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{{Short description|American video game designer}}
{{AFC submission|d|bio|u=Flurrious|ns=118|decliner=Liance|declinets=20220310070201|ts=20220227223922}} <!-- Do not remove this line! -->
'''Tanya X. Short''' is an American [[video game design]]er. She is a co-founder of [[Kitfox Games]], an independent video game studio in [[Montreal]], Canada. She was lead designer for titles including ''[[Shattered Planet]]'' (2014) and ''[[Moon Hunters]]'' (2016). In 2012, she co-founded the organization [[Pixelles]], which aims to increase gender diversity in video game development.


== Early life ==
{{AFC comment|1=Sources do not demonstrate significant coverage of the subject themselves (per [[WP:BIO]]) - works they have produced that may be notable, but that does not confer notability on the subject. Interviews are considered primary, not secondary, sources. -[[User:Liance|Liance]]<sup>[[User_talk:Liance|talk]]/[[Special:Contributions/Liance|contribs]]</sup> 07:02, 10 March 2022 (UTC)}}
Short was raised in California, United States. She lived in home that was "in the middle of the desert" so she would often play video games rather than play with other children. Short's mother also disliked "passive entertainment" such as television, so her mother bought the family a [[Nintendo Entertainment System]], feeling as though playing video games is a more "active" activity for the brain. As a teenager, Short would spend her time meeting other people through [[massively multiplayer online]] (MMO) games.<ref name="Radio-Canada 2022">{{cite news |last1=Dupuis |first1=Stephanie |title=Tanya X. Short, celle qui fait briller les femmes dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo |trans-title=Tanya X. Short, the one who makes women shine in the video game industry |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1867196/tanya-x-short-pixelles-femmes-jeu-video-kitfox |access-date=10 September 2022 |publisher=[[CBC/Radio-Canada]] |date=8 March 2022 |language=fr-ca}}</ref>


Short knew she wanted to work as a video game writer after volunteering her time as a [[Online community manager|community manager]] and content designer for an online game.<ref name="IDGA interview">{{cite web |last1=Mood |first1=Jillian |title=IGDA Interview Series: Tanya X. Short |url=https://members.igda.org/blogpost/1253156/239205/IGDA-Interview-Series-Tanya-X-Short |publisher=[[International Game Developers Association]] |date=16 February 2016 |access-date=12 September 2022}}</ref> She attended college in [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], Oregon, to study English literature. In 2006, she applied for the master's degree program in video game design at [[SMU Guildhall]] in Texas.<ref name="Radio-Canada 2022"/><ref name="IDGA interview" /> Upon graduating from SMU Guildhall in 2008, Short received a few job offers to work on MMO games at video game companies.<ref name="Radio-Canada 2022"/><ref name="IDGA interview"/> She chose to work for Norwegian video game developer [[Funcom]], which was at the time working on the online game ''[[Age of Conan]]''.<ref name="Radio-Canada 2022"/>
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{{Short description|video game designer}}
{{Draft topics|internet-culture|video-games}}
{{AfC topic|blp}}
<!-- Note: The following pages were redirects to [[Tanya_X._Short]] before draftification:
*[[Draft:Tanya X. Short]]
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'''Tanya X. Short''' is an American [[video game design]]er. In 2013, she co-founded [[Kitfox Games]], an independent video game studio in [[Montreal]], Canada. She is a co-founder of [[Pixelles]], an organisation that aims to increase gender diversity in video game development.

