The name LadiesGamers isn’t chosen randomly, our name sort of gives it away: even when our writers and readers are of different genders, we especially welcome female gamers. After all, that’s how the site started: with the views of an older woman on the world of gaming. And for a couple of years now there are two older ladies at the helm!
We feel it’s time to give women that work in the gaming industry a podium. A lot of avid gamers would probably love to have a job in the industry themselves and we think it’s especially important to encourage girls, in particular, to go for their dream job.
So time for a series of articles, featuring ladies who are working in the gaming business! Interested? You’ll find the other interviews here. This time we talk to Fay Maillardet developer and one half of Imaginary Friends Games.
Meet Fay Maillardet at Imaginary Friends Games
Who is Fay Maillardet in everyday life? Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hi, I’m Fay, and I go by she/her. These days I’m one half of Imaginary Friends Games but up until a couple of years ago, I was head of the Editorial Content Marketing team for Nintendo of Europe’s websites and social channels. In my job as an indie dev, I’m a producer, designer, writer, musician, composer, artist and animator. In my free time, I’m a singer-songwriter, amateur photographer, blog writer, illustrator, human to two very lovely cats, and spouse to my husband of 20+ years. I’m queer, straight edge, invisibly disabled and an advocate for mental health awareness.
I love to cook, craft, paint and sew, and I enjoy working out (gotta look after my meat mech) with yoga and resistance training. I’m in the midst of something called my Imperfection Project which means I write for my own blog and sing on YouTube for fun. I’m working on a webcomic, and recently started an indie games review site to add another positive voice to the chorus for small indies.
I value compassion, kindness, empathy and integrity above all…and boy was it kind of weird writing all these things down to describe myself!
Professional History
What is your professional history when it comes to gaming?
I’ve been in the industry for 16 years or so now. I started with a QA position at Codemasters, where I also did a spot of voice acting and edited scripts written by Rhianna Pratchett for a game called Overlord. After that, I worked as a technical tester in Lotcheck at Nintendo and freelanced by night for their online team. From that, I landed a position as a junior editor at Nintendo and worked up from junior to head of the team. I spent a bunch of years writing Nintendo Direct broadcasts, overseeing their social channels, and heading up the editorial team there, before leaving to set up my own company with my husband Martyn.
Imaginary Friends Games
Tell us a bit about your studio Imaginary Friends Games?
Imaginary Friends Games is a creative consultancy, and a studio where we make our own indie games with heart. Our mission statement is to make games that make people think, make people feel, and make people smile.
Because we’re a dev duo, we have to be pretty savvy with the division of labour: we both design, write and test our games, but I’m the producer, artist, animator, composer and sound engineer, while Martyn handles the nitty-gritty, under-the-hood-implementation side of dev. When we first started, we didn’t have any experience in art, sound production, or coding, but games need all of those, so we had to learn a lot!
Two years after we formed, we released our debut game called Shindig: an emotional narrative adventure in point and click clothes that’s all about compassion, and how none of us are broken, we’re all just different shapes. Shortly after that, we released a small advent calendar style spot-the-difference game for the holiday season, and now we’re ideating a variety of other projects in different styles. It’s exciting and terrifying all at once, but I feel like it’s where I’m meant to be.
Though our games have flown under the radar so far, this is the best job I’ve ever had: I’m learning and growing every single day. Plus, on top of loving each other madly, Martyn and I really like each other. Working with my best friend every day to make something we believe in, it’s a kind of magic. Hopefully, our vibey, emotional, wholesome games will find their audience soon, fingers crossed!
Does your educational background match your position in the gaming industry?
Not even a little bit: I have a degree in Biology from University College London and a Postgraduate Certificate of Education in Secondary Science. Teaching wasn’t the path for me though, and games called. The thing about games is that there are so many soft skills that are absolutely key, and none of those came from my formal education.
Gaming Habits
Do you play games yourself, or have you played them in the past growing up?
I’ve loved games since I was a tiny kid in the 80s playing on the BBC Micro, then PC in my teens, and on consoles too when I met Martyn. Video games have always been a big part of me, and thankfully, I fell in love with someone who loves that about me. We bonded over games when we first met, fell in love playing the Ocarina of Time together when it came out, and had the orchestrated version of the music at our wedding. I must’ve played thousands of hours of video games so far in my life, so I think it’s safe to say I like games a lot.
What is your favourite gaming genre and why?
It’s really hard to pick because my tastes are pretty diverse. I love a lot of retro stuff of all kinds, adore a good puzzle game, or an FPS with interesting dynamics like Bioshock. I really like VNs and point and clicks, and can get totally lost in an RPG for…weeks, if I’m honest. My favourite genre overall is probably third-person action/adventure games, though my condition can make them difficult to play sometimes. If there’s exploration, puzzles and a nice crunchy combat system, I’m all over it.
What is your preferred video game console or handheld device to play games on?
This one changes over the years for me. I’m the type who keeps stuff for decades, so we have all our old consoles from way back when, and we’ve added to the collection over the years. I reckon GBA will always have a special place in my heart, and I had an absolute ball with DS – there were so many great games on DS!
At the moment I play mostly on PS4, and PC: we just started our own indie games review site so I’m playing loads of stuff from itch.io, Steam and GOG. It’s amazing how many fantastic hidden gems are out there if you look.
Women in the Gaming Industry
Do you feel the gaming industry is still very much male-dominated, or do you think that has changed or is changing?
I had my first contact with the industry about 20 years ago and it was very much male-dominated then, but that has shifted and continues to shift. That movement towards equality is only a good thing.
Do you think a woman has a different approach when it comes to making games?
It depends entirely on the woman! I think it’s more valuable to recognise that people overall have different approaches to making games. It’s undeniable that historically women have been socialised towards behaving in certain ways, and that may come through in various areas of life – but everybody responds to the things they experience in unique and varied ways.
For me, gender is more than just the traditional binary. So there are lots of beautiful, diverse approaches around, and gender identity might inform some folks’ approaches more than others. Every single person expresses themselves uniquely, and that’s part of the power of art really, isn’t it?
What advice would you give girls who have a dream to one day have a job in the gaming industry?
You are brave, wild, and worthy. Don’t wait for anybody to give you permission to follow your dreams – because they will never greenlight that for you. The only person who can give you permission to start on this journey is yourself.
There’s a big difference between working in game dev and working in the games industry: so figure out what appeals to you, and start cultivating yourself and your skills. You might change course a few times until you find your particular path, but you’re always greater than you were yesterday.
But let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room: it’s not all good in the games industry. If you can, I’d recommend getting your foot in the door at a company with a more equal distribution of gender identities. Representation matters, and it’ll help your happiness in the long run in ways you might not realise at first.
If you could be a character in a game, which one would it be and why?
That’s such a tough question! I just turned 40, so I’m at a stage in my life where I kind of…like being myself, so personality-wise nobody really jumps to mind. Having said that, I’m quite literally congenitally clumsy. So it might be nice to step into the shoes of someone a bit clever when it comes to kinaesthetic intelligence. Link might be fun with all that climbing or being graceful and indomitable like Bayonetta.
I think Bayonetta’s poise and physical intentionality win out because in real life I’m more like the bread from I Am Bread!
