Womenize! – Inspiring Stories is our weekly series featuring inspirational women from games and tech. For this edition we talked to Cynthia Sipes, User Researcher at Invuse and UX/UI Designer  at Glazed Games Studios. She shares how exploring different studies and industries led to finding true professional passion. Read more about Cynthia in this interview:

Hi Cynthia! What makes your newest game “Welcome to the Donut Diner” special?

The thing I find so special about working on “WTTDD” is the amazing team that dedicated so much time to it. All of us are from different parts of the world and have come into the project in various ways. I remember posting a message in a Discord channel about wanting to join a game jam as a UX/UI designer. I got this message from John, the lead audio engineer and lead admin on the project, telling me the vision for “Welcome to the Donut Diner”. It was meant as a portfolio piece to help get into the gaming industry –
something a little more polished than a game jam project.

I read the game doc and the theme really intrigued me. It is this interesting blend of sci-fi and fantasy with a sprinkle of horror. It has been amazing to be a part of this project and really watch it grow. For all of us involved, it is becoming more than just a portfolio piece but something we want to really bring life to and share. I am also very excited to finally be a User Researcher and use those skills for “WTTDD”. And of course there are donuts, so what’s not to love!

Womenize! – Inspiring Stories is our weekly series featuring inspirational women from games and tech. For this edition we talked to Natalie Concannon, Director, Head of Design & Production at Datascope, UK’s leading boutique recruitment agency for the Games, Online and Mobile technology sectors. Natalie speaks about the impact the Covid-19 pandemic had and still has on the UK games industry recruiting market. Read more about Natalie in this interview:

Hi Natalie! Do you have any advice for women, who’d like to move into a leadership role in Design & Production career paths?

Personally, I think the biggest help is finding a mentor, I don’t really think anyone is born to lead, it’s a skillset like any other aspect of a job. You can learn and one of the best ways is to look at managers or leaders who you have enjoyed working for and emulate them.

In games, networking is still a really important tool in getting promoted, having some help navigating that is so important. I believe the word networking scares people, but really it’s just about connecting with others and speaking to individuals in the industry. Overall, I find games to be a very friendly industry, I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.

What parts of your job have proven most challenging during the past five years?

The 1st lockdown due to the global pandemic was probably the hardest part, none of us really knew what was going on or how things would turn out. It made everything really difficult, especially to make decisions and plan things when we were all living in uncertainty. It was rather sudden, with a lot of us having to make quick changes without being prepared at the time. Luckily we work in an industry which did well during lockdown and a small silver lining was how many people enjoyed and discovered new games. 

We were also fortunate in having sorted the technology, workflow and management challenges in advance, we have had Datascope team members who have worked from home in the past and as we already work closely with our clients and candidates who are based in many different locations, the transition was a little easier for our team.

When I was made a director, I suddenly had loads of responsibility piled onto me and it made all my decisions feel a little more important. Getting used to the additional pressure did take a small while and I’m really happy to have moved into a senior position where I can be more strategic and think about the big picture.

How did the Covid-19 situation influence the hiring market in the UK recently?

The biggest change is a stronger desire for remote/flexible working. A large number of people do not want to work in an office and value their time and lifestyle at home, but not all employers are open to fully remote roles and they think that the collaboration you get in person is very difficult to replace. Things still don’t feel very settled, so it will be interesting to see how things work out longer term, and how the industry will change, because there are pros and cons to either way of working. I personally very much prefer working in our Datascope office in Piccadilly every day! 😊

Thanks for this interview, Natalie!

Natalie’s links: LinkedIn │ Twitter │ Datascope

Womenize! – Inspiring Stories is our weekly series featuring inspirational women from games and tech. For this edition we talked to Vicky Clark, Software Engineer at Unity Technologies. Vicky gives us insights into the world of coding, as well as the importance of sustainability and empathy in the workplace. Read more about Vicky in this interview:

Hi Vicky! How did you enter the games industry after completing your studies in Physics?

By accident, really. When I was in the last year of my degree, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Games wasn’t an industry I had considered since I was a kid, until a recruiter from Unity reached out to me on LinkedIn. I didn’t have much coding experience, but I think what they were really looking for in a graduate engineering role was an analytical mindset, and a strong desire to learn new things.
As soon as I met the lovely bunch at the Stratford-upon-Avon office and heard about the incredible things that they were working on, I knew it was something I wanted to be part of. Three years later, I’m still learning new things every day and getting to work with awesome people on Unity’s core engine!

