Megan Gaiser

Megan Gaiser is a video game director, and one of the first female CEOs in the gaming industry. Her work has focused on games for girls.[1] In the course of her career, Megan Gaiser has worked to give voice to marginalized groups by questioning common expertise and typical management behavior.

Megan Gaiser
NationalityAmerican
Occupationvideo game director, CEO
Known fordeveloping video games for girls
Notable work
Nancy Drew
AwardsCine Golden Eagle awards

Early life

Gaiser had no intention to work in the gaming industry. Her career as a director and editor was in academic, documentary and corporate films and recording. This caught her attention when multimedia started to emerge in Seattle in the early 1990s. Gaiser moved to Seattle without the guarantee of having a decent job, luckily with plentiful of tech opportunities and with the help of her sister who lived at Seattle, she was safe and sound.[2]

When they started to create content for MSN, she landed an opportunity as a producer role job at Microsoft, but because of a lack of market research, her initial film project featuring celebrities from college campuses across the country was scrapped shortly after being recruited.[2]

Career

Prior to joining HeR Interactive,[3] Gaiser spent eleven years as editor and producer of several award-winning documentaries as well as corporate, educational films and public service announcements.[4] In 1994, she then went to Microsoft Corporation as producer of CarPoint, the company's first online-specific product.[5]

Nancy Drew

In 1996, Gaiser was introduced by a friend to a local game managing and she had her spot as the design director.[2] At every turn, Her Interactive encountered roadblocks, hindrance and obstacles along the way but the company pushed forward and fought back.[2] Nancy Drew made her debut in 1930 and remains strong. She is a clever, confident and creative teenager who can even crack through the toughest. Nancy Drew has been a global leader for decades, with more than 100 million copies in print worldwide and published in 22 different languages.[6] According to the NDP Group, in 2003, Nancy Drew was the top adventure game franchise.[7]

HeR Interactive introduced its first Game-book app in a new interactive entertainment category on February. Nancy Drew Mobile Mysteries: Shadow Ranch for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, which incorporates game play with plot, allows players to determine how stories evolve as games play and mysteries both huge and small are resolved. She is currently preparing for the release of her next game in her PC and Mac adventure series. On 28 June The Captive Curse will be released.[8]

HeR Interactive

Gaiser joined HeR Interactive in 1999 as President and CEO.[9] From 2011 until 2013, she was the Chief Creative Strategy Officer at Her Interactive.[10]

HeR Interactive gives fun and challenging entertainment to mystery fans of all ages. The organization delivered mystery, excitement and role-play that will produce design and publish award-winning games. Her Nancy Drew series Interactive provides thrilling game-play without sex or violence.[11] Gaiser and her team's first obstacle was unwelcome feedback from publishers on an audience's taste about which they are not familiar with.[2] Megan Gaiser alongside with her team wanted Her Interactive to include girls and young women in the creation of game development. Gaiser targeted girls between the ages of eight to twelve. With their fresh experiences, it helped Gaiser and her team to enhance and develop existing game-plays.[2] At the end of the day she felt they would have the basis for a successful series if they could offer a fun and engaging experience.

The HeR Interactive team encouraged innovation, teamwork, loyalty, challenges, uniqueness and enthusiasm for what can be done and the best ideas received.[2] It was nice to widen the audience to include girls for games. Gaiser was an enthusiast of making both sense and money by using imagination.[12] Gaiser grew HeR Interactive to $8.5M in revenues, sold 9M units and won 29 Parent’s Choice Gold Medal awards by co-creating the highly successful Nancy Drew game franchise.[4]

HeR Interactive has had a progressive and inclusive community over more than a decade and has contributed to motivate staff, successively award-winning products, loyal fans and increased revenue.[1] Her Interactive is the top mystery developer and pioneer in entertainment that prefers female players.[13] For 24 honors, this organization would be the world-leader in the field of mystery, designs, creates and produces great quality, mystery entertainment games and applications. The rising number of women and girls who became active players partly encouraged this success.

