International Women's Day case study: Bafta award winning gaming/tech entrepreneur

Case Study: Jessica Saunders (Games Sound Designer)

Inspired by her fascination with sound as a child - together with a love of music and video games - Jessica Saunders decided to pursue a career in sound design.

After graduating with a degree in Creative Music Technology from Bath Spa University in 2010, Jessica quickly went on to achieve success on an international stage, winning a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Award in 2015 for her role as sound designer on Batman: Arkham Knight – a game that won numerous awards for its audio including a TIGA, and was the fastest selling game of 2015.

After working on projects with Lionhead Studios, Rare, Splash Damage and Rocksteady, Jessica went on to set up her own company, Salix Games, in 2016, which will release its debut title Dance of Death later this year.

She is now using her own success to inspire and encourage other young women to consider a career in the gaming industry, giving talks at schools and universities, being involved in events like the Women in Gaming Conference, and as part of her role as a STEM ambassador. Just 19% of the games industry workforce is female, compared to the UK average of 45%. Women are particularly underrepresented in technical roles, and account for just 7% of those specialising in audio, sounds and music – the area in which Jessica has carved out a very successful career for herself.

Her other game credits include Fable Heroes, Kinect Sports Rivals and Bodycount.

Note: Data soured from Creative Skillset report (2016)

Interview / case study / comment requests: please contact Kara Nelson at Grayling – 0117 910 6367 / kara.nelson@grayling.com