Brianna Wu facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Brianna Wu
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Wu in 2015
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| Born | July 6, 1977 West Virginia, U.S.
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| Known for | Commentary on issues related to women in gaming |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Frank Wu |
Brianna Wu, born on July 6, 1977, is an American video game developer and computer programmer. She helped start a company called Giant Spacekat, which makes video games, with Amanda Warner in Boston, Massachusetts. She also writes online (a blogger) and hosts audio shows (a podcaster) about the video game world.
In 2018, Wu tried to run for a seat in the United States House of Representatives for Massachusetts but was not successful. She started another campaign in 2020. However, she stopped her campaign in April because the COVID-19 lockdown made it impossible to meet people in person.
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Early Life and Schooling
Brianna Wu was born in West Virginia and grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She was raised by adoptive parents. Her family ran their own businesses; her father was a retired US Navy doctor who opened his own clinic, and her mother managed several small companies.
In 2003, she started studying journalism and political science at the University of Mississippi. She wrote for the school newspaper, The Daily Mississippian, but did not finish her degree.
Career in Tech
When she was 19, Wu started a small animation studio to create a cartoon pilot. This project did not work out. She then left college and moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked for several years helping to raise money for political campaigns.
Later, she was a journalist. But when the Apple iPhone came out, it inspired her to become a graphical designer and make video games. In 2010, she co-founded the company Giant Spacekat with Amanda Stenquist Warner.
Wu also co-hosted a weekly podcast called Isometric on Relay FM. This podcast started in May 2014 and talked about the video game industry. The Isometric podcast ended in April 2016. After that, the same hosts, including Wu, started a new podcast called Disruption on Relay FM, which covers technology and culture.
Revolution 60 Game
Brianna Wu was the main person in charge of making Giant Spacekat's game, Revolution 60. This game features female main characters, which was inspired by the women who started the game studio. The game was shown at Pax East in March 2013. It was even named one of the top 10 independent games at the event.
Revolution 60 was made using the Unreal Engine and cost several hundred thousand dollars to create. It was released for iOS devices (like iPhones and iPads) in July 2014.
Running for Congress in 2018
After the 2016 American presidential election, Wu decided to run for a seat in Congress in the Boston area. She focused on topics like privacy rights and online harassment, as well as the economy in Massachusetts. She announced on Twitter that she would challenge Representative Stephen F. Lynch in the Massachusetts's 8th congressional district.
Wu said in a radio interview that Lynch did not fully represent the Democrats. She pointed to his views on reproductive health and LGBTQ+ rights. Wu also supported unions and collective bargaining. She believes Massachusetts gives more money to the federal government than it gets back. She wanted to use this to help in negotiations. She also hoped the Boston Bay area could become a technology center like the San Francisco Bay Area. Wu moved to the 8th District to run against Lynch.
Wu also said she was against then-President Donald Trump. She felt Congress had failed on technology issues and that the Democratic Party was not connecting with its voters. These reasons made her shift from game development to politics.
Professor Thomas Whalen from Boston University thought that while Lynch was from a traditionally conservative part of the district, recent changes in the population might help Wu. However, David S. Bernstein, a political reporter, did not think Wu had a chance to win against Lynch.
In February 2017, Wu got attention on Twitter for warning about the militarization of space. She also worried about private space tourism companies having sole access to the Moon. She tweeted, "Rocks dropped from [the Moon] have power of 100s of nuclear bombs." She later deleted these tweets after people criticized them.
In late October 2017, Wu used the streaming service Twitch to raise awareness for her campaign. This was likely the first time anyone had used Twitch in this way for a political campaign. Wu said, "One of the reasons young people feel left out is politicians don't talk to them in ways that feel real." She added, "Twitch is one of the most important ways to connect with younger people." No one at Twitch, the Democratic National Convention, or the Pew Research Center knew of anyone else doing this. Wu was playing Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus during her stream.
Wu lost to Lynch in the Democratic primary election on September 4, 2018. She received about 23% of the votes, while Lynch received 71%.
Running for Congress in 2020
Wu started a second campaign for the 2020 election. Again, she focused on technology issues, such as Elizabeth Warren's idea to break up large media companies like Apple, Facebook, and Google. On a TV panel, Wu said that the Department of Justice had been less willing to pursue antitrust cases against companies in recent years. She had some different ideas from Warren's plan, especially about privacy.
She also supported the Green New Deal. This plan aims to shift the United States to using 100 percent renewable energy by 2035.
In April 2020, she stopped her campaign for Congress. This was because the COVID-19 pandemic made it too difficult to campaign.
Personal Life
In 2008, Brianna Wu married Frank Wu, an artist who has won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist four times. In 2020, she and Cenk Uygur co-founded Rebellion PAC. This is a group that focuses on running advertisements against Donald Trump and supporting efforts to encourage people to vote for progressive causes.
