Alanah Pearce (born 24 August 1993) is an Australian video game writer and former journalist. From 2020 to 2024, Pearce worked as a writer for American game developer

Santa Monica Studio Santa Monica Studio is an American video game developer of Sony Interactive Entertainment based in Los Angeles. It is best known for developing the ''God of War'' series. The studio was founded in 1999 by Allan Becker and was located in Santa ...

. Pearce has reported on video games for various news outlets including entertainment news website ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

''. She worked at production company

Rooster Teeth Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC was an American entertainment company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2003 by Burnie Burns, Matt Hullum, Geoff Ramsey, Jason Saldaña, Gus Sorola, and Joel Heyman, Rooster Teeth was a subsidiary o ...

from 2018 to 2020, during which she hosted the '' Inside Gaming'' news program and was involved with its Funhaus division, which produces videos focused on video games.

Early life and education

Alanah Pearce was born in

Cairns, Queensland Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after Sir William Welling ...

, Australia, on 24 August 1993. Pearce was raised in Cairns, and later spent nine years in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. From a young age, she was interested in writing and video games, doing reviews of video games in her diaries. While working at a call center, she found a job listing for a volunteer games journalist position that inspired a career in journalism. She earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

studying

mass communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large population segments. It utilizes various forms of media as technology has made the dissemination of information more efficient. Primary examples o ...

at the

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

in Brisbane.

Career

Journalism

From 2012 to 2015, Pearce wrote gaming news for around a dozen news outlets, including ''Impulse Gamer'', ''Zelda Universe'', the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, and worked stints at Australian radio and television stations. She launched a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel in 2012, where she publishes game reviews and personal videos. Feeling the Australian video game industry was too small, Pearce moved to the United States in 2015. She began work as an editor and writer for ''

'' later that year. In 2017, she replaced

Naomi Kyle Naomi or Naomie may refer to: People and biblical figures * Naomi (given name) Naomi or Noemi is a given name of separate Hebrew Bible, biblical biblical Hebrew, Hebrew and Japanese language, Japanese origin used in various languages and culture ...

as host of ''IGN''s ''Daily Fix'' gaming news program. Later that year, she was involved in a staff walkout until the company issued a statement addressing sexual harassment allegations made by former editor Kallie Plagge. Pearce cohosted the SXSW Gaming Awards alongside Rich Campbell in 2018. After departing ''IGN'' in 2018, Pearce joined production company

. She regularly appeared in videos for Funhaus, a division of Rooster Teeth which produces videos focused on video games, and cohosted the company's '' Inside Gaming'' news program starting in 2019. She left Rooster Teeth in October 2020.

Game development

In November 2020, Pearce joined

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

as a video game writer. She provided consulting on three video games and completed other work on two video games prior to joining the studio. She faced harassment on social media following the studio's decision to delay the release of '' God of War Ragnarök''. In September 2021, Pearce revealed that she was part of the development team behind ''Ragnarök''. In November, she was selected among the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 for gaming. Pearce did voice acting for '' Gears 5'' (2019) and '' Afterparty'' (2019). She also lent her voice and likeness to a character in ''

Cyberpunk 2077 ''Cyberpunk 2077'' is a 2020 action role-playing game developed by CD Projekt Red and published by CD Projekt. Based on Mike Pondsmith's ''Cyberpunk (role-playing game), Cyberpunk'' tabletop game series, the plot is set in the fictional metrop ...

'' (2020). In December 2024, Pearce revealed that she was leaving

, citing her desire for the flexibility to visit her family in Australia more often as the key factor in her decision. She announced her intent to focus on freelance work,

live streaming Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...

, and content creation following her departure.

Podcasting

Pearce is the host of the ''Play, Watch, Listen'' podcast, along with

Troy Baker Troy Edward Baker (born April 1, 1976) is an American voice actor and musician. He is known for his numerous roles in video games, including Yuri Lowell in ''Tales of Vesperia'' (2008), Joel Miller in ''The Last of Us'' franchise, Booker DeWi ...

, Mike Bithell, and Austin Wintory. She also hosts the podcasts ''Red Lips, Orange Car'', ''Video Game Writing 101'', and ''Voice Acting 101'', and formerly hosted ''Idiots and a Broad''. She was a founding host of the '' Kinda Funny Xcast'', but left the show several months after its premiere due to scheduling conflicts with her new job at

Other activities

Pearce participated in the Creator Clash 2 boxing event in April 2023, beating content creator RIPmika by

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split de ...

. Pearce was briefly banned from Twitch following a DMCA takedown notice sent by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

after she

live-streamed Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...

herself reacting to already-published preview footage of its game, '' The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom'', five days before its release. Pearce appears as Halley in the 2024 film '' V/H/S/Beyond'', in the final segment "Stowaway", directed by Kate Siegel and written by Mike Flanagan. She is set to appear in the upcoming video game ''Dispatch'' (2025).

Personal life

Pearce credits video games with helping her deal with the effects of

myalgic encephalomyelitis Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling chronic illness. People with ME/CFS experience profound fatigue that does not go away with rest, as well as sleep issues and problems with memory or concentration. T ...

and

tendinitis Tendinopathy is a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder ( rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow ( tenn ...

. She has helped fundraise for AbleGamers, a charity dedicated to improving accessibility in video games. She co-hosted the inaugural Video Game Accessibility Awards with AbleGamers's chief operating officer Steven Spohn in November 2020, and returned to present the second event in March 2022. In 2025, she revealed she has

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

. In 2014, Pearce became the focus of news media after she wrote to the mothers of

internet troll In slang, a troll is a person who posts deliberately offensive or provocative messages online (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a forum, a chat room, an online video game) or who performs similar behaviors in real life. The methods and ...

s who had sent her

rape threat A rape threat is a threat of rape or sexual assault made against another person. Rape threats are often made against prominent celebrities such as high-profile writers, actors, comedians, journalists, businessperson and politicians, and may often ...

s. In 2019, she was subject to harassment after the

Entertainment Software Association The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is the trade association of the video game industry in the United States. It was formed in April 1994 as the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) and renamed on July 21, 2003. It is based in ...

, the organiser of the E3 gaming expo, leaked the personal information of

E3 2019 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2019 (E3 2019) was the 25th E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...

media attendees to the public. Pearce

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

in June 2020; while she does not feel an attachment to any label, she felt best defined by the term

pansexual Pansexuality is sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction towards people of all genders, or regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are not determ ...

. In July 2024, she made a video where she reflected and discussed her previous post. In the video she described herself as both pansexual and

demisexual Demisexuality is a term used to describe individuals who rarely experience primary sexual attraction – a type of attraction that is based on immediately observable characteristics such as appearance or smell, and is experienced immediately af ...

Awards and nominations

Pearce was nominated for Content Creator of the Year at the Game Awards 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Alanah 1993 births 21st-century Australian journalists 21st-century Australian LGBTQ people 21st-century Australian women journalists Autistic LGBTQ people Australian writers with disabilities Australian expatriate journalists in the United States Australian LGBTQ journalists Australian LGBTQ writers Australian pansexual people Australian Twitch (service) streamers Australian video game designers Australian voice actresses Demisexual people Living people Pansexual women Pansexual writers People from Cairns Queensland University of Technology alumni Rooster Teeth people Sony Interactive Entertainment people Video game writers Women in the video game industry Women video game designers Women video game developers LGBTQ video game developers LGBTQ writers with disabilities