. She has her own site Gaming For The Culture where she posts features and reviews, a YouTube channel and Twitch under the name Gameonysus, and is a co-host on podcasts like Kinda Funny’s PS I Love You XOXO and The Minn Max Show. On the show we speak about her childhood where she’d rent games from Blockbuster with her brother to her career now and her amazing work raising money for BLM charities through her streaming.

This is episode 50 of She Plays Games.

Sarah is a Casting Director for video games in Japan having moved to Japan from America a long time ago. In this episode we discuss how she became fluent in Japanese from watching countless anime and shows and the process of finding the right voice actor for her clients.

This is episode 49 of She Plays Games.

Libby is the Cofounder & Chief Marketing Officer at Radiance Media, a women-led company that was setup to unite brands by designing and executing events, campaigns, and influencer activations. Libby is also the social media manager for Cloud Imperium Games, helps the National Women’s Hockey League navigate Twitch and is also a prominent Twitch streamer herself, having raised over $33,000 for charity.

Based on this, I couldn’t wait to speak with Libby about her experiences and I really hope you enjoy her story!

I’m speaking with 2 programmers, Nikky Armstrong who is Senior Gameplay Programmer at Ubisoft Reflections and who is Mentor to our second guest Michelle Snowball who is coming into the industry from a Games Design degree.

This episode is sponsored by the Limit Break Mentorship Program which is aimed at underrepresented people working in the UK Games Industry! Those who join will be given the opportunity to pair up with a mentor who is established in their field.

This is episode 47 of She Plays Games.

Jade is currently an audio producer for Silver Rain Games. In this episode we discuss her transition coming from freelance to an in-house role during lockdown and how she's bringing together professionals and students in the games industry as the organiser and Community Leader for Game Dev London.

Limit Break Mentorship Special Episode

I’m super excited to announce that today’s episode the first in a series that is sponsored by the Limitbreak Mentorship Program. 

Limit Break is an amazing mentorship program aimed at underrepresented people working in the UK Games Industry! Those who join will be given the opportunity to pair up with a mentor who is established in their field.

Molly has been creating content around The Sims now for over 7 years and has undergone quite the journey. Throughout this episode, we discuss the valuable role content creators play in the wider video games industry, what other developers could learn from how The Sims ecosystem works and what it was like to go on a reality TV show related to playing a non-competitive game, competitively!

Charly is currently a PhD student at Abertay University where she’s looking at the use of interactive role playing games to enhance the learning of a second language. She is also helping Women in Games build out their esports offering and having travelled a ton, Charly is a huge advocate for the inclusivity and protection of culture within video games.

Limit Break Mentorship Special Episode

I’m super excited to announce that today’s episode the first in a series that is sponsored by the Limitbreak Mentorship Program. 

Limit Break is an amazing mentorship program aimed at underrepresented people working in the UK Games Industry! Those who join will be given the opportunity to pair up with a mentor who is established in their field.

Now working as the Director of Global Community at 505 Games, Antonela has risen rapidly over the past few years. But even though she now looks after the communications strategies for huge games like Control and Death Stranding… it was not the career she envisioned for herself after leaving University. In today’s show, we talk about some very valuable tips for community management, getting over the fear of sunk cost and being open to other opportunities that may come your way.

This is episode 41 of She Plays Games.

On today's episode; I’m speaking with Dani also known as Ebonix

Ebonix has been playing The Sims since it first released over 20 years ago and has grown to become one of the most influential “Simmers” in the world. As part of this, she’s taught herself how to 3D model and has become a strong advocate for representation with the game, even working with EA on some recent updates.

I really hope you enjoy listening to Dani’s story

Lucy is a Host and Senior Video Producer at GameSpot and after working for the UK division for numerous years, she now calls San Francisco her home!

Throughout this episode, we discuss Lucy’s inspiration for seeking out a career in the video games industry, why she misses big conferences like E3 and how she adjusts to new roles, expectations and working environments.

I really hope you enjoy listening to Lucy’s story

Lucy is a Host and Senior Video Producer at GameSpot and after working for the UK division for numerous years, she now calls San Francisco her home!

Throughout this episode, we discuss Lucy’s inspiration for seeking out a career in the video games industry, why she misses big conferences like E3 and how she adjusts to new roles, expectations and working environments.

I really hope you enjoy listening to Lucy’s story

Zoë works at Rockstar Games as a Tools Programmer and in this role she helps many of the other teams at Rockstar to do their jobs more efficiently. Given the scale of their games, it’s a pretty integral role and Zoe has received numerous plaudits for her work, such as being included in Develop’s 30 Under 30. Throughout this interview, we discuss a switch from musical theatre to programming and the importance of a family support network. I really hope you enjoy Zoë’s story!

Lauren hasn’t been in the video games industry for very long, but after switching over from corporate communications, she has made a considerable impact for numerous indie developers.

In a short period of time, Lauren has overseen four successful funding drives and she’s now serving as the community manager for Code Coven, an initiative to help marginalised developers, and the Chief Communications Office for Stardust, a small indie game studio who’re looking to push boundaries.

Throughout the episode, we discuss the merits of crowdfunding, why indie development is so important and why it might be good to consider a change in careers…

I really hope you enjoy listening to Lauren’s story.

Tina is an Assistant Producer at Skyhook Studios, having just joined following a successful stint in QA at PlayStation, where she worked on games like The Last of Us II and Days Gone.

Throughout the episode, we discuss the various avenues available for people who’re looking to enter into the gaming industry and why QA deserves much more credit than it often gets.

I really hope you enjoy listening to Tina’s story.

Jay is the co-founder of an independent studio called Arrogant Pixel and she’s also a lecturer on the Games, Design and Animation course at the University of West London. You may also recognise Jay as one of the moderators on the She Plays Games Discord server… and she’s awesome!

I really hope you enjoy listening to Jay’s story.

Manda works for Codemasters as a Game Designer. Over the past year, she’s been hard at work on DiRT5, which has just launched on current generation and next generation platforms, and she’s had an absolute blast! Before that Amanda worked at Nomad Games, a small indie development studio who worked on creating video game versions of popular tabletop fantasy board game franchises - quite the change from working on off-road racing, I’m sure you’ll all agree! It makes for an interesting journey… and

I really hope you enjoy Manda’s story