Brianna Wu (born July 6, 1977) is an Americanvideo game developer and computerprogrammer.^[6] She co-founded Giant Spacekat, anindependent video game development studio, with Amanda Warner inBoston, Massachusetts.^[7] She is also ablogger andpodcaster on matters relating to thevideo game industry.^[8]

Brianna Wu
Wu in 2015
Born	(1977-07-06)July 6, 1977 (age 47)[1][2] West Virginia, U.S.
Occupations	CEO of Giant Spacekat software engineer[3][4][5]
Known for	Commentary on issues related to women in gaming
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Frank Wu

In 2018, Wu unsuccessfullyran for Congress inMassachusetts's 8th congressional district.^[9] Wu began a second campaign for the primary in 2020; in April, she announced her departure from the race, due to the COVID-19 lockdown preventing in-person campaigning.^[10][11]

Wu was born inWest Virginia and raised inHattiesburg, Mississippi, by adoptive parents.^[12][13] She grew up in an entrepreneurial environment; her father was a retired US Navy doctor who opened his own clinic, and her mother ran a series of small businesses.^[14][15] She enrolled at theUniversity of Mississippi, studyingjournalism andpolitical science and writing forThe Daily Mississippian, but left in 2001 without a degree.^[12]

At the age of 19, Wu formed a small animation studio to create an animatedpilot episode. The venture was unsuccessful, resulting in her withdrawal from college and a move toWashington, D.C., to work in political fundraising for several years.^[14] She later worked as a journalist until she was inspired by the release of theiPhone to work as agraphic designer and create avideo game.

In 2010, she co-founded the company Giant Spacekat with Amanda Stenquist Warner.^[14] Wu was co-host of the weeklyIsometric podcast onRelay FM. The podcast was launched in May 2014 and covers the video game industry.^[8] On April 18, 2016, theIsometric podcast was ended. The same hosts, including Wu, started a new podcast calledDisruption on Relay FM, covering technology and culture.^[16]

Wu is credited as head of development for her company Giant Spacekat's game,Revolution 60.^[17] It features female protagonists, said to echo the founders of the game studio.^[7] The game was demonstrated atPAX East in March 2013, where it was listed as one of the 10 best indie games of the conference.^[18] The game, created with theUnreal Engine for a total budget of several hundred thousand dollars, was released foriOS devices in July 2014.^[17] In September 2016, a special edition ofRevolution 60 was released onSteam and iOS.^[19]

Wu decided immediately after the2016 United States presidential election to run for a Congressional seat in the greater Boston area, focusing in part onprivacy rights andonline harassment, but also on the wider Massachusetts economy. She challenged Rep.Stephen F. Lynch of the8th district,^[20][21] in an announcement she made on Twitter.^[22] Wu stated, in a radio interview, that Lynch did not sufficiently represent theDemocrats, citing his positions onreproductive health care andLGBTQ rights; Lynch is a centrist on the former^[23] and supportive of the latter.^[24] Wu also came out in favor ofunions andcollective bargaining.^[25] Wu feels that Massachusetts proportionally contributes more to thefederal government than it receives in return and wants to use it as leverage in negotiations. She hopes that theBoston Bay area can rivalSan Francisco Bay as a technology hub.^[26] Wu moved to the 8th district in order to challenge the incumbent Lynch.^[27]

Wu also cited opposition to then-presidentDonald Trump, what she perceived as failures by Congress on technology issues,^[28] and what she perceived as the failure of the Democratic Party to emotionally connect with its voters^[29] as reasons for shifting from game development to politics.

Professor Thomas Whalen ofBoston University said that, while the labor union-connected Lynch was native toSouth Boston's traditionally conservative 8th district, recent years of changing demographics could help Wu. Meanwhile, David S. Bernstein, a long-time political reporter forBoston Magazine, did not think Wu had a chance of unseating Lynch.^[26]

On Twitter in February 2017, Wu received media attention after she posted warnings about themilitarization of space, along with voicing her concerns over giving privatespace tourism companies sole access to theMoon. She wrote, "Rocks dropped from [the Moon] have power of 100s of nuclear bombs". She later deleted the tweets after receiving criticism.^[30][31]

