American video game developer
Bonnie Ross
is an American
video game developer
. She served as Corporate Vice President at
Xbox Game Studios
, and was the head of
343 Industries
, the
subsidiary
studio that manages the
Halo
video game franchise. Ross studied technical writing and computer science in college, and worked at IBM before getting a job at Microsoft. She worked on a number of PC and Xbox games, becoming a general manager at Xbox Game Studios.
In 2007, Ross helped found 343 Industries, building a studio that would work on a new
Halo
game after the departure of developer
Bungie
. 343 Industries' first game,
Halo 4
, released in 2012. Ross oversaw the
Halo
franchise, including merchandise and media adaptations. She has been honored for her work in game development and her efforts to push for more diversity in video games.
Early life
[
edit
]
Growing up, Ross enjoyed science fiction, imagining what it would be like to create similar worlds herself.
[2]
She played basketball, softball, tennis, and volleyball.
[3]
Her first video game was a 1970s Mattel
handheld basketball game
. Ross credited her athletic background with introducing her to gaming, as well as teaching her to learn from setbacks and failure.
[4]
Encouraged by her parents to pursue a more practical career than sports, Ross studied technology.
[3]
Ross attended
Colorado State University
, initially majoring in engineering; she was one of the only women in her program. Desiring more creative freedom, Ross switched to a technical writing program in the journalism department during her 1987?88 school year. She interned at IBM for two years, and coached high school sports and wrote technical manuals in her spare time.
[4]
Ross graduated in 1989, with a degree in
Technical Communication
and a concentration in
Physics
and
Computer Science
.
[1]
Career
[
edit
]
After graduation, Ross applied to
NeXT
,
Apple
, and
Microsoft
; NeXT and Apple did not respond to Ross' resume, while Microsoft did.
[5]
: 9:40?10:30
At Microsoft, she tired of the dry, technical writing her job required. Initially looking at taking a break from Microsoft for a year to work on something creative, she secured a position as a producer on a basketball game on the basis of her sports and technology background.
[1]
[5]
: 12:50?14:20
The game,
Microsoft Full Court Press
, released in 1996.
[3]
Ross described her early career as working on co-development and publishing projects. She worked on games such as
Zoo Tycoon
,
Fuzion Frenzy
,
Jade Empire
,
Mass Effect
,
Psychonauts
,
Gears of War
,
Alan Wake
, and
Crackdown
in roles such as lead or executive producer, and studio head.
[3]
She credited the variety of games as encouraging her to stay at Microsoft rather than moving to another company.
[6]
343 Industries
[
edit
]
By 2005, Ross was a general manager for
Microsoft Game Studios
(now Xbox Game Studios).
[3]
When
Halo
developer
Bungie
split from Microsoft in 2007, Microsoft created a new internal team to oversee the franchise. Ross recalled that her colleagues felt
Halo
was a waning property and looked at contracting an outside company to produce new games, but she argued differently.
[1]
[5]
: 21:45?23:00
Ross had first become acquainted with the franchise through the tie-in novel
Halo: The Fall of Reach
. The deep backstory and universe in the novel appealed to her.
[5]
: 26:15?27:05
Ross' pitch won over Microsoft Game Studios general manager Shane Kim, and she was put in charge of the new studio, 343 Industries.
[3]
Beginning in late 2007, 343 Industries started with a staff of roughly a dozen people.
[5]
: 28:22
Bungie staffer Frank O'Connor assisted in the transition, and expected Ross would be an executive with no knowledge of
Halo
or its appeal. Instead, Ross impressed O'Connor with her deep knowledge of the franchise, and O'Connor quit Bungie to join 343 Industries as franchise director.
[1]
[7]
Ross' vision for
Halo
also impressed art director
Kiki Wolfkill
, who joined the team as a studio head.
[7]
During the transition, Ross worked with the company Starlight Runner to interview Bungie staff and compile a centralized story bible for the universe. 343 Industries also worked with Bungie on their last
Halo
projects,
Halo 3: ODST
(2009) and
Reach
(2010).
[5]
: 30:50
[8]
343 Industries has also collaborated with other studios to produce
Halo
games, such as
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
,
[9]
Halo: Spartan Assault
,
[10]
and
Halo Wars 2
.
[11]
343 Industries would ultimately hire from more than 55 different companies to work on their first major game,
Halo 4
.