What do you enjoy most about your work as a Software Engineer?

I’m still a scientist at heart, so I like to understand how things work. My role is on the optimization team, where we work on optimizations in lots of different areas of the engine, which often means starting from scratch in a new area where there might be a performance problem. It can be daunting to start with, especially when it involves getting your head around unfamiliar code, but when you finally crack it you feel like a genius – or an idiot, if it was your problem in the first place!
It’s rewarding to achieve a good understanding of the area, to explain it to others, and to work towards the best possible performance for the user. Engineering can be really collaborative, too, and it’s fun to work with and learn from a large variety of people, across different areas of expertise and disciplines.

Are there any values that are of high importance to yourself professionally?

I’m really passionate about sustainability in all of its forms. It’s important to me that any company I am part of is working towards making the world a better place in any way it can. In my view, large companies have a huge responsibility to not only do right by the planet, but by people too, and working for a company that shares my passion for both the environment and social impact really motivates me.
More specifically for an engineering role, I think all good engineers need empathy. Empathy for the people using your tools, empathy for the people you work with, even empathy for yourself when you fail. There’s no point being a good coder if you can’t empathize with those you are writing the code for, align on best solutions with those around you, and share your knowledge with those who need it.

Thanks for this interview, Vicky!

Vicky’s links: LinkedIn │ Twitter │ Unity on LinkedIn │ Women in Games on LinkedIn

Womenize! – Inspiring Stories is our weekly series featuring inspirational women from games and tech. For this edition we talked to Marja Konttinen, Marketing Director at Decentraland. She speaks about the Finnish games industry, current NFT trends, and the creation of Marketing campaigns for kid friendly apps. Read more about Marja in this interview:

Hi Marja! How would you describe the Finnish games industry?

The games industry in Finland is something quite unique! It’s hard to explain how it came about but I guess a mysterious mix of long dark winters, a group of friends that loved games, and the mobile phone ecosystem laid by Nokia. That was the right growing bed for an industry that grew from the “Snake” game to a global multi-billion industry. 

What is very distinct with the industry here is that it has always been about friends helping friends, and based on values like collaboration and figuring things out together, sharing failures and winnings alike. There were no playbooks, best practices, or even tools to start with, but now we have successful companies working not just on games but the full ecosystem from entertainment brands to tools and analytics. I should also mention how institutions, the government, and the media have been very supportive in building the industry, which helps a lot.

Decentraland is a virtual social platform built and governed by its users. When creating marketing campaigns for educational or kid friendly apps, where do you start?

I’m a firm believer in user research. Detailed attention to the overall user experience and how the interface is designed are essential for any product that wants wider adoption. Working with products for kids adds a whole new layer of challenges – what if they can’t read or understand symbols, how does the UI work? Audio prompts?

The same goes for marketing – who do you actually sell the product to, and how? Kids don’t have credit cards but they certainly want to have fun and play. Parents want to provide their kids with the best possible start in life and ensure they pick up the right skills – but this can often be quite the opposite of fun and play. Marketing can deliver the right message to the parents to help them understand that a playful product will be both fun and educational, and worth the investment. So I’d start by understanding both the audiences alike, meaning kids and parents, and test different selling points to see which ones resonate the best. 

What are your thoughts on the current NFT trends in gaming?

NFTs are a fun entry to a bigger topic of Web3. I’ve participated in a few interesting NFT projects that showed me the power of community and how a token can empower its owner. My collection ranges from profile pictures (PFPs) and fine art projects to gamified communities on Discord that act as a launchpad for the actual game launch, to investment-driven decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) that vote and collect NFTs together. I’ve participated in proposal voting, hanging out with people on low-key Twitter Spaces, and drawn some random fan art in competitions, and this is what makes me excited for things to come. It’s not really about owning a thing – it’s about the limitless opportunities to innovate on how to get your fanbase and community together, to collaborate with them and for them in the long term.

Thanks for this interview, Marja!

Marja’s links: LinkedIn │ Decentraland

Womenize! – Inspiring Stories is our weekly series featuring inspirational women from games and tech. For this edition we talked to Sol Sánchez, CCO at Somber Pixel & Co-Founder of FemDevs Perú. She shares the value of emotionally immersive games and provides insights into the Peruvian indie dev communities. Read more about Sol in this interview:

Hi Sol! How would you describe the indie dev scene in Peru?

