We are proud to present some of the many girls who slay the game in our studios around the world! They come from different backgrounds and work in various roles but they all have one thing in common: their love for the gaming industry.
No matter who you are or where you come from, there is a place for you in gaming! Read on for insights, advice, and motivation from our inspiring women, and come and join the game!
Maelle Barnola
Market and Trends Analyst, Gameloft Paris
I started working in the gaming industry after my master’s degree when I was hired for an internship at Ubisoft and have loved working in gaming ever since. I’ve had the opportunity to work in several positions: as an HR analyst, a consumer insights analyst, and now a market and trends analyst at Gameloft. Each of these experiences allowed me to discover new exciting aspects of the industry. It’s probably what I love most about working in gaming: it’s so varied and changing at a fast pace, you never get bored! I also like how gaming is constantly shifting shapes. Welcoming new, diverse people into the industry brings new perspective to the table and ultimately enriches the games we create, so I’m excited to see this trend continue. Games can be meaningful in so many different ways, for so many different people, and I love that the industry can reflect that.
Ana Maria Chelaru (Radu)Global Engagement Marketing Manager, Gameloft Bucharest
I started working at Gameloft 14 years ago, and I've been learning a lot of things that have helped me to develop myself professionally but also personally as a human being ever since. I wouldn’t be here after all this time if I didn't love connecting with people. I truly believe in building a strong bridge between us and our players and cultivating a happy environment to keep everyone motivated and involved—inside and outside our organization. I like driving impactful programs, planning strategies to raise the bar, and of course, having the satisfaction of seeing these plans and initiatives come to life. My current role as a global engagement marketing manager actually allows me to think and design various programs and interesting initiatives that nurture and drive engagement to increase customer satisfaction, player loyalty, and love for our games. To me, video games are a great way to disconnect from the everyday stress of our lives and to help us overcome our limits. Video games unlock a fantastic world where you can be the coolest, strongest, and greatest of them all, and it’s so much fun! I’m very glad to see things are evolving more than ever in the gaming industry, and we’re all part of this evolution!
Hannah CrosbySenior 3D Artist, Gameloft Brisbane
I got into video games as a career early when a scholarship to a digital animation course allowed me to combine my love of art and computers, and I was picked up by a local company as a junior 3D artist. The next 15 years saw me working in Australia and the UK as both an environment and character artist on a wide variety of platforms and licenses. My current role as senior environment artist with Gameloft Brisbane allows me to collaborate more directly with programmers and designers. Being involved more in the technical side of building a game keeps things exciting—I love my job because there’s always something new to learn! Over my career, I’ve also worked on the production of feature films, and I’ve observed the strong effect that government support, through subsidies and incentives, gives to creative industries. It’s something I’d love to see applied to video games in my country. To me, video games have always been an avenue to utilize my creative skills in a professional setting, and I want to see games acknowledged as a serious career option for young creatives in the future.
Jennifer GaleGame Manager, Gameloft Toronto
I’ve been a game manager at Gameloft for about five and a half years now. I love how dynamic this job is; there’s never a dull moment and always something to learn. I’m especially excited about how we’re able to make changes to our live games to make them better. It wasn’t like that when I first started in the industry over 20 years ago. I loved playing video games as a kid but never thought that I could have a career in this field. To be fair, it wasn’t much of a field back then. I had done my training in multimedia development and sort of fell into a job in gaming. My first job was as a graphic tech, which at that time was a lot less complicated than it is today. I quickly worked my way into an associate producer roll, working on kids’ games and early mobile games, which were mostly branded. Very soon, I was managing my own projects for big clients like EA and with big brands like NFL and Disney. Fast forward—I’m now working at a top mobile company on a top Disney product with a top team that has some seriously skilled women. I’m looking forward to growing that group and helping more women come up the ranks to fill leadership positions.
Raluca-Teodora GrigoroviciProduct Marketing Manager, Gameloft Cluj
I started working in the gaming industry at Gameloft a little over three years ago. I was hired as a game community manager and, after two years, became a product marketing manager. I love the people, colleagues, and players, and how we share the same values and mindset—some of the people who play the games that I’ve worked on have become my friends! I also love the ever-changing, adapting nature of the industry, but I would like to see more women working in the field. I know that the number keeps growing, but I think there’s still room for improvement, especially when it comes to women who occupy top management roles. I grew up with video games, like Duck Hunt, Super Mario, Tomb Raider, and BloodRayne, and playing games that had female protagonists was empowering because they showed little-me that a woman can be strong, independent, intelligent, and adventurous!
