Ina Bäckström is a Swedish

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developer and the program leader and founder of Barcraft, Sweden's first e-sports' pub. Bäckström was born on March 27, 1987, in

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. She was named the

IT Girl An "it girl" is an attractive, well-known young woman who is perceived to have both sex appeal and a personality that is especially engaging. The expression ''it girl'' originated in British upper-class society around the turn of the 20th&nbs ...

of the Year by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

in 2012.

Education

In 2009, Bäckström attended the

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

in Gotland, Sweden for the introduction to game design and analysis. Bäckström attended

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

from 2010 to 2011 to represent design students at the university. In 2011, she attended the FutureGames Academy for two years to study game design.

Career

In 2010, Bäckström became an E-Sports reporter for

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

(SVT). A year later in 2011, she founded BarCraft STHLM. Bäckström was the program leader for SVT's E-sports broadcast at Dreamhack Summer 2012 and Dreamhack Winter 2012. She was the program manager at Dreamhack Summer 2013. In 2014, Bäckström worked for

Paradox Interactive Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an independ ...

as a game developer and associate producer. She is credited with being on the development teams for Cities: Skylines, Warlock II: The Exiled, and Crusader Kings II: Sons of Abraham. In 2015, Bäckström worked for

Wikimedia Sverige Wikimedia chapters are national or sub-national not-for-profit organizations created to promote the interests of Wikimedia projects locally, by members of the movement. Chapters are legally independent of the Wikimedia Foundation, entering into a ...

as its first Communications Strategist. Bäckström left her job at SVT in 2016 to focus on developing video games at

Avanade Avanade () is a global professional services company providing IT consulting and services focused on the Microsoft platform with artificial intelligence, business analytics, cloud, application services, digital transformation, modern workpla ...

Frizon Gaming Guild

In July 2011, Ina Bäckström and Monika Nilimaa founded the Frizon Gaming Guild, an organization designed to help get girls interested in gaming and game design. The guild hosts workshops, lectures, and meetings to assist new developers with their own projects.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Backstrom, Ina Living people Journalists from Stockholm Video game developers 1987 births