Peru’s indie dev community is overall very kind and friendly. Since we are still a small industry, many of us know each other from university, work, or local events. This gives us the chance to stay in touch with each other quite often, which makes me feel like I’m not alone in the journey and that any doubt I might have, I can always ask a local friend around.

However, being a small industry comes with some disadvantages, too. There aren’t many big studios in the country and most of the smaller ones make games only in their free time. On top of that, indie studios tend to have fewer than six employees and the biggest one does not exceed 60. This makes it hard to find a job in the industry and since video games are quite a new concept in Peru, there aren’t many local funding opportunities (especially if you want to make your own game). Not everything is negative of course! Some of our games have not only been shown at events outside the country but have also been recognized with international awards. In addition, government entities are already beginning to see the value of this industry and are looking for new and better ways to continue promoting it.

On my part, I co-founded FemDevs Peru, a non-lucrative association, with the purpose to promote women’s participation and visibility in the industry. We organize talks, game jams, workshops and so much more to inspire more women to join the industry. And like FemDevs Peru, many other initiatives are working to help grow this industry. 

The video game industry in Peru has great potential, but still has a long way to go. We’re always looking for more people and companies to collaborate with us, so if you are interested in FemDevs Peru or the Peruvian industry, please don’t hesitate to contact me here.

Do you have any tips and tricks for building emotionally immersive video games?

I think for emotional games, having a clear message for the audience and believing in what you’re doing is key. For “Arrog”, for example, we knew from the start that it was going to be an interactive experience to show how our country feels towards death, how death is just another step in our lives and that we shouldn’t be afraid of it. Many people might find the topic or the game’s design unappealing, but the team and I loved the idea immensely, and after three years of prototyping, re-doing and polishing, we made it come true.

If you don’t truly believe in the game you are making, you probably won’t put your 100% and it’ll show. Videogames are a way of art, and like any artist, we developers put a bit of ourselves into those projects. Even if you don’t agree with every detail of a game, the core message is important and the more passionate you’re about it, the more you’ll do your best for it and the more you’ll enjoy the process of developing it.

What inspired you to create the game “Night Reverie”?

The magical feeling of reliving the innocence of childhood adventures while going through a hard time made me fall in love instantly with “Night Reverie”. I didn’t create the game from scratch, I joined the Somber Pixel team three months after they released the first demo on Steam. Nevertheless, “Night Reverie” was one of the main reasons I chose to join the team and I got to work on the rest of the game with them.

Back then, I was going through a very hard time in my life and the story of “Night Reverie”, even though it wasn’t about the same thing I was going through, resonated with me deeply and made me feel more connected to the characters. That emotional connection and my childhood memories with my sister were the main things that inspired me to work in the game. It’s a very lovely story with really wholesome characters that anyone can enjoy. I hope it gets to resonate with you as much as it did with me.

Thanks for this interview, Sol!

Sol’s links: Contact Page │ Twitter │ LinkedIn │ Somber Pixel

Womenize! – Inspiring Stories is our weekly series featuring inspirational women from games and tech. For this edition we talked to Maria Wagner, Initiator and General Manager of GamesForest.Club. She highlights the values of building communities and shares challenges of different industries. Read more about Maria in this interview:

Hi Maria! You have managed many different projects across various industries, where did you feel challenged the most?

Each project and work had its challenges, and I loved all of them because those provided me with many opportunities to learn. When I worked within non-governmental or governmental institutions, especially when I led the refugee camp in Berlin, I was challenged by the lack of digital working tools, service-oriented processes, and efficient communication.

Working in target-driven companies, which understand their customers and try to improve their services, inspires me when it comes to number-driven product design, efficiency, and customer-oriented service. Nevertheless, I still did not feel completely satisfied as I always had the personal need to contribute to the bigger picture and do something meaningful. So now being able to marry both worlds and co-create a company, which is number-driven, service-oriented, and supports the games industry to conquer climate change, makes me very happy.

Do you consider the build-up of communities as a vital part of any company’s success?

Yes, definitely. Especially, if we talk about companies within the creative industry. I think it is vital to establish a well-functioning relationship and communication with your customers and fans. Companies, which bring people together and manage to create new lifestyles and cultures, will profit from the feedback and reach their communities provide to them. Nevertheless, an innovative and fun product or service continues to be the key and generally helps to build up communities.

That’s also why GamesForest.Club provides its members and sponsors with tools to engage their communities and customize their digital forests. This and the visual feedback, which GamesForest.Club provides, helps to bring new communities onboard and enhance their contribution to reforestation and conservation.