Kate Edwards is the CEO and principal consultant of Geogrify, a consultancy which pioneered content culturalization, a Board Member of Take This, and is the former Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) from 2012 to 2017. In addition to being an outspoken advocate who serves in several advisory/board roles, she is a geographer, writer, and corporate strategist.

Following 13 years at Microsoft, she has consulted on many game and non-game projects for BioWare, Google, Amazon, Facebook, and many other companies. Fortune magazine named her as one of the “10 most powerful women” in the game industry in 2013 and in 2014 was named by GamesIndustry.biz as one of their six People of the Year. In 2018, she was honored with Reboot Develop’s annual Hero Award and also presented with IndieCade’s annual Game Changer Award. She is also profiled in the December 2018 publication Women in Gaming: 100 Professionals of Play.

Game Advocacy

Game Creators and the Pursuit of Leverage

Throughout the global game industry, we continue to hear reports of sudden studio closures, massive unplanned layoffs, and very challenging working conditions; indeed, 2018 was particularly grievous in highlighting some of the worst issues facing game creators of all kinds. While the dialogue around seeking new forms of leverage against these forces has been ongoing for years, we are reaching an inflection point at which game creators have become very open and vocal in their efforts to push back. And the reality of unions arising in game development seems closer to reality than ever before, with the first starting in France (2017) and the UK (2019).

Join this discussion to explore why game creators are considering forms of leverage and why now, as an effort to improve and mature the game industry.