[12]
Midway through development, 343 changed the vision of the project significantly, leading to the departure of the game's creative director and
Josh Holmes
as a replacement. The developers created a
vertical slice
of gameplay that was very similar to a Bungie-style
Halo
game, and then used that to inform a different direction for the game.
[7]
Halo 4
released in 2012 and grossed $220 million in first-day sales.
[13]
In 2014, 343 Industries released
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
, a compilation of the four main
Halo
games for the Xbox One. On launch, the game suffered from severe issues, and Ross issued public apologies for the state of the product; she later called it the worst moment in her career.
[1]
Ross later promised future 343 Industries games would have
betas
to avoid similar problems.
[14]
Halo 5: Guardians
released in 2015, and sales of the games and related merchandise topped $400 million in its first week.
[15]
Lessons learned from the development of
Halo 5
led to a longer development period for the next game,
Halo Infinite
, released in 2021.
[12]
[16]
Ross also envisioned the
Halo
franchise growing with transmedia content such as books and television.
[12]
Halo 4
's release coincided with a tie-in episodic series,
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
. Ross would later announce a live-action
Halo
television series at the
Xbox One
reveal in 2013.
[17]
[18]
Ross announced her departure from 343 Industries on September 12, 2022.
[19]
Diversity efforts
[
edit
]
Noticing how few women attended gaming events like E3, Ross helped found a networking group that evolved into the Microsoft Women in Gaming community and a yearly event. She believes gaming can serve as a way to get young people interested in
STEM
careers by relating it to something they enjoy.
[20]
Ross has worked to hire more female game developers so more women can find role models within the industry, and worked with the
Ad Council
's #SheCanSTEM campaign.
[4]
Head of Xbox
Phil Spencer
said Ross' profile helped attract female talent to the company.
[21]
Ross told
60 Minutes
she believes more diverse teams result in more innovation and creative output.
[22]
Ross argues that game developers have a "personal responsibility" to avoid gendered stereotyping in their games, as well as taking action against sexist abuse. She recalled that for every character in
Halo 4
, "we were very deliberate in thinking about who should be female and who should be male in the game, and if we came off stereotypical, we went back to question what we were doing and why."
[23]
[24]
Ross has also focused on introducing more racial and gender diversity to the video games.
[21]
Recognition
[
edit
]
Ross appeared as a speaker at the
Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing
, held in Phoenix, Arizona, presenting on "Technology and How It Is Evolving Storytelling in Our Entertainment Experiences".
[25]
She has also made appearances as a speaker at
GeekWire 2013
[26]
and Microsoft's
ThinkNext 2015
in Israel.
[27]
Ross was also the lead speaker for Microsoft's presentation at the 2015
Electronic Entertainment Expo
, as part of an industry push for larger roles for women.
[28]
[29]
In 2014,
Fortune
listed Ross as one of "10 powerful women in video games", which noted that she was "responsible for defining the vision and leading the
Halo
franchise".
[30]
The
Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences
named Ross as their 2019 Inductee to their Hall of Fame at the
22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards
held in February 2019. She was the second female inductee in this award since its establishment.
[12]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
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"Can the Woman Behind Halo 5 Save the Xbox?"
.
Bloomberg News
.
Archived
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. Retrieved
April 11,
2021
.
- ^
"Bonnie"
.
She Can Stem
.
Archived
from the original on August 25, 2021
. Retrieved
November 5,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Marie, Meagan (December 4, 2018). "Bonnie Ross".
Women in Gaming: 100 Professionals of Play
.
Prima Games
. pp. 94?95.
ISBN
978-0-744-01993-3
.
- ^
a
b
c
Dodge, Jeff (November 30, 2015).
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.
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.
Archived
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. Retrieved
January 30,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
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.
IGN
. Ziff Davis.
Archived
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. Retrieved
April 12,
2021
.
- ^
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.
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Archived
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. Retrieved
April 11,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
Haske, Steven (May 30, 2017).
"The Complete, Untold History of Halo"
.
Vice
. Vice Media.
Archived
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. Retrieved
March 27,
2018
.
- ^
Smith, Kevin (December 5, 2011).
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.
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. Archived from
the original
on February 11, 2012.
- ^
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"Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary"
.
Game Developer Magazine
.
19
(3).
UBM
: 20?27. Archived from
the original
on January 23, 2013.
- ^
De Kwaadsteniet, Maarten (June 17, 2014).
"Halo: Spartan Assault Interview"
.
IGN Benelux
(in Dutch).