A new joint development framework has been developed by HeR Interactive as it extends its company towards major product services. Megan Gaiser will remain Chief Strategic Creative Officer (CSCO), with a view to concentrate on artistic direction as well as product and portfolio growth, sales and marketing and strategic alliances.[14] Stuart Moulder also joined HeR Interacting Team to concentrate on corporate strategy and daily work. Working in Her Interactive company, Moulder presents over 20 years of experience in the gaming industry. Some of his works include Sierra Online, Microsoft Duties. Moulder was also responsible for a number of games, including Halo, Flight Simulator as well as Empire Era where he brings greatness on the company along with Megan Gaiser.[14]

Gaiser left Her Interactive in 2013 to form a new venture[3][10] and currently works as a creative strategist.[3] She also serves as the Diversity Evangelist and Ambassador for several gaming non-profits.[1]

Awards

She is the recipient of over fifteen Cine Golden Eagle awards, three New York Festival awards, and the International Documentary Milano Award. Other awards include “Game Industry’s 100 Most Influential Women” Next Generation; “Top 10 Most Influential Women of the Decade”by Kotaku Gaming Angels, and “2011 Indie Cade Trailblazer Lifetime Achievement Award.”[15] She was named one of the "Game Industry's 100 Most Influential Women" by Next Generation.[16]

In the United States, The Nancy Drew has become the #1 PC franchise units in a range of six years. It also garnered the Parental's Choice Gold Medal Award for 24 consecutive times.[15] In 2010, Gaiser received the Microsoft Women in Games award.[15]

Gaiser also participated as an accomplished speaker in the 2009 SXSW panel. It was presented at the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards entitled "Gaming as a Gateway Drug: Getting Girls Interested in Technology."[17]

gollark: Well, it has a low confidence score.
gollark: No idea.
gollark: It seems that the bot is "apified".
gollark: ++magic reload_ext search
gollark: Oh *no*, did I forget to set max_workers?

References
  1. "Megan Gaiser - Founder & Executive Producer @ Quantum Leadership Summit". Crunchbase. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  2. Marie, Meagan (2018-12-04). Women in Gaming: 100 Professionals of Play. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-7440-1993-3.
  3. "Fostering creativity in yourself and in your team". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
  4. Heeter, Carrie. "Megan Gaiser's Vision For Contagious Creativity to be Presented at Meaningful Play". seriousgames.msu.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
  5. http://www.washingtontimes.com, The Washington Times. "Nancy Drew gets girls into gaming". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  6. Accessed 17 Dec. 2019. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A270413160/AONE?u=cuny_statenisle&sid=AONE&xid=fd55fdf6. Accessed 17 Dec. 2019. Check |url= value (help). Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. "The Video Game Revolution: "Solving the Mystery of the Missing Girl Games" by Megan Gaiser | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  8. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A257585529/ITOF?u=cuny_statenisle&sid=ITOF&xid=533cf02b. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. Williams, Jenny. "Interview With Megan Gaiser of Her Interactive". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  10. "Megan Gaiser leaves Her Interactive". www.develop-online.net. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
  11. Accessed 19 Dec. 2019. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A134369582/ITOF?u=cuny_statenisle&sid=ITOF&xid=1c84c56f. Accessed 19 Dec. 2019. Check |url= value (help). Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. "Fostering creativity in yourself and in your team". VentureBeat. 2015-11-02. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  13. Accessed 19 Dec. 2019. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A149510970/ITOF?u=cuny_statenisle&sid=ITOF&xid=cdcf1e89. Accessed 19 Dec. 2019. Check |url= value (help). Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A257585529/ITOF?u=cuny_statenisle&sid=ITOF&xid=533cf02b. Retrieved 2019-12-17. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. "PechaKucha 20x20". www.pechakucha.com. Retrieved 2019-12-17.
  16. "Megan Gaiser". GEN :: Gender Equity Now. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  17. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A198058892/CWI?u=cuny_statenisle&sid=CWI&xid=fe500208. Retrieved 2019-12-17. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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