In late October 2017, Wu used thestreaming serviceTwitch to raise awareness for her congressional campaign. This appears to be the first instance of anyone using Twitch in this manner. "One of the reasons Millennials feel disenfranchised is politicians don't speak to them in ways that feel genuine," said Wu. "Twitch is one of the most important ways to engage younger people." When asked, neither Twitch, theDNC, nor thePew Research Center were aware of anyone having had done so. Wu was playingWolfenstein II: The New Colossus during the stream.^[32]

Wu lost to Lynch in the Democratic primary held on September 4, 2018, having received approximately 23% of the vote to Lynch's 71%.^[33][9]

Wu began a second campaign for the 2020 election, again with an emphasis on tech issues such asElizabeth Warren's proposal to break up giant new media companies such asApple,Facebook andGoogle. On aWGBH-TV panel, Wu said, "for whatever reason, our Department of Justice has been more reluctant to pursueantitrust cases against companies in the last few years, certainly since the Bush years."^[10] She differs from certain elements of Warren's proposal, citing privacy concerns.^[34]

She endorses theGreen New Deal, legislative goals aimed at shifting the United States to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035.^[35]

In April 2020, due to the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic on her campaign, she suspended her congressional bid.^[11]

Since the outbreak of theIsrael–Hamas war, Wu has received media attention for her strong support ofIsrael. She has argued inThe Boston Globe that "my fellow leftists are betraying our Jewish allies" and "the casualantisemitism I’d looked past in progressive spaces became impossible to ignore."^{[36][37][38][39][40]}

Wu has stated the transgender movement's efforts to includetransgender women in women's sports, which she considers an overreach, have unintentionally helped Republican anti-trans initiatives garner more political support.^[41][42]

In 2008, she marriedFrank Wu, four-time winner of theHugo Award for Best Fan Artist. In 2020, she andCenk Uygur co-founded Rebellion PAC, apolitical action committee with a focus on running advertisements in opposition to Donald Trump and in support ofprogressive get-out-the-vote efforts.^[43] She is atrans woman.^[44][45]

In October 2014, Wu posted multipletweets about Gamergate advocates,^[46][47] ridiculing them for "fighting an apocalyptic future where women are 8 percent of programmers and not 3 percent."^[5] While she was monitoring8chan's pro-Gamergate chanboard (/gg/), anonymous users posted sensitive personal information about her, including at least one post containing her address. Subsequently, Wu began receiving multiple, specific rape and death threats including her address, causing Wu to flee her home.^[48] These threats have been widely attributed to Gamergate supporters.^[5][49] In December, Wu said that she had received emails that contained images of mutilated dogs from people who identified as Gamergate supporters, following the recent death of her dog.^[50]

Along withAnita Sarkeesian andZoë Quinn, Wu was one of the targets of Gamergate harassment.^{[46][49][51][52]} In February 2015, she said, "by attacking me so viciously, they're helping give me the visibility to usher in the very game industry they're terrified about."^[53] Wu started a legal defense fund for women targeted by Gamergate. As of late 2014, the Wu family was also offering a cash reward for information leading to the prosecution of those who sent the death threats.^[54][55][56] By February 2015 she said she was spending a full day a week contacting law enforcement, and was only attending events in the US with a security detail.^[53] In March 2015, she said she had received 48 death threats during the previous six months.^[57] As of May 2019, she and her husband were still living under aliases.^[58]

In early 2017, theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) closed its investigation of the matter. The FBI identified four men who sent threats and obtained confessions from two of them, one of whom stated that they had sent the threat as a "joke" but "understood that it was a federal crime to send a threatening communication to anyone and will never do it again". TheU.S. Attorney for theDistrict of Massachusetts declined to prosecute, giving no specific reason. Reacting to the report, Wu stated the FBI did not care about the investigation and that she was "livid".^[59] In the wake of the 2019Poway synagogue shooting, however, she said that the FBI needs dedicated agents who understand online culture (8chan in particular).^[60][61]

In August 2021,The Washington Post reported that "despite the attempts to discredit her, wreck her career and destroy her sense of safety, Wu has now become a vocal proponent of forgiveness for those who apologize and show they have grown." However, "insults and continued harassment" still outnumbered apologies "10-to-1".^[62]

Wu said that she was diagnosed withpost-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the harassment.^[62]

• Official website for her initial campaign at theWayback Machine (archived June 29, 2018)
• Current official campaign websiteArchived June 16, 2020, at theWayback Machine
• "Video games don't cause mass shootings. But gamer culture encourages hate." (August 9, 2019)The Washington Post (op-ed by Brianna Wu on toxicgamer culture)