Competition in the American tech sector is being gobbled up by the largest players, and it's threatening our entire industry. Brianna Wu More Quotes by Brianna Wu More Quotes From Brianna Wu I've spent a career working in tech as a software engineer. And I believe regulated markets are the best way to build and deliver innovative products. Brianna Wu best i-believe believe way When I was a teenager, the most valuable American companies were in finance and manufacturing. Brianna Wu american most manufacturing finance Without competition, Silicon Valley will stop taking risks and will stop innovating. Brianna Wu stop risks will competition In 1999, I was running my first tech start-up and learning the Unreal Engine, the tool that would define my career as a game developer, when news of Columbine ground all work to a standstill. Brianna Wu game news learning work I love video games dearly. Brianna Wu video-games video games love Growing up as a queer child in Mississippi, I got my Nintendo in 1985, and I've been lost in this world ever since. When I was scared because my church said people like me were going to burn in hell, 'Final Fantasy,' 'Dragon Warrior' and 'Super Mario' offered a lifeboat. Brianna Wu child me people world I say this as an engineer: We are profoundly bad at asking ourselves how the things we build could be misused. Brianna Wu say how bad things I am the head of development at Giant Spacekat, a Boston-based studio that's an industry leader in making games for women. We are passionate about creating narrative games for the avalanche of new consumers who don't fit the old gamer stereotype. Brianna Wu i-am new women leader Even in the '80s and '90s, many white Southerners were still bitter about court decisions that required racial integration of the schools. It wasn't that they were outwardly opposed to white and black people attending school together, it was that the rulings threatened their proud identity as independent Southerners. Brianna Wu black identity together people It's see no evil, hear no evil with toxic male gamers - whose every whim and adolescent fantasy has been catered to for decades. Brianna Wu gamers see fantasy evil I think Gamergate is just a symptom of a disease: a $90 billion global industry that was built by men for men. Brianna Wu just think disease men Gamergate gave birth to a new kind of celebrity troll, men who made money and built their careers by destroying women's reputations. Brianna Wu new women money men Gamergate should have been a time of reckoning for the gaming community, which had long been rife with sexism and misogyny. It wasn't. Brianna Wu gaming community time long Since Gamergate, many women I know are reluctant to speak publicly on gender issues, because they fear - rightly - that they will be targeted and harassed. Brianna Wu gender women speak fear The main lesson I took from Gamergate is that asking the status quo to do the right thing doesn't work. Brianna Wu do-the-right-thing lesson status work Gamergate is ostensibly about journalistic ethics. Supporters say they want to address conflicts of interest between the people that make games and the people that support them. In reality, Gamergate is a group of gamers that are willing to destroy the women who have invaded their clubhouse. Brianna Wu ethics women support people In stopping Gamergate, the men who dominate it - not just women - must address the culture that created Gamergate. Brianna Wu just women men culture It doesn't matter how many women we get into game production. If the only people evaluating the work we do continue to be men, women's voices will never be heard. Brianna Wu women work men people Even when the nation's leaders acknowledge tech issues, details are lacking. Brianna Wu nation even details acknowledge Crises like the Mirai botnet can't be prevented by vague calls to protect our cybernetworks or platitudes about working with private industry. We need to be able to force recalls on consumer devices with massive security vulnerabilities. Brianna Wu need like security force
