Get to know Terry Redfield, Wicked Fox Games Co-Founder and CEO
Introducing our studio Co-Founder and CEO, Terry Redfield! In this Developer Spotlight, she shares a bit about the challenges she has faced throughout her career in games, the lessons she’s learned in entrepreneurship, and what it means to lead with the Spirit of Aloha.
What is your role at Wicked Fox Games?
“I am Co-Founder and CEO of Wicked Fox Games.”
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from and what can you tell us about how you grew up?
“My dad met my mom in Hawaii when he was in the Navy during the Vietnam War. They moved to Virginia, but my mom hated the weather and they quickly moved to California to be closer to the Islands. Most of my upbringing was in the California Bay Area.”
When you’re not at work or playing games, what does your spare time look like?
“I’m a mom, so I’m usually with my daughter Bella. She’s seven years old.”
What inspired you to work in the games industry?
“I was painfully shy as a kid. I was nerdy, and back then nerds were not treated well. You got ‘garbage-canned’ or whatever. I also had a lot of interests that were considered more traditionally masculine, I was multicultural, and my family moved around a lot. Kids can be mean, so games were a way for me to express myself and be who I wanted to be, which is a big reason why I was inspired to work in games.”
You’re no stranger to building a studio from the ground up. What are some of the lessons you learned in your previous experiences and how are you applying those to your role as Co-Founder and CEO of Wicked Fox Games?
“I started my first studio with $3,000 in my pocket during the recession. I had no idea what I was doing and I was very naïve. There also weren’t really many opportunities for women in studio leadership positions in games back then.
It was incredibly difficult to get funding, and there were times when my two [female] Co-Founders and I were pressured to do things like go on dates to secure funding. It was really upsetting to be put in those situations. Eventually we all moved on to other things because we didn’t want to go down that road, but I learned many hard truths in the beginning.
When I started my second company I learned a lot about making sure you have the right people in the right places so they can be successful. I hired people that I saw potential in, but I didn’t provide them with the experience needed to be successful in their roles. They were miserable, the team was miserable, and that was on me as the leader.
But I always try to be empathetic, and if anyone’s ever in a position on a team of mine that isn’t a great fit, I try to find them one that is, whether it’s internally or at another studio. And it’s important to me that on my team, people feel empowered to try things and experiment.”
What do you admire the most about the team here at Wicked Fox Games?
“I love my team. There’s so many things. How do I pick just a couple? I’d say that how we handle strife and how we handle disagreements is really telling, because we try to always respect each other’s opinions because we are all unique. We grew up in different places, in different ways, and we have different perspectives, which is powerful but at the same time there will always be friction when we have differences.
But as long as we respect each other when we disagree, and we’re not afraid to say “Let me take a step back and think about that” instead of letting it escalate into an argument where the loudest voice in the room wins – which I have witnessed so many times in my career – there will always be a path forward.”
What is something you want people to know about Wicked Fox Games?
“That we make games for players that don’t fit the mold of just-casual or just-core gamers. There’s a hugely underserved market of gamers that don’t want just one kind of player experience. And as players get older, start families, and progress in their careers, they have less time for the long, super immersive experiences they used to play.
We want to make games that fit into their busy daily lives, but still offer that competitive edge or immersive storytelling they crave, just in a more bite-sized form. The game we’re working on now, Rise of Elements, really embodies that.”
Rise of Elements is the spiritual successor to a game that you created earlier on in your career. What does it mean to you to be able to revisit the game, improve upon it, and bring it to a new audience?
“Man, it’s just fantastic. Initially I had the idea for Rise of Elements because I just loved playing Puzzle Quest and League of Legends. But as I got deeper into the development of it I realized there was an audience emerging that had that same intersection of interests, and there was a real market. But in the beginning I was just thinking, “I’m so sick of working on casual puzzle games! How can I turn this mechanic on its head?” That’s the origin story of the idea, haha.
But when I had my daughter, I made the decision to take a step back from games, and from developing the original to focus on my family. The early prototype of the game had been pretty well received and gained some traction, so I was sure that someone would take the idea and run with it. But I still see the same gap in the market today.
