Jennifer MacLean is known for being the chief executive officer at

38 Studios 38 Studios, LLC, formerly Green Monster Games, LLC, was an American entertainment and IP development company founded in 2006 by Major League Baseball player Curt Schilling and named for his jersey number. Originally based in Massachusetts, the com ...

, an independent game developer, from 2009 to 2012 and the executive director of the IGDA from September 2017 to April 2019.

Biography

Early career

After beginning her career working with Brian Reynolds and

Sid Meier Sidney K. Meier ( ; born February 24, 1954) is a Canadian-American programmer, designer, and producer of several strategy video games and simulation video games, including the ''Civilization'' series. Meier co-founded MicroProse in 1982 with Bi ...

at Microprose Software in 1992, she joined

AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc. ...

in 1996, where she became Programming Director for the Games Channel. She went on to become vice president and general manager of games at

Comcast Corporation Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

, and the chair of the board of directors for the

International Game Developers Association The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is a nonprofit professional association whose stated mission is to "support and empower game developers around the world in achieving fulfilling and sustainable careers." The IGDA is incorpo ...

. In March 2008 she joined 38 Studios as Senior Vice President of business development, and moved into the position of CEO in the same company in August 2009.

Late career

MacLean left the 38 Studios upon its

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...

cy in 2012; dating her departure to March 2012, when she took a leave of absence. As an executive director at the IGDA, MacLean joined

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and became the director of their worldwide business development. She has stated that her main goal is to work with small to medium-sized game developers and that her new position will allow her to help with the development of the different stages within Amazon Web Services, Alexa, Twitch Prime, and Amazon.com At IGDA, MacLean was responsible for expanding new chapters in Pakistan, Istanbul, Kenya, and Fortaleza. Special interest groups for Latinx and Muslim game developers were also formed under MacLean's leadership. MacLean announced in 2019 that she would be stepping down from her position as Executive Director of the IGDA. She is a frequent speaker at interactive entertainment industry events, and has earned a BA in International Relations from the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

and an MBA with a concentration in International Business from the

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one of the oldest busin ...

Recognition

MacLean was named one of the "Game Industry's 100 Most Influential Women" by Next Generation and one of the top 20 Women in Games by

Gamasutra ''Game Developer'', known as ''Gamasutra'' until 2021, is a website founded in 1997 that focuses on aspects of video game development. It is owned and operated by Informa and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine '' Gam ...

References

Video game businesspeople Living people Columbia Business School alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni 1972 births {{Business-bio-stub