Emiko Iwasaki
Emiko Iwasaki is a Japanese video game artist from Yokohama who has been active since 1999, mostly known for her work on Arc System Works's Guilty Gear series.
Career
Initially joining the company as a part-time artist, she went on to work as a general director on four titles, one of the few women in the Japanese game industry to hold such a position. The last of these games, Battle Fantasia, was based on an original concept created by Iwasaki herself and was the developer's first fighting game with 3D models. With no prior experience, she and her team developed 2.5D techniques that influenced Street Fighter IV, as well as other Arc System Works games.In 2011, she left Arc System Works and relocated to Singapore, holding leading positions in mobile game developer Gumi.
Although she found Arc System Works' CEO and the Guilty Gear team welcoming, Iwasaki claims to have faced gender discrimination during her time with the company, which made her interested in working in other countries. She has been vocal about the hurdles she sees facing women in the Japanese video game industry, sharing her experience at United Nations events and working as an ambassador for the Singapore Committee for UN Women programme Girls2Pioneers.