She discovered games at a young age and her love for them only grew stronger with time. She wanted to work in the gaming industry early on, but her path hasn’t exactly been linear.
Rita wasn’t able to pursue a career in gaming directly after graduating high school, but she never gave up on her dream. After graduating university, she landed an internship at Ubisoft before joining Gameloft Barcelona as a player insights specialist.
Games are huge part of Rita’s life, and they have led to some amazing memories and experiences. Find out how games have impacted her life, what a player insights specialist does, and how one of her university professors helped her achieve her dream of working in gaming below!
What is your role at Gameloft?
I’m a player insights specialist at Gameloft Barcelona. I help game teams make better products by helping them get a better understanding of their consumers. What are their expectations, motivations, and touchpoints?
I also do a lot of quantitative research, so lots of surveys. It’s my job to find out what the game teams want to find out and then to draft surveys and analyze the data to make recommendations.
What sparked your interest in video games?
I would say it all started when I was five years old and played Super Mario Bros. for the first time. Although I was remarkably bad at the game, I would have a blast playing with my older brother. Ever since that moment, I’ve had a love for video games that only grew stronger with time.
How did you come to first work in the gaming industry?
Due to my passion for video games, I started considering job opportunities in the industry in high school. When I told my parents I wanted to go to a video game school to potentially become a game designer, they weren’t exactly fans of the idea.
They were worried I wouldn’t have a comfortable life, and they were pretty traditional—they wanted me to become a doctor or an architect—so I decided to study business and marketing with the hopes of finding another way into the industry.
My dream came true in 2014 when I landed a six-month internship with Ubisoft as an assistant consumer researcher. I dreamed of working at Ubisoft for so long and when I got my foot in the door and was surrounded by likeminded people who shared the same passion, I knew I wanted to have a career in the video game industry. I also love the casual dress code—I was very happy to not have to go into work wearing business attire clothes every day!
Who is one of your role models, and how have they helped you in your career?
I would have to credit one of my professors in business school as being one of my biggest influences. From the very first class I had with her in my freshman year, I developed a deep admiration and respect for her.
During my junior year at the end of one of her classes, I told her about my ambitions of working in the gaming industry and her reaction is burned in my brain. She told me that it was the coolest thing she heard all day and how awesome that was. She showed so much support—she had me work on a gamification project with her, recommended books, and connected me to a few people.
She’s always been someone who made me feel motivated to work towards my goals and cheered me on. Her “make things happen” attitude has also been a source of inspiration for me, and more than ten years after meeting we’re still in touch.
What have been your main challenges as a woman throughout your career so far?
To be honest, I don’t feel like I’ve been faced with many challenges in my career so far due to my being a woman. Of course, I was aware that it could be harder because of my gender and that challenges were going to be part of the journey.
I haven’t had many, but there have been doubts and a few occasions where I couldn’t help but wonder if colleagues who undermined what I said, would do so if I were a man.
I think the industry has made some steps in the right direction by talking about the lack of gender diversity and hiring more women, but society is still encouraging the stereotype that video games are for boys.
Four years ago, I spoke at my old college, and the professor asked me why I liked video games and said they were for boys. I was really disappointed, but the class reacted great and said they were wrong and that wasn’t true. It’s a generational thing, but there’s still some work to be done.
What do you love about your job today?
What I love most about my job is that I get to work with something I’m passionate about. Being a dedicated gamer myself, it’s always fun to hear what other gamers have to say about a game and learn what drives them to play!
There have definitely been stats that have surprised me, and you learn interesting things. We did one-on-one interviews a few years ago with Asphalt players, and we found out that some of them turn off the music to better appreciate the sound of engines while they play!
It’s also great to see the industry become more open to market research. Before, it was just something “nice to have”, so it’s cool to see people reach out to me, working with lots of different teams, and getting positive feedback.
What kind of changes would you like to see in the industry and beyond?
I would for sure like to see more diversity in the industry, both gender and racial, and the industry shake its reputation of being “a place for men”.
I regularly speak to college students in my spare time to tell them about my job, the industry, and help them figure out what they would like to do after college. On a few occasions, girls have told me that although they’re passionate about video games and would love to work in the industry, they’ve often been told it’s not a place for them and are hesitant to pursue a career in games because of it.
I would like to see things change so that girls don’t have to hesitate if working in the gaming industry is what they want to do.
What do video games mean to you?
The list of things I value most in life are: my loved ones, video games, and the Minnesota Vikings, in that order.
When I think of video games, I think of all the amazing moments shared with friends and family members. I really cherish those moments spent with one my nephews playing The Sims and Halo and seeing that he remembers those moments too. I also think of all the adventures I’ve been on while playing and the range of emotions I’ve experienced.
What do you love about video games in one word?
My one word would be “dopeness”.
They’re fun, and I have a lot of positive memories associated with it, like bringing me together with other people. When I was 11 years old, a few of my cousins came to visit for the summer, and we didn’t know each other really well. It was awkward but the next morning, my brother and I asked them to play Super Smash Bros. with us, and it completely broke the ice, and we became best friends.
If you want to work with passionate people like Rita, make sure you apply to our job opportunities in our studios around the world here! Stay tuned tomorrow for another edition of Girls Who Slay the Game!
