15 February 2008
Josh

Political leanings; game developer’s presidential contributions revealed

As a young man who’s engaged in the political scene myself and keeps avid track of what’s going on in the 2008 Election for U.S. President, I found this information on contributions made by various game developers to be highly interesting. Even though who someone votes for should not effect your view of an entire company. Games are, after all, made by TEAMS of people, sometimes exceeding 100 individuals.

None the less, take a gander at who supported who in the list below:

Activision

1. Brian Kelly, Co-Chairman
$4,600, John McCain (R)
2. Ron Doornick, Director
$2,300 Mitt Romney (R)
3. Nina Kotick, CEO
$2,300, Mitt Romney (R)
4. Robert Kotick, CEO
$2,300, Mitt Romney (R)
5. Brian Barnes, Game Designer
$2,000, Ron Paul (R)
6. Erol Otus, Designer/Illustrator
$700, Ron Paul (R)
7. Charles Homic, Programmer
$400, Ron Paul (R)
8. Travis Stansbury, Attorney
$325, Ron Paul (R)
9. Chris Nelson, Programmer
$285, Ron Paul (R)

TOTAL: $15,210 to Republicans

ZeniMax Media (Bethesda Softworks):

1. Brendan Anthony, Game Programmer
$352, Barack Obama (D)

TOTAL: $352 to Democrats

Blizzard Entertainment:

1. Kyle Harrison, Technical Artist
$500, Mike Huckabee (R)
2. Christopher Ryder, 3D Artist
$500, Ron Paul (R)
3. Jesse McCree, Video Game Designer
$250, Ron Paul (R)

TOTAL: $1,250 to Republicans

Electronic Arts:

1. William Wright, Vice President, Designer
$3,500, Rudy Giuliani (R)
2. Cindy Nicola, VP, Talent Acquisition
$4,600, Barack Obama (D)
3. Steven Schnur, Worldwide Executive Mark (?)
$4,600, Hillary Clinton (D)
4. John Taylor, Technical Arts
$2,365, Ron Paul (R)
5. Michael Lawson, Software Engineer
$2,300, Fred Thompson (R)
6. Ian Schmidt, Sales
$1,300, Fred Thompson (R)
7. Sharon Zezima, Attorney
$1,000, Hillary Clinton (D)
8. Jason Horwath, No title listed
$840, Barack Obama (D)
9. John E. Taylor, Technical Artist
$500, Ron Paul (R)
10. Timothy Cotton, Game Designer
$234, Ron Paul (R)
11. Jason Fisher, Software Engineer
$225, Ron Paul (R)

TOTAL: $10, 424 to Republicans; $11,040 to Democrats

Ensemble Studios:

1. Mike Wagner, Computer Stuff
$221, Ron Paul (R)

TOTAL: $220 to Republicans

Flagship Studios:

1. Christopher Lambert, Game Programmer
$500, Barack Obama (D)
2. Jeff Lind, Software Developer
$340, Barack Obama (D)

TOTAL: $840 to Democrats

Firaxis Games:

1. Sergey Tiraspolsky, Software Engineer
$230, Barack Obama (D)

TOTAL: $230 to Democrats

Obsidian Entertainment:

1. Michael Edwards, Computer Programmer
$355, Ron Paul (R)

TOTAL: $355 to Republicans

PopCap Games:

1. John Vechey (Quarter 2, 2007), Game Developer
$2,800, Barack Obama (D)
2. David Haas, COO
$270, Barack Obama (D)
3. John Vechey (Quarter 1, 2007), Manager
$250, Hillary Clinton (D)

TOTAL: $3,320 to Democrats

Valve Software:

1. Gabe Newell, Managing Director
$2,300, Christopher Dodd (D)
2. Bill Van Buren, Producer
$250, John Edwards (D)
3. Christopher Green, No title listed
$500, Barack Obama (D)

TOTAL: $3,050 to Democrats — Via 1-Up