== Early life ==
Short was raised in California, United States. She lived in home that was "in the middle of the desert" and "20 minutes from a small village" so she would often play video games rather than play with other children. Short's mother also disliked "passive entertainment" such as television, so her mother bought the family a [[Nintendo Entertainment System]], feeling as though playing video games is a more "active" activity for the brain. As a teenager, Short would spend her time socialising on [[massively multiplayer online role-playing game]]s (MMORPGs) such as ''[[Aetolia (online game)|Aetolia]]'', a fantasy [[MUD]] (a type of online [[text-based game]]).<ref name="Radio-Canada 2022">{{cite news |last1=Dupuis |first1=Stephanie |title=Tanya X. Short, celle qui fait briller les femmes dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo |trans-title=Tanya X. Short, the one who makes women shine in the video game industry |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1867196/tanya-x-short-pixelles-femmes-jeu-video-kitfox |access-date=10 September 2022 |publisher=[[CBC/Radio-Canada]] |date=8 March 2022 |language=fr-ca}}</ref> She would also develop her own content for MUDs.<ref name="SMU">{{Cite web |title=Tanya Short |url=https://www.smu.edu/Guildhall/People/Alumni/Alumni-Spotlight/Tanya-Short |access-date=26 February 2022 |publisher=[[SMU Guildhall]]}}</ref> She attended college in [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]], Oregon, to study English literature. She later earned a master's degree in video game design from [[SMU Guildhall]] in Texas.<ref name="Radio-Canada 2022"/><ref name="SMU" />


== Career ==
== Career ==
After Short graduated from SMU Guildhall in 2008, she worked for Norwegian video game developer [[Funcom]], which was at the time working on the online game ''[[Age of Conan]]''.<ref name="Radio-Canada 2022"/> At Funcom, Short worked as a narrative designer,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=19 March 2020 |title=From AAA to Indie: Kitfox Games Is Carving Its Own Quirky Path to Success |url=https://www.escapistmagazine.com/aaa-indie-kitfox-games-tanya-x-short-interview/ |access-date=26 February 2022 |website=[[The Escapist (magazine)|The Escapist]]}}</ref> designing levels and [[Boss (video games)|boss fights]] for MMORPGs.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=23 February 2022 |title=Tanya X. Short – Womenize! – Inspiring Stories |url=https://www.womenize.net/2022/02/23/tanya-x-short-womenize-inspiring-stories/ |access-date=26 February 2022 |website=Womenize! Action Program}}</ref> She moved to [[Montreal]], Canada, in her mid-twenties at the request of her employer, which wanted to take advantage of attractive tax subsidies offered by the province to the video game industry. She participated in meetings held by the Montreal Gaming Society, which Short recalls helped her integrate into the local gaming community even though she did not speak French.<ref name="Radio-Canada 2022"/> In 2011, Short and game hobbyist Rebecca Cohen Palacios founded [[Pixelles]], a non-profit organisation which has organised free events to teach video game development to women, non-binary people, transgender people, and people from other marginalised groups.<ref name="Radio-Canada 2022"/><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last1=Spiegelman |first1=Karen |date=2 March 2020 |title=20 women in gaming you should know |url=https://venturebeat.com/2020/03/02/20-women-in-gaming-you-should-know/ |access-date=26 February 2022 |website=[[VentureBeat]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Pucci|first1=Michelle|url=http://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/4194|title=Lady-Players|work=[[The Link (newspaper)|The Link]]|accessdate=10 September 2022}}</ref>
At Funcom, Short worked as a narrative designer,<ref name=":1">{{Cite magazine |date=19 March 2020 |title=From AAA to Indie: Kitfox Games Is Carving Its Own Quirky Path to Success |url=https://www.escapistmagazine.com/aaa-indie-kitfox-games-tanya-x-short-interview/ |access-date=26 February 2022 |magazine=[[The Escapist (magazine)|The Escapist]]}}</ref> designing levels and [[Boss (video games)|boss fights]] for MMORPGs.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=23 February 2022 |title=Tanya X. Short – Womenize! – Inspiring Stories |url=https://www.womenize.net/2022/02/23/tanya-x-short-womenize-inspiring-stories/ |access-date=26 February 2022 |website=Womenize! Action Program}}</ref> She moved to [[Montreal]], Canada, in her mid-twenties at the request of her employer, which wanted to take advantage of attractive tax subsidies offered by the province to the video game industry. She participated in meetings held by the Montreal Gaming Society, which Short recalls helped her integrate into the local gaming community even though she did not speak French.<ref name="Radio-Canada 2022"/> In 2012, Short and game hobbyist Rebecca Cohen Palacios founded [[Pixelles]], a non-profit organization which has organized free events to teach video game development to women, non-binary people, transgender people, and people from other marginalized groups.<ref name="Radio-Canada 2022"/><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last1=Spiegelman |first1=Karen |date=2 March 2020 |title=20 women in gaming you should know |url=https://venturebeat.com/2020/03/02/20-women-in-gaming-you-should-know/ |access-date=26 February 2022 |work=[[VentureBeat]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boudreau |first1=Kelly |title=Beyond deviance: toxic gaming culture and the potential for positive change |journal=[[Critical Studies in Media Communication]] |date=27 May 2022 |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=181–190 |doi=10.1080/15295036.2022.2080848 |s2cid=249326044 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Around 2013, when Funcom halted its activities in Montreal to continue its activities in [[North Carolina]], Short chose to stay in Montreal and became unemployed.<ref name="Radio-Canada 2022"/> In 2013, she founded [[Kitfox Games]] with three other people. The studio soon developed the game ''[[Shattered Planet]]'', released in 2014, as part of a video game [[Business incubator|incubator]]; Short acted as lead designer of the game.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Gazette">{{cite news |last1=Guite |first1=Matthew |title=Inside the game in three takes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109366976/inside-the-game-in-three-takes/ |work=[[Montreal Gazette]] |date=6 May 2014 |page=20 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> She was also lead designer of the studio's later project ''[[Moon Hunters]]'' (2016). In designing ''Moon Hunters'', she was motivated to create a game that used [[procedural generation]] to create "personal player narratives."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Francis |first1=Bryant |title=3 lessons on procedural storytelling from Moon Hunters |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/263303/3_lessons_on_procedural_storytelling_from_Moon_Hunters.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511144701/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/263303/3_lessons_on_procedural_storytelling_from_Moon_Hunters.php |archive-date=11 May 2017 |access-date=11 September 2022 |work=[[Gamasutra]] |date=12 January 2016}}</ref> In the development of the ''[[Boyfriend Dungeon]]'' (2021), a [[role-playing video game]] about dating one's weapons,<ref name=":3" /> Short has discussed the studio's focus on inclusivity which meant giving the player options to date women and non-binary characters despite the title ''Boyfriend Dungeon''.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Chan |first1=Stephanie |date=19 October 2017 |title=Boyfriend Dungeon is like Tinder for swords |url=https://venturebeat.com/2017/10/19/boyfriend-dungeon-is-like-tinder-for-swords/ |access-date=26 February 2022 |website=[[VentureBeat]]}}</ref>


