Cecilia D'Anastasio is an American journalist who primarily covers the video game industry. From 2016 to 2020, D'Anastasio wrote for ''

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

'', and she was recognized for a 2018 article reporting allegations of

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

and gender discrimination at

Riot Games Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on t ...

. Subsequently, she wrote for '' Wired'' magazine and joined Bloomberg News in 2022 to cover the video game industry.

Education and early career

D'Anastasio studied at Reed College, where she received a degree in

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. D'Anastasio did freelance work for several publications, including '' The Nation'', before joining ''

'' as a staff writer in June 2016.

Career

At ''Kotaku''

D'Anastasio focused on investigative stories as a staff writer for ''Kotaku''. Her article "Inside The Culture Of Sexism At Riot Games", published in August 2018, details allegations of

and gender discrimination at

according to the accounts of twenty-eight current and former employees. Following its publication, current and former employees also shared their own experiences regarding workplace harassment on social media. On the day of the publication, Riot Games released a statement generally addressing its workplace culture, hiring practices, and diversity and inclusion program in response to the allegations detailed in the article. Later that month, the company released a statement outlining its "first steps" towards addressing the allegations. At the 71st Writers Guild of America Awards, D'Anastasio was presented with the Digital News award for the article. '' Variety'' described the article as "the most important piece of games reporting of the year, and maybe even years", naming D'Anastasio as one of the "Most Influential in Video Games" for the year of 2018. In the following year, the

New York Videogame Critics Circle The New York Game Awards is an annual award show honoring video games by nonprofit New York Videogame Critics Circle (NYVGCC). The first awards were held in 2012, honoring previous year's contributions to the video game industry and showcases ...

presented her with their "Knickerbocker Award for Best Games Journalism". D'Anastasio also made an appearance on '' Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj'', where she spoke about labor issues in the video game industry and her investigative work on Riot Games. D'Anastasio left the publication in December 2019.

At ''Wired''

D'Anastasio was hired as a staff writer for '' Wired'' magazine in 2020. In March, she received

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

's inaugural Journalist of the Year award at the 2020 Gaming Awards for her "groundbreaking and influential" coverage of the video game industry. In October, the magazine launched its ''Wired Games'' section, which covers the video game industry. The section features work written by various staff writers including D'Anastasio. Later that year, '' Forbes'' named her to its

30 Under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists of people under 30 years old issued annually by ''Forbes'' magazine and some of its regional editions. The American lists recognize 600 business and industry figures, with 30 selected in twenty industries ...

list in the media category.

At Bloomberg News

After two years writing for ''Wired'' magazine, at the beginning of 2022 D'Anastasio joined Bloomberg News to cover the video game industry.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:DAnastasio, Cecilia American critics American investigative journalists American magazine staff writers American online journalists Bloomberg L.P. people Reed College alumni Women in the video game industry Women video game critics Living people Year of birth missing (living people)