Malvern Alumnae 100 Profile

Fiona Sperry

MGC 1988 Leaver

After five happy years at MGC, I went to University College London to study History. I had no clue what kind of job I wanted so I just chose a subject I enjoyed. After leaving university I still didn’t really know what I wanted to do so I temped in London until I fell into my first ‘proper’ job as an Editorial Assistant at the McGraw-Hill Book Company before taking a sideways step into the videogames industry.

The company I joined, Criterion, primarily made technology for games. The timing was fortunate as they had early access to the as yet unreleased and closely guarded secret, PlayStation2. We were complete nobodies but we made a racing game, Burnout, which became a massive success. Over the next 12 years, I oversaw the development of five Burnout games, the shooter Black as well as two Need for Speed games once we had been acquired by global games giant, Electronic Arts. I also ran all of Electronic Arts’ game development in the UK.

It was an amazing time and we won a heap of awards including 4 BAFTAs. After having my daughter, I left and formed my own studio, Three Fields Entertainment, where I continue to design, create and publish games for PlayStation, Xbox and PC.

What does success look like?

Being happy and comfortable in your own skin is more important than any amount of power, influence or money. This can take time to develop but once you have it, you have it for life and no-one can take that away from you.

Best piece of advice?

Do every job you’re given, however trivial or menial they seem, to the best of your abilities. People above you will notice your work ethic and give you the leg up you need to progress.