Then, in 2024 in the midst of the mass layoffs across the industry I met Caerie. And we talked and I still had love for the game, so we saw an opportunity to form Wicked Fox Games and take on development together.
It’s so fantastic to pick it up again and push the boundaries of the original vision, and I’m so excited for where it’s headed.”
Is there a particular game that sparked your desire to work in the industry?
“When I was really young I had this LED football game that I wore the keys off from playing so much. I would sit in the backseat of the car and play that for hours. I’ve been obsessed with games ever since. I was also a huge arcade fanatic at that age. We were very poor, but I would save up quarters to go play arcade games. Dragon’s Lair was one of my favorites.
So I always knew from an early age that I wanted to play games, which became work in games. But back then there wasn’t as much freedom for girls to get into games as there is today. When I was still young my grandma would say, “What are you doing? Girls don’t do that. You should play with dolls instead.” There were times when we would fight about it. But I always thought “No, this is my world. This is what I want to do.”
Is there a particular person or mentor of yours that you feel had a strong impact on your life or career trajectory?
“There’s been a lot of them, but one that comes to mind was a therapist actually. I was in my 30’s and struggling in the industry. I was constantly talked down to and told I didn’t have good ideas. I’d volunteer to try things like coding and the reaction was something like “That’s very sweet you want to do some coding for these NPCs, Terry, but you just let the boys do that.”
It was hard to think I was any good, honestly, when I was being received like that. But my therapist at the time would tell me “Your ideas are just as good as anyone else’s, you should push back and not let people push you around. Say it with your chest if you want to do something.” That helped me stand up for myself more, and that mindset created more opportunities for me.”
Looking back at your career, what is one thing you’ve done that you’re particularly proud of?
“Man, I’d say it was launching Psychonauts. I loved that game. And I met a lot of very good friends that I’m still good friends with to this day. We were a startup studio at the time, and we kept going because we loved the game so much. It was a once in a lifetime experience and felt like we overcame such incredible odds. Yeah, I have to say that’s my highlight.”
What advice would you give to someone who is struggling to find work in this industry right now or trying to break in?
“My advice is to just do the thing. Whether you’re coming out of school or you’ve been in the industry for a while, dropped out for some reason, or you’re having a hard time getting to where you want to be, just do the work on your own and focus on the things that you love doing.
Do your own side projects and hone those skills. There are many, many hiring managers out there that would rather hire someone self-taught with eight small, but polished and relevant personal projects than someone with a graduate degree.
And, find a mentor and build your network. You’ll be more likely to find a role you want if you have a well-connected mentor who can get you a warm intro to the right people. Then, it’s all you after that point.”
What is it about you and Caerie’s relationship that makes a synchronous co-founder dynamic?
“We have hard days, we talk about hard things, and we don’t always agree on everything. But we listen to each other, and we’re honest. Trust is vital. At the end of the day, we come back to the table and we talk things through.”
Is there a particular video game character that you think you relate to?
“I’d say Aeris from Final Fantasy 7.
She was so kind and powerful in her own right. A lot of people misunderstood her or underestimated her, when in reality her actions had a major impact. I relate to her personality a lot, too. I’m a glass-half-full person. Sometimes it’s hard to maintain that, but I really believe in the spirit of Aloha and that way of life. And I think I love Aeris because in her own way she embodies that.”
How does your belief in the Aloha Spirit influence the way you lead a team?
“Aloha to me means leading with empathy and equity as much as I can. It’s also about giving back where we can as a studio and planning to do good in the world as we succeed. I want everyone at the studio to have a comfortable work life balance, and for us to practice a family-first policy.”
Anything else that you want people to know?
“I want people to know that we just launched a Kickstarter campaign for our first game as a studio, Rise of Elements!
But other than that, I want people to know just how much power and potential we have as a studio.
Our studio already has a working prototype that we built from scratch for an unannounced future project and very little budget. The very small amount of funding we have is for tools and was donated by some angel investors, but as far as the work goes, everyone here is working for equity, personal development, and because they believe in our studio. I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished so far.”