Alanah Pearce

Alanah Pearce
A white woman with silver hair smiles to the right of the camera
Pearce at the Game Developers Conference in 2024
Born (1993-08-24) 24 August 1993 (age 31)
Cairns, Queensland, Australia
EducationQueensland University of Technology
Occupation(s)Video game writer, journalist
Years active2012–present
Employers

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.

Pearce has reported on video games for various news outlets including entertainment news website IGN. She worked at production company Rooster Teeth 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

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Alanah Pearce was born in Cairns, Queensland, Australia, on 24 August 1993.[1][2] Pearce was raised in Cairns, and later spent nine years in Brisbane.[1] 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.[3] She earned a bachelor's degree studying mass communication at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane.[4]

Career

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Journalism

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From 2012 to 2015, Pearce wrote gaming news for around a dozen news outlets, including Impulse Gamer, Zelda Universe, the BBC,[4] and worked stints at Australian radio and television stations.[5] She launched a YouTube channel in 2012, where she publishes game reviews and personal videos.[4][6]

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 IGN later that year.[4][7] In 2017, she replaced Naomi Kyle as host of IGN's Daily Fix gaming news program.[4] 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.[8][9] Pearce cohosted the SXSW Gaming Awards alongside Rich Campbell in 2018.[10]

After departing IGN in 2018, Pearce joined production company Rooster Teeth. 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.[11] She left Rooster Teeth in October 2020.[12]

Game development

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Pearce modeling for Dignitas

In November 2020, Pearce joined Sony's Santa Monica Studio as a video game writer.[13] She provided consulting on three video games and completed other work on two video games prior to joining the studio.[14] She faced harassment on social media following the studio's decision to delay the release of God of War Ragnarök.[15][16] In September 2021, Pearce revealed that she was part of the development team behind Ragnarök.[17] In November, she was selected among the Forbes 30 Under 30 for gaming.[18][19]

Pearce did voice acting for Gears 5 (2019)[13] and Afterparty (2019).[20] She also lent her voice and likeness to a character in Cyberpunk 2077 (2020).[21][22]]

In December 2024, Pearce revealed that she was leaving Santa Monica Studio, 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, and content creation following her departure.[23]

Podcasting

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Pearce is the host of the Play, Watch, Listen podcast, along with Troy Baker, Mike Bithell, and Austin Wintory.[24] She also hosts the podcasts Red Lips, Orange Car, Video Game Writing 101, and Voice Acting 101, and formerly hosted Idiots and a Broad.[25] 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 Santa Monica Studio.[26]

Other activities

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Pearce participated in the Creator Clash 2 boxing event in April 2023,[27] beating content creator RIPmika by split decision.[28]

Pearce was briefly banned from Twitch following a DMCA takedown notice sent by Nintendo after she live-streamed herself reacting to already-published preview footage of its game, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, five days before its release.[29]

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.[30] She is set to appear in the upcoming video game Dispatch (2025).[31]

Personal life

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Pearce co-hosts the Video Game Accessibility Awards with Steven Spohn.[32][33]

Pearce credits video games with helping her deal with the effects of myalgic encephalomyelitis and tendinitis.[34] She has helped fundraise for AbleGamers, a charity dedicated to improving accessibility in video games.[35][36] She co-hosted the inaugural Video Game Accessibility Awards with AbleGamers's chief operating officer Steven Spohn in November 2020,[37][32] and returned to present the second event in March 2022.[33][38]

In 2014, Pearce became the focus of news media after she wrote to the mothers of internet trolls who had sent her rape threats.[5][39][40] In 2019, she was subject to harassment after the Entertainment Software Association, the organiser of the E3 gaming expo, leaked the personal information of E3 2019 media attendees to the public.[41]

Pearce came out in June 2020; while she does not feel an attachment to any label, she felt best defined by the term pansexual.[42] 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.[43]

Awards and nominations

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Pearce was nominated for Content Creator of the Year at the Game Awards 2020.[44]