Short is a critic of [[Crunch (video games)|crunch]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schreier |first=Jason |author-link1=Jason Schreier |date=25 October 2017 |title=Opinion {{!}} Video Games Are Destroying the People Who Make Them |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/opinion/work-culture-video-games-crunch.html |access-date=26 February 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> which she suggests could be countered with [[Cooperative|co-ops]] and unions.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Short |first1=Tanya X. |date=16 January 2019 |title=Your game studio doesn't have to survive to succeed |url=https://venturebeat.com/2019/01/15/your-game-studio-doesnt-have-to-survive-to-succeed/ |access-date=26 February 2022 |website=[[VentureBeat]]}}</ref> She has discussed the "democratisation" of video game technology, specifically how competition and diversity has increased in [[indie game]]s with greater availability of game creation tools<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shea |first=Cam |date=1 June 2020 |title=The Games Industry on the Biggest Changes in the Last Decade |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/the-games-industry-on-the-biggest-changes-in-the-last-decade |access-date=26 February 2022 |publisher=[[IGN]]}}</ref> along with [[Kickstarter]] for market research.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last1=Price |first1=Renata |title=Boyfriend Dungeon Director: Despite The Bad Faith, It's Good That We're Talking |url=https://kotaku.com/boyfriend-dungeon-director-despite-the-bad-faith-it-s-1847555533 |access-date=26 February 2022 |website=[[Kotaku]] |date=25 August 2021}}</ref>
Around 2013, when Funcom halted its activities in Montreal to continue its activities in [[North Carolina]], Short chose to stay in Montreal and became unemployed.<ref name="Radio-Canada 2022"/> In 2013, she founded [[Kitfox Games]] with three other people. The studio soon developed the game ''[[Shattered Planet]]'', released in 2014, as part of a video game [[Business incubator|incubator]]; Short acted as lead designer of the game.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Gazette">{{cite news |last1=Guite |first1=Matthew |title=Inside the game in three takes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109366976/inside-the-game-in-three-takes/ |work=[[Montreal Gazette]] |date=6 May 2014 |page=20 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=11 September 2022}}</ref> As lead designer of the studio's later project ''[[Moon Hunters]]'' (2016), she was motivated to create a game that used [[procedural generation]] to create "personal player narratives."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Francis |first1=Bryant |title=3 lessons on procedural storytelling from Moon Hunters |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/263303/3_lessons_on_procedural_storytelling_from_Moon_Hunters.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511144701/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/263303/3_lessons_on_procedural_storytelling_from_Moon_Hunters.php |archive-date=11 May 2017 |access-date=11 September 2022 |work=[[Gamasutra]] |date=12 January 2016}}</ref> Short later discussed the studio's focus on inclusivity<ref name="VentureBeat 2017">{{Cite news |last1=Chan |first1=Stephanie |date=19 October 2017 |title=Boyfriend Dungeon is like Tinder for swords |url=https://venturebeat.com/2017/10/19/boyfriend-dungeon-is-like-tinder-for-swords/ |access-date=26 February 2022 |work=[[VentureBeat]]}}</ref> when designing ''[[Boyfriend Dungeon]]'' (2021), a [[dungeon crawler]] game about dating one's weapons,<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last1=Price |first1=Renata |title=Boyfriend Dungeon Director: Despite The Bad Faith, It's Good That We're Talking |url=https://kotaku.com/boyfriend-dungeon-director-despite-the-bad-faith-it-s-1847555533 |access-date=26 February 2022 |work=[[Kotaku]] |date=25 August 2021}}</ref> which meant also giving the player options to date women and non-binary characters despite the title of the game.<ref name="VentureBeat 2017" />


