Katherine Anna Kang: Video Game Pioneer and Machinima Visionary

Katherine Anna Kang is an American video game designer and producer best known for her work in the machinima community and her contributions to id Software. She founded Fountainhead Entertainment, a company that championed machinima and produced numerous award-winning projects, and also served as President of id Mobile, where she led the development of mobile games like Doom RPG and Wolfenstein RPG.
American film producer and video game designer
Katherine Anna Kang
Born (1970-12-15) December 15, 1970 (age 53)
Occupation(s)Founder and CEO of Fountainhead Entertainment
Spouse
John D. Carmack
(m. 2000; div. 2021)
Children2

Katherine Anna Kang (born December 15, 1970) is an American video game designer.

Career

In 2000, as founder and CEO of Fountainhead Entertainment, she championed machinima and became known as one of machinima's biggest supporters. Through Fountainhead Entertainment, she produced, wrote, and directed a variety of machinima pieces and co-founded the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences. In Machinima For Dummies, the machinima piece Anna is mentioned as "…one of the top ten list of every prominent machinima maker in the world."

While at Fountainhead Entertainment, Kang produced and designed mobile games for id Software. Mobile game titles Doom RPG and the Orcs & Elves series were heralded as some of the best mobile games of their time.[by whom?] Orcs & Elves was eventually ported to the Nintendo DS with Kang producing and designing.

In 2000, Kang wrote, directed, and produced the documentary Gamers. The documentary included interviews from video gaming luminaries, with a brief focus on history and predictive trends. The documentary was released in limited distribution throughout Europe and the US in 2001.

Formerly, Kang was the Director of Business Development for id Software where she worked on Quake III Arena and various mission packs and Quake II ports. In 2008, she returned to id Software as President of id Mobile where she produced and designed Wolfenstein RPG and Doom II RPG. She also produced the iPhone-only game Doom Resurrection. A 2014 article listed her as a "former director of business development at id Software", following her husband's departure from id in 2013.

Kang is also co-founder of Armadillo Aerospace.

Personal life

Kang married computer programmer and businessman John Carmack in January 2000. In August 2004, Kang gave birth to their first son, Christopher Ryan. Their second son was born in November 2009. Due to her involvement with id Software and John Carmack, she was mentioned in the final chapters of Masters of Doom. The couple divorced in 2021.

Awards

Through Fountainhead Entertainment, Kang has won the following awards:

  • AMAS Best Technical Achievement for Anna
  • AMAS Best Direction for In The Waiting Line
  • IGN.com Adventure Game of the Year for Doom RPG
  • 1UP.com Mobile Game of the Year for Doom RPG
  • Gamespot's Mobies Mobile Game of the Year for Doom RPG
  • Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Best Cell Game for Orcs & Elves
  • IGN.com Best of E3 – Best Wireless RPG for Orcs & Elves
  • IGN.com Best Wireless Story for Orcs & Elves
  • Leipzig Game Convention Best Mobile Game for Orcs & Elves

Machinima

Fountainhead's machinima include the award-winning short Anna; In The Waiting Line, aired on MTV; Game Over, aired on UPN; and Sidrial released via Fileplanet.

Games

  • Quake II (1997), for Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, developed by id Software, published by Activision
  • Kingpin: Life of Crime (1999), for Microsoft Windows, Linux Interplay Entertainment Corp
  • Quake III Arena (1999), for Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, developed by id Software, published by Activision
  • Doom RPG (2005), developed by id Software, published by JAMDAT
  • Orcs & Elves (2006), for mobile phone, developed by id Software, published by EA
  • Orcs & Elves (2007), for Nintendo DS, developed by id Software, published by EA Mobile
  • Orcs & Elves 2 (2007), developed by id Software, published by EA Mobile
  • Wolfenstein RPG (2008), for mobile phone, by id Software, published by EA Mobile
  • Doom Resurrection (2009), for iOS, developed by id Software
  • Doom 2 RPG (2010), for mobile phone, by id Software