References

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  1. ^ a b Pearce, Alanah [@Charalanahzard] (15 November 2017). "I honestly never got that impression, but I don't know. I was born in/grew up in Cairns, then spent nine years in Brisbane" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2021 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Pearce, Alanah [@Charalanahzard] (4 August 2014). "My 21st birthday is on the 24th of August but I'll be in Germany for GamesCom until the 17th and then..." (Tweet). Archived from the original on 30 November 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2021 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ Eggen, Lukas (5 August 2020). "Alanah Pearce paves her own path to success". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e Farner, Shawn (29 December 2020). "The Stunning Transformation Of Alanah Pearce". SVG.com. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b True, Everett (28 November 2014). "The gaming journalist who tells on her internet trolls – to their mothers". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  6. ^ Lee, Helen A. (10 December 2020). "The YouTube Star You Didn't Realize Was In Cyberpunk 2077". Looper. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  7. ^ Forde, Matthew (2 March 2020). "Women in Gaming: Rooster Teeth's Alanah Pearce on making the leap from Australian to US games media". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on 9 March 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2021. The other enormous difficulty for me was knowing that I needed to move to the US to fully be ingrained in the industry, just because I felt the Australian industry was a little too small.
  8. ^ Klepek, Patrick (13 November 2017). "Sexual Harassment Allegations at IGN Prompt Some Employees to Stop Working". Waypoint. Vice Media. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  9. ^ "IGN issues sexual assault statement after staff walkout". MCV. 14 November 2017. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  10. ^ "2018 SXSW Gaming Awards Winners Revealed". IGN. 26 April 2018. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  11. ^ Spangler, Todd (14 February 2019). "After Machinima Shutdown, Rooster Teeth Revives 'Inside Gaming' and Rescues Other Machinima Shows". Variety. Archived from the original on 15 February 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  12. ^ Tamburro, Paul (29 October 2020). "Alanah Pearce announces she's leaving Funhaus and Rooster Teeth". GameRevolution. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  13. ^ a b Williams, Demi (17 November 2020). "Alanah Pearce joins God of War developer Sony Santa Monica". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  14. ^ Calvin, Alex (17 November 2020). "IGN vet Alanah Pearce joins God of War studio Sony Santa Monica". VG247. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  15. ^ Capel, Chris (4 June 2021). "God of War 2's Alanah Pearce highlights abuse women in gaming receive with 'useless wh***' tweet". GameRevolution. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  16. ^ Leston, Ryan (4 June 2021). "'God Of War: Ragnarok' staff harassed after delay announcement". NME. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  17. ^ Pearce, Alanah [@Charalanahzard] (9 September 2021). "This is my first ever Dev Team shirt and I am *very* proud. HAPPY GOD OF WAR: RAGNAROK TRAILER DAY, EVERYONE!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2021 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ "Alanah Pearce". Forbes. November 2021. Archived from the original on 2 December 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  19. ^ "Please welcome Alanah Pearce as your GDC 2022 host". Game Developer. 1 February 2022. Archived from the original on 1 February 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  20. ^ Dornbush, Jonathon (14 December 2018). "Afterparty's Voice Cast Includes Horizon Zero Dawn, The Walking Dead Actors". IGN. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  21. ^ Jones, Ali (18 September 2020). "Another internet celebrity is getting a Cyberpunk 2077 cameo". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  22. ^ Brown, Ace (22 January 2021). "Every Celebrity Cameo In Cyberpunk 2077". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  23. ^ Alanah IRL (2 December 2024). I'm leaving Sony Santa Monica Studio. Retrieved 2 December 2024 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ Bankhurst, Adam; Purslow, Matt (1 February 2022). "Voice Actor Troy Baker Pulls Out of NFT Partnership [Update]". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  25. ^ "Best Alanah Pearce Podcasts (2022)". Player FM. Archived from the original on 18 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  26. ^ Alanah Pearce's Last Episode! - Kinda Funny Xcast Ep. 16 on YouTube
  27. ^ Falconer, Daniel (27 January 2023). "Creator Clash 2: How to Watch and Buy Tickets For the PPV". GameRevolution. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023.
  28. ^ Miceli, Max; Snavely, Adam (15 April 2023). "Creator Clash 2: Scores, fights, and live results". Dot Esports. Gamurs. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  29. ^ Borthwick, Ben (9 May 2023). "Alanah Pearce banned on Twitch for streaming Tears of the Kingdom preview footage". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  30. ^ Earl, William (4 October 2024). "Kate Siegel on Her Trippy 'V/H/S/Beyond' Film, Real-Life Alien Theories and the Joy of Working With Husband Mike Flanagan". Variety. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
  31. ^ Stedman, Alex (12 December 2024). "Dispatch Is a Star-Studded New Game With Aaron Paul, Jeffrey Wright, Laura Bailey, and More - The Game Awards 2024". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  32. ^ a b Partis, Danielle (16 November 2020). "Alanah Pearce and AbleGamers host inaugural Video Game Accessibility Awards". PocketGamer.biz. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  33. ^ a b Bakhurst, Adam (13 March 2022). "Video Game Accessibility Awards 2021 - All the Winners". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  34. ^ Morris, Williesha (29 October 2020). "Gamers Forge Their Own Paths When It Comes to Accessibility". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  35. ^ Lyons, Ben (26 March 2021). "Brie Larson shares message of support for gaming charity AbleGamers". Gamereactor. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  36. ^ Onder, Cade (23 April 2021). "Brie Larson Gives AbleGamers Charity a Shoutout On Twitter". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  37. ^ Hart, Aimee (16 November 2020). "Alanah Pearce hosts the Video Game Accessibility Awards". Gayming Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  38. ^ Partis, Danielle (14 March 2022). "Halo Infinite and Forza win at 2022 Video Game Accessibility Awards". Gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  39. ^ Nelson, Sara C (28 November 2014). "This Female Game Reviewer Has A Brilliant Way Of Addressing Online Rape Threats". Huffington Post UK. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  40. ^ Bailey, John (18 December 2014). "Alanah Pearce threats opened a window into the political games gamers play". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  41. ^ Tamburro, Paul (16 August 2019). "Alanah Pearce on being doxxed and harassed: 'You are scarier than publishers are'". GameRevolution. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  42. ^ Pearce, Alanah [@Charalanahzard] (26 June 2020). "🏳️‍🌈" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2021 – via Twitter.
  43. ^ Schonter, Allison (3 July 2024). "Alanah Pearce Explains Her Sexuality in 'Coming Out' Video". PopCulture.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  44. ^ Spangler, Todd (18 November 2020). "Game Awards 2020 Nominations: 'The Last of Us Part II,' 'Hades,' 'Ghost of Tsushima' Lead the Field". Variety. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
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