== Bibliography ==
== Bibliography ==
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{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


{{Authority control}}
== Further reading ==
* {{Cite news |author1=Jody Macgregor |date=20 January 2020 |title=8 people shaping PC gaming at the start of the decade |work=[[PC Gamer]] |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/8-people-shaping-pc-gaming-at-the-start-of-the-decade/ |access-date=26 February 2022 |ref=no}}
* {{cite web |last1=Mood |first1=Jillian |title=IGDA Interview Series: Tanya X. Short |url=https://members.igda.org/blogpost/1253156/239205/IGDA-Interview-Series-Tanya-X-Short |publisher=[[International Game Developers Association]] |ref=no |date=16 February 2016}}
* {{cite magazine |last1=Biot |first1=Sabrina |title=Pixels and Pixelles: An Interview with Tanya Short |url=https://www.cgmagonline.com/interviews/pixels-and-pixelles-an-interview-with-tanya-short/ |magazine=[[CGMagazine]] |ref=no |date=13 July 2015}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Short, Tanya X.}}
{{draft categories|
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:American video game designers]]
[[Category:American video game designers]]
[[Category:Southern Methodist University alumni]]
[[Category:Southern Methodist University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Montreal]]
[[Category:People from California]]
[[Category:People from California]]
[[Category:Women video game designers]]
[[Category:Women video game designers]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Canada]]
}}
{{Drafts moved from mainspace|date=February 2022}}

Latest revision as of 04:07, 23 August 2023

Tanya X. Short is an American video game designer. She is a co-founder of Kitfox Games, an independent video game studio in Montreal, Canada. She was lead designer for titles including Shattered Planet (2014) and Moon Hunters (2016). In 2012, she co-founded the organization Pixelles, which aims to increase gender diversity in video game development.

