Vic Hood makes her mark in video game industry

Vic Hood appeared on the influential She Plays Games podcast SPG100 list on International Women’s Day (March 8) and said she was “honoured and thoroughly surprised to be included”.

This year was the first ever SPG100 which is described online as a list of “100 of the video game industry’s most inspiring women who are having a positive impact and are pushing boundaries”.

The She Play Games site was created as a way to celebrate women in the video games industry and shine a light on their inspirational stories.

The site says the goal is “to make the video games industry a better and more inclusive place and to raise awareness about the different paths women can take to get into their dream job”.

Vic, from Larne, shares the SPG100 listing with women from the United States, UK, South Korea, Canada, Kenya and elsewhere internationally.

“It’s incredible to be among these amazing women and I am very thankful to whoever nominated me,” she said from her home in London.

Vic is an award-winning games journalist, with experience working for sector leaders IGN, Eurogamer and TechRadar, the latter of which she currently works for as Gaming Editor. She has had a number of radio interviews in the past about her specialism, including on BBC Radio Ulster a few months ago.

The local writer has also attended conferences in North America and Asia during her career to date.

A former student of Larne Grammar School, she got into video games at an early age, playing Tomb Raider with her dad and other games with her cousins and even wanted to be a pro gamer as a youngster.

She went down the route of creative writing and journalism, and graduated with a BA Hons in Journalism from City, University of London in 2017. Her first break in gaming media came with an internship at Eurogamer.

Acknowledged in the industry as a rising star, among those who congratulated her online in relation to the SPG100 was former principal of Moyle Primary School, Peter Garrett, who said the news was “brilliant”.