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The Esports Observer continues its series of interviews aimed at increasing the visibility of women working within the esports industry. You can read May’s edition here.
This month, The Esports Observer spoke with four women from prominent game developers to find out how they got involved in the industry, how their roles fit into the overall success of their games’ competitive success, and how their duties have evolved parallel to the world of esports.
Marika Appel, Clash of Clans community manager at Supercell, fell in love with video games as a child beginning with the Commodore 64. Appel’s career in marketing and public relations for the Scandinavian design industry took a turn towards “life-changing” eight years ago.
“Even though I’ve loved playing games throughout my life, I never really thought that I would end up working in the game industry,” said Appel. “[My friend at Supercell] told me that the company would launch some games soon and that they’d need someone for marketing.
“I’ve been the community manager in Clash of Clans since our global launch in August 2012,” Appel explained. “My role is to be in touch with the community tournament organizers and other content creators, collect feedback from players, and deliver it to our game development team.”
In February, Supercell 
announced its first Clash of Clans World Championship together with ESL that offers as $1M USD prize pool. Needless to say, the game’s rapid community growth and new championship forced Appel’s role to evolve.
“Back in the day, it was all about building the community from ‘zero’ and trying to create a welcoming place for players,” recalled Appel. “We’re now supporting local communities, events, and tournaments in many different countries which means that we have people working in different time zones around the world. Part of my job is to support all of them and most importantly, to learn from them.”
Olia Fadeeva, esports product manager for Riot Games UK says that game development was her dream job, so she began working as a web developer in college.
“I was playing a lot of Lineage II and League of Legends (LoL) in those days,” Fadeeva said, adding that she still plays a lot of ranked LoL. “As soon as I graduated, I applied for a business analyst role in Wargaming for World of Tanks. I found that my gaming knowledge from a player point of view was very helpful during the interview process, and this has continued to be the case throughout my career. Being able to see the game from both sides—developer and player—has proven invaluable.”
“A lot of my work is on our premiere UK League Championship (UKLC) and making sure we establish the right UK vibe and level of play. I also work on [grassroots tournament] Forge of Champions.”
As esports grows in popularity, Fadeeva says it’s been “incredible” to watch stadiums of viewers come together. She observes that the esports industry is evolving in the development of its overall ecosystem and the establishments of an esports lifestyle for participants and viewers.
“My role develops alongside this evolution,” said Fadeeva. “As UKLC develops, it brings new partnerships and opportunities. I look at ways to help teams grow, to educate new players and to establish the groundwork for the ecosystem. Each player and team has different needs and that has to be a consideration for how we develop the industry at large.”
Marisa Palumbo, senior producer at Blizzard Entertainment for Overwatch Esports, grew up with a passion for gaming and “jumped at the opportunity” to join Rockstar Games in 2005. She held various roles from research photographer to video producer for the games’ trailers and TV commercials. Palumbo joined Blizzard Entertainment in 2015.
“I first heard about the Overwatch League (OWL) during an internal meeting at Blizzard ,” recalls Palumbo. “It struck me, even in its early days, as something groundbreaking. It was such an ambitious and unique opportunity to work on building a global esports league, I had to be a part of it.”
Palumbo became the first employee hired for the Overwatch League. Over the years, both OWL and her role have evolved parallel to one another.
“I handle a lot of tasks related to esports on behalf of the Overwatch development team, but the part that is most directly tied to competition success is getting a patch ready to be played in the Overwatch League,” said Palumbo. “I work with a talented and dedicated group of live operations engineers, QA analysts, and gameplay engineers to ensure that all features are ready to go, game bugs have been addressed, and everything has been properly configured.”
“Building the foundation of the League evolved into launching the inaugural season, and then hosting Grand Finals 2018, and now we’re halfway through the 2019 season,” Palumbo marveled, adding that they are “truly just getting started.”
Kristin Connelly, Blizzard Entertainment’s senior director of marketing for Overwatch League, spent most of her career in marketing for traditional sports including work for the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Jets. Like Palumbo, Connelly has been a part of OWL since the beginning.
When she first started at Blizzard, Connelly was tasked with overseeing the marketing, social media, and community efforts for OWL.
“This amazing opportunity—to help shape the first-ever, global city-based esports league—is what drew me into the gaming industry,” said Connelly. “As a marketer, there is nothing more exciting than creating the future of competitive entertainment and to do so for fans who are both digital first and social native.
“We embarked to do something that has truly never been done before. My role has evolved enormously, as a lot has changed in the last two years of a constantly growing and evolving league,” said Connelly. “Mostly, my role has become much more integrated into every facet of the league and taken on a larger global focus.”
Connelly and her team partner with all 20 OWL teams to engage with fans across the world, while building affinity among local communities.
“My role oversees global marketing and social media for the Overwatch League,” she explained. “All of us on the marketing team share the goal of providing our fans every opportunity to have more access to the game that they love—whether that be at a live match or on social media. The line has been blurred between marketing and content, and everything we create or share with our fans is meant to make them feel part of what we are building together.
“The more mainstream both the Overwatch League and esports as a whole become, the more it validates that we are creating something special and redefining what it means to be a sports fan in the 21st century,” said Connelly.
Images provided by Blizzard Entertainment, Supercell, and Riot Games. Used with permission.