Early life

[edit]

Short was raised in California, United States. She lived in home that was "in the middle of the desert" so she would often play video games rather than play with other children. Short's mother also disliked "passive entertainment" such as television, so her mother bought the family a Nintendo Entertainment System, feeling as though playing video games is a more "active" activity for the brain. As a teenager, Short would spend her time meeting other people through massively multiplayer online (MMO) games.[1]

Short knew she wanted to work as a video game writer after volunteering her time as a community manager and content designer for an online game.[2] She attended college in Portland, Oregon, to study English literature. In 2006, she applied for the master's degree program in video game design at SMU Guildhall in Texas.[1][2] Upon graduating from SMU Guildhall in 2008, Short received a few job offers to work on MMO games at video game companies.[1][2] She chose to work for Norwegian video game developer Funcom, which was at the time working on the online game Age of Conan.[1]

Career

[edit]

At Funcom, Short worked as a narrative designer,[3] designing levels and boss fights for MMORPGs.[4] She moved to Montreal, Canada, in her mid-twenties at the request of her employer, which wanted to take advantage of attractive tax subsidies offered by the province to the video game industry. She participated in meetings held by the Montreal Gaming Society, which Short recalls helped her integrate into the local gaming community even though she did not speak French.[1] In 2012, Short and game hobbyist Rebecca Cohen Palacios founded Pixelles, a non-profit organization which has organized free events to teach video game development to women, non-binary people, transgender people, and people from other marginalized groups.[1][5][6]

Around 2013, when Funcom halted its activities in Montreal to continue its activities in North Carolina, Short chose to stay in Montreal and became unemployed.[1] In 2013, she founded Kitfox Games with three other people. The studio soon developed the game Shattered Planet, released in 2014, as part of a video game incubator; Short acted as lead designer of the game.[5][7] As lead designer of the studio's later project Moon Hunters (2016), she was motivated to create a game that used procedural generation to create "personal player narratives."[8] Short later discussed the studio's focus on inclusivity[9] when designing Boyfriend Dungeon (2021), a dungeon crawler game about dating one's weapons,[10] which meant also giving the player options to date women and non-binary characters despite the title of the game.[9]

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Short, Tanya; Adams, Tarn, eds. (2017). Procedural Generation in Game Design. CRC Press. doi:10.1201/9781315156378. ISBN 9781498799195. S2CID 69727455.[11]
  • Short, Tanya; Adams, Tarn, eds. (2019). Procedural Storytelling in Game Design. CRC Press. doi:10.1201/9780429488337. ISBN 9781138595309. S2CID 241639037.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Dupuis, Stephanie (8 March 2022). "Tanya X. Short, celle qui fait briller les femmes dans l'industrie du jeu vidéo" [Tanya X. Short, the one who makes women shine in the video game industry] (in Canadian French). CBC/Radio-Canada. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Mood, Jillian (16 February 2016). "IGDA Interview Series: Tanya X. Short". International Game Developers Association. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  3. ^ "From AAA to Indie: Kitfox Games Is Carving Its Own Quirky Path to Success". The Escapist. 19 March 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Tanya X. Short – Womenize! – Inspiring Stories". Womenize! Action Program. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  5. ^ a b Spiegelman, Karen (2 March 2020). "20 women in gaming you should know". VentureBeat. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  6. ^ Boudreau, Kelly (27 May 2022). "Beyond deviance: toxic gaming culture and the potential for positive change". Critical Studies in Media Communication. 39 (3): 181–190. doi:10.1080/15295036.2022.2080848. S2CID 249326044.
  7. ^ Guite, Matthew (6 May 2014). "Inside the game in three takes". Montreal Gazette. p. 20. Retrieved 11 September 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Francis, Bryant (12 January 2016). "3 lessons on procedural storytelling from Moon Hunters". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  9. ^ a b Chan, Stephanie (19 October 2017). "Boyfriend Dungeon is like Tinder for swords". VentureBeat. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  10. ^ Price, Renata (25 August 2021). "Boyfriend Dungeon Director: Despite The Bad Faith, It's Good That We're Talking". Kotaku. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  11. ^ Review for Procedural Generation in Game Design: "MBR: Wisconsin Bookwatch, September 2017". Midwest Book Review. Retrieved 10 September 2022.