Japanese · 1980s
Sega's "First Lady of RPGs" — the artist behind Phantasy Star, who rose to direct and produce Skies of Arcadia across a thirty-eight-year career at one company.
Rieko Kodama joined Sega in 1984 and remained there until her death in May 2022, an almost unheard-of tenure in an industry defined by churn. She began as a graphic designer on arcade titles and Master System games, including Alex Kidd in Miracle World in 1986 and, most consequentially, Phantasy Star in 1987 — a science-fiction RPG with a female protagonist, released at a moment when neither of those things was a given, and whose visual identity was substantially her work. She did not stay in art. Kodama moved into direction and then production, eventually leading development at the Sega Wow division on Skies of Arcadia, the Dreamcast RPG released in 2000 that remains one of the most fondly regarded games Sega ever published. Nintendo Power called her the "First Lady of RPGs", and she is routinely cited as one of the first women to build a major career in the video game industry — an assessment the Game Developers Conference formalised in 2019 by awarding her its Pioneer award. Sometimes credited as "Phoenix Rie", she worked across the Phantasy Star series, Skies of Arcadia and later the 7th Dragon games.