Archived
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. Retrieved
January 9,
2019
.
- ^
Smith, Edward (October 13, 2016). "Studio Profile: 343 Industries".
Edge
. No. 300.
Future Publishing
. pp. 94?97.
ISSN
1350-1593
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
McCarthy, Caty (February 21, 2019).
"343 Industries Boss Bonnie Ross on Her Long Career at Microsoft and Avoiding Crunch on Halo Infinite"
.
USGamer
. Gamer Network.
Archived
from the original on April 12, 2021
. Retrieved
April 12,
2021
.
- ^
Byford, Sam (November 12, 2012).
"
'Halo 4' takes in $220 million on day one in 'biggest entertainment launch of the year'
"
.
The Verge
.
Archived
from the original on June 29, 2021
. Retrieved
June 29,
2021
.
- ^
Osborn, Alex (June 10, 2015).
"All Future Halo Games Will Have Betas, Says 343 Industries"
.
IGN
. Ziff Davis.
Archived
from the original on August 30, 2023
. Retrieved
April 10,
2021
.
- ^
Makuch, Eddie (November 4, 2015).
"Halo 5 Reaches $400 Million in Sales to Become Biggest Halo Launch Ever"
.
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.
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.
Archived
from the original on August 30, 2023
. Retrieved
November 15,
2015
.
- ^
Carpenter, Nicholas (June 13, 2021).
"Halo Infinite will be released holiday 2021, Microsoft confirms"
.
Polygon
. Retrieved
June 23,
2021
.
- ^
Gorman, Michael (May 21, 2013).
"Microsoft announces Halo live-action TV series created by 343 Industries and Steven Spielberg"
.
Engadget
.
Archived
from the original on November 11, 2020.
- ^
Ingraham, Nathan (May 21, 2013).
"Microsoft announces live action 'Halo' TV series with Steven Spielberg as executive producer"
.
The Verge
.
Archived
from the original on June 7, 2013
. Retrieved
July 7,
2021
.
- ^
Carpenter, Nicole (September 12, 2022).
"Halo boss Bonnie Ross steps down as head of 343 Industries"
.
Polygon
.
Archived
from the original on August 30, 2023
. Retrieved
September 12,
2022
.
- ^
Crecente, Brian (December 19, 2018).
"Halo Head Bonnie Ross Named 2019 AIAS Hall of Fame Inductee"
.
Variety
.
Archived
from the original on August 30, 2023
. Retrieved
April 13,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
Basak, Sonali (December 15, 2014).
"Microsoft's Ross Breaks Mold in Male-Dominated Video Games: Tech"
.
Bloomberg
.
Archived
from the original on April 13, 2021
. Retrieved
April 11,
2021
.
- ^
Farmer, Brit McCandless (March 3, 2019).
"Halo Head Bonnie Ross: Diversity Attracts Diversity"
.
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.
Archived
from the original on August 30, 2023
. Retrieved
April 13,
2021
.
- ^
Eordogh, Fruzsina (November 1, 2012).
"The Video Game Industry Is Finally Taking a Stand Against Sexist Jerks"
.
Slate
.
Archived
from the original on August 30, 2023
. Retrieved
July 5,
2015
.
- ^
Weber, Rachel (October 31, 2012).
"343 Industries: We have a personal responsibility for how our games come across"
.
gamesindustry.biz
.
Archived
from the original on August 30, 2023
. Retrieved
July 5,
2015
.
- ^
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(PDF)
. Anita Borg Institute. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on June 27, 2015
. Retrieved
June 23,
2015
.
- ^
"Microsoft Halo chief Bonnie Ross: Free-to-play is a possibility for 343 Industries - GeekWire"
. Geekwire. September 15, 2013.
Archived
from the original on August 30, 2023
. Retrieved
June 23,
2015
.
- ^
"Microsoft R&D Israel"
. Microsoft. Archived from
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on June 28, 2015
. Retrieved
June 23,
2015
.
- ^
Lang, Derrik J. (June 19, 2015).
"Women Finally Play Larger Role At Iconic E3 Gaming Convention"
.
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. Archived from
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on December 8, 2015
. Retrieved
June 24,
2015
.
- ^
Snider, Mike (June 18, 2015).
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.
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.
Archived
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. Retrieved
April 13,
2021
.
- ^
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. Fortune.
Archived
from the original on December 2, 2016
. Retrieved
June 24,
2015
.
External links
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]
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