María GuerreroPartnership Project Manager, Gameloft Paris
My adventure at Gameloft started five years ago as a marketing manager in Mexico City. All the people I have worked with have become my second family, and I will never forget the amazing community we built! I decided to move to Paris two years ago to work as a partnership project manager, and I will always be grateful to Gameloft for taking care of the transfer with my two dogs. I develop and manage innovative special ops and esports partnerships, and I’m in contact with a lot of different teams all around the world every day, which I love. I would like to see more women represented in the esports scene though, and I think it’s important to support the presence of women not only in tournaments but also in the esports industry at large. Last year, we invited one of our top players—a young woman—to participate as co-caster during one of our esports finals in Atlanta, and she really did a good job! Competing in esports require talent, but talent has no gender!
Mara InghamGame Producer, Gameloft Brisbane
At university, I worked on a project with Deb Polson, an incredible lecturer, and she referred me for a QA role at a local game studio. Her support helped me land a role where I had the opportunity to work on a number of different teams and learn from skilled folk of every discipline. The transition into production seemed like a natural progression, and being a producer has been the most fulfilling move of my career. I get to work with so many talented people in so many fields, and I love being in a role where I can support and advocate for my team. Making and playing video games offers so much opportunity for creativity, comradery, silliness, fun, education, and so much more. However, sometimes it can be a hard industry to get started in, so I'd love to see more opportunities and encouragement for diverse juniors and interns to join in and help shape the future of games.
Isabelle Le VotData Protection Officer, Gameloft Paris
I grew up with video games (I like city builders the most), but I worked in the banking industry before joining Gameloft almost four years ago as a data protection officer. I love my super team and working with so many passionate colleagues worldwide. They share with me their culture and new ways of thinking about and conceiving our projects. I also love the international, ever-changing, and adapting nature of the industry and the ability to demonstrate our privacy commitments to millions of users! I really believe the time has come for more women to be working in this field. We need your vision, talent, creativity, and perseverance, so come and start a new adventure with us!
Sofía MayerProduct Manager, The Other Guys
I got into video games three years ago when I joined The Other Guys team. My background is in product management for software companies, so getting into the entertainment industry for something as original as interactive series was exciting for me. My job is to decide which series to produce and how to produce them by trying to understand what makes one more engaging than another. What I love about my job is the challenge of making stories for our users all over the world with different cultures, ethnicities, and genders. When I was young, I used to play Age of Empires, Monkey Island, The Sims, but what I remember most is calling my mother from school asking her to open FarmVille to harvest my crops so they wouldn’t go to waste. This kind of game taught me about strategy, patience, and investment, and I think we can learn a lot from games. This is what I would like to see more in the industry: using the creativity of games for education!
Mara-Elena RaduNarrative Designer, Gameloft Bucharest
My love for video games started when I was a kid after discovering that a few clicks can open up entire worlds. The more I consumed these experiences, the more I knew I wanted to be a part of creating such worlds and stories myself—so here I am, many years later, a narrative designer at Gameloft. What I love about this job is the amount of effort and cleverness that goes into mixing theoretical and practical principles with art to create a fun, meaningful experience. Is it frustrating? Sometimes. Is it rewarding? 100%. Although I’ve learned much throughout my professional journey, the reason for loving games has stayed mainly the same: no matter their type or genre, games are a gateway to new worlds and experiences, so that’s why I am extremely happy to be able to craft these for other people. Who knows—perhaps something I helped create will mean as much to someone as the games that have influenced me.
Snizhana RavlykQuality Assurance Lead, Gameloft Lviv
I joined Gameloft in 2018 after graduating university, and it was a complicated year because I was trying to find myself and my path in this whole world of opportunities. I certainly wasn’t a gamer, but when I came across an ad about a QA position at Gameloft, I decided to apply and try out the industry. Little did I know what a great career and people would be waiting for me! Not only have I found a job that has become my hobby, I have also met incredible colleagues who have become my best friends and discovered a company that feels like home and where women are valued and can be in leadership roles. I started as a QA trainee, so there was a possibility for me to grow into a specialist by acquiring a great deal of knowledge and more importantly: experience. And thanks to my teammates and studio, my development here has been rapid and prosperous. As a QA lead, I have a lot more responsibilities now, and my position requires good soft skills, including efficient communication and oftentimes various kinds of troubleshooting. But that’s what I like most about my job. This is what makes me realize my significance and my part in something that brings people joy. Now that I know what video games really are and how they can be useful as well as entertaining, I look at them differently. Video games are the neoteric tool for cognitive development.
