Carol Shaw: Pioneering Video Game Designer

Showed a fondness for model railroad sets and computer engineering from an early age.

Earned programming experience in high school then obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California in 1977. She stayed on to earn a Master’s in Computer Science.

Began her career at Atari in 1978 as a microprocessor software engineer. She was one of only a handful of women working at Atari at that time.

Developed Polo, 3D Tic-Tac-Toe, Polo, Super Breakout, Video Checkers, and Othello for the iconic home computer company. Polo is the first known video game to be designed and programmed by a woman.

Joined Activision in 1982, where she developed River Raid, which went on to sell over one million copies, allowing her to retire early.

Worked in the computer technology industry until retirement in 1990.

Shaw won the Industry Icon Award at The Game Awards in 2017.

A collection of Shaw’s work can be found at The Strong in Rochester, New York where she donated a collection of video games, source code, original design documents, and other materials in 2017.