Laetitia RettoriGlobal Account Manager, Strategic Partnerships, Gameloft Seattle
I’ve been working at Gameloft since 2006! I come from very general studies: political science, marketing, journalism, and I never thought in a millions years I would build a career in the gaming industry! I’m so grateful my boss at the time gave me the opportunity and took a chance on me. I quickly learned how intertwined video games are with technical constraints and evolutions, and to this day, that’s still my favorite part of the job: rapidly evolving technology, new platforms and business models to tackle, and innovative companies to work with! When I started, very few women were working alongside me, and most of them were in marketing or business positions. 15 years later, I see more and more women, in my interactions with the development teams especially, which I think is so great! That said, while the door is definitely more open for women in the gaming world, there’s still a lot to do: I would say that only about 25% of my contacts, whether at Gameloft or the accounts I manage, are women. And as soon as you reach top management roles that percentage drastically goes down, which unfortunately is true for many other industries too. I think there are ways to empower women to have not just a job but a flourishing career, and I’m really looking forward to the day when female voices are fully integrated into leadership roles and the decision-making process!
Lorraine RubioAccount Manager, Gameloft New York
I started my career as an art and food journalist at a travel magazine. A few years, an MBA, and one pandemic later, I’m now managing premium advertising clients in and out of games in both the US and Canada for Gameloft for brands. I’m deepening my working understanding of the correlation of advertising performance, UX, and consumer trends, as I work in a top global gaming publisher and with hyper-engaged gamers. On the topic of #GirlsWhoSlayTheGame, I would love to see more women in leading positions of AAA game publishers—more Jade Raymonds (Sony Playstation), Laura Mieles (Electronic Arts), and Yumi Mangs (Sony Interactive Entertainment America). I’m looking forward to the future where more women are recognized as forces to be reckoned with in the gaming industry. And, as is in all media, more representation will help bring change! More women protagonists, meaningful supporting characters in-game, and female esports competitors will inspire new generations of women to take the lead in real life in the industry.
Claire StengerSenior Narrative Designer, Gameloft New York
I got my job in games thanks to my skill in writing, which I developed as a screenwriter in college and beyond. I learned at my first job out of school how to structure narrative, pitch it effectively, and make it good-looking and snappy! Combined with my lifelong love and knowledge of video games, which began when I was seven years old with Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64, my writing got me an entry-level position at Gameloft. It’s hard to break into the industry, especially as a creative, so I’ll always be thankful to Gameloft for providing that chance. I wish more companies did! I’ve learned an immense amount since then, not only about narrative and game design, but also how to lead and conduct myself in a multinational company, and for that, I must thank my ability to work on such a wide array of games with amazing people from all over the world! I’ve been fortunate to work with female managers and diverse coworkers, but I’ve also seen firsthand how this industry hurts women and people of color (especially women of color), and pushes them away. I’d like to see the gaming industry move away from rigid power structures that uphold, whether intentionally or not, a culture of white supremacy and male domination. Ethical choices will require a flatter hierarchy and an emphasis on open communication and prioritization of mental and physical health. I hope that by rethinking our industry’s relationship with power, we’ll open up the amazing artistic expression that is game design to much needed diverse voices! My favorite art form on earth deserves all the love it can get!
Claudia TrujilloApp Store Optimization Expert, Gameloft Barcelona
I’ve been working in marketing and data analytics for over six years, but I’ve always been really passionate about gaming. To me, video games are doors to new worlds and exploring them is like a form of meditation. Joining Gameloft and making gaming a part of my everyday work felt natural to me, and I love working here! Gameloft is a really proactive company, and the environment and my colleagues are so positive. I learn a lot from everyone every day, and I enjoy being able to share my knowledge to improve the results of our games. One thing I would like to see in our constantly changing industry is more female influencers having a bigger voice in the gaming community!
Alejandra VirkelHead of Production, The Other Guys
I started working at The Other Guys over four years ago after a degree in film school and a career in video and theatre production. I was hired as a content manager in one of our most important interactive series, Linda Brown. I fulfilled that role for almost two years and more than 10 seasons. In 2018, The Other Guys created Journeys, a multi-series app, which gave me the opportunity to become head of production. What I enjoy the most about my job is the working environment, positive energy, and common understanding that we thrive when we work as a team. I believe this industry has great potential, but I see there’s still room to become more diverse and inclusive in the way we feature characters to better reflect the reality of our communities. This job not only allowed me to discover the gaming industry, but also to combine it with something I’ve enjoyed since I was a child: stories and episodic narratives. Bringing these two worlds together is what inspires me the most in my everyday work.
We want you to come and join us! You can apply to our job opportunities in our studios around the world here! Thank you for reading our Girls Who Slay the Game series, and keep on gaming!
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