Editing Stevie Case (section)

=== Transition to game design ===
While playing professionally, Case began looking at game design as a potential career, stating, "I love games, and I love competition—but having no choice but to play the same game day-in and day-out with all sorts of pressure attached just didn't suit my nature."<ref name=":5" /> According to Case, she did freelance game design work from her Dallas home for two years after university, using free design tools that she downloaded.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/careersinartgrap00rona|title=Careers in art and graphic design|last=Reis|first=Ronald A.|publisher=Barron's Educational Series|year=2001|isbn=0764116290|location=Hauppauge, NY|oclc=44979715|url-access=registration}}</ref>{{Rp|55}} One of the first game levels she designed was for ''[[SiN: Wages of Sin]]'' (1999).<ref name=":5" /> Setting up a small studio called Primitive Earthling Games, she and some friends created a ''Quake II'' add-on called ''Vengeance'' and submitted it to [[WizardWorks]].<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/killcreek-on-daikatana/1100-2452281/|title=KillCreek on Daikatana|last=Jebens|first=Harley|date=2000-04-27|website=GameSpot|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-11}}</ref> However, it never became available for purchase due to publishing delays.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite interview|last=Case|first=Stevie|subject-link=Stevie Case|interviewer=Josh Forman|title=Stevie "KillCreek" Case|url=http://www.ga-source.com/interviews/gamer/killcreek.shtml|access-date=2019-07-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990420062239/http://www.ga-source.com/interviews/gamer/killcreek.shtml|archive-date=1999-04-20|date=1999-02-21}}</ref> Between 1998 and 2000, Case authored three [[strategy guide]] books for [[Prima Games]]: ''[[Jazz Jackrabbit 2]]'' (1998), ''[[Buck Bumble]]'' (1998), and ''[[Daikatana]]'' (2000).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Stevie-Case/e/B001HCZO74|title=Books by Stevie Case|publisher=[[Amazon.com]]|access-date=November 4, 2011}}</ref> She also contributed to their ''Quake II'' strategy guide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/killcreek-teams-with-prima-quake-ii-guide/1100-2462448/|title=KillCreek Teams With Prima Quake II Guide|last=Jebens|first=Harley|date=2000-04-28|website=GameSpot|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-12}}</ref>

[[File:Quakecon 2000 Romero Killcreek Levelord (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Case with [[John Romero]] (left) and [[Richard Gray (game designer)|Richard Gray]] (right) at [[QuakeCon]] 2000]]

Case was hired at [[Ion Storm]] in the summer of 1997 as a [[Game testing|video game tester]].<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":10" /> After numerous members of the ''Daikatana'' development team left during the game's troubled production, Case accepted Romero's job offer to become a [[Level (video games)|level designer]] in November 1998.<ref name="VanityFair_Kushner2022" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.printmag.com/article/qa_stevie_case/|title=Q+A - Stevie Case|last=Taute|first=Michelle|date=2007-12-27|website=Print Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-09}}</ref> Case helped design levels for ''Daikatana''<ref name=":11">{{Cite web|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=11890&tab=credits|title=John Romero's Daikatana|website=AllGame|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141117070919/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=11890&tab=credits|archive-date=2014-11-17|access-date=2019-07-12}}</ref> and ''[[Anachronox]]'' (2001).<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=19784&tab=credits|title=Anachronox|website=AllGame|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115123106/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=19784&tab=credits|archive-date=2014-11-15|access-date=2019-07-12}}</ref> It was during this time period that Case began to date Romero. According to [[David Kushner (writer)|David Kushner]]'s ''[[Masters of Doom]]'', it was at this point when Case "radically reinvented herself" by losing weight, bleaching her hair, and undergoing [[breast augmentation]] surgery.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|216}} Case received further press coverage, appearing on the March 2000 cover of ''[[PC Accelerator]]'',<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=March 2000|title=Gaming 101|magazine=[[PC Accelerator]]|pages=17–39}}</ref> and being featured as one of the "Next Game Gods" in the November 2000 issue of ''[[PC Gamer]]''.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=November 2000|title=The New Game Gods|magazine=PC Gamer|volume=7|issue=11|pages=69–100}}</ref> She was approached by ''[[Playboy]]'' to appear in a nude pictorial, based on an interview she did in the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. The pictorial was released online in May 2000.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2000-09-04-0009020114-story.html|title=Playing for a Living|last=James|first=Michael|date=2000-09-04|website=The Baltimore Sun|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-09}}</ref> When asked about how she changed after moving to Dallas and making video games a career, Case responded:<blockquote>Making the leap to games helped me to realize that the only way to be truly happy is to live by your own rules, not limited by outside expectations. I love my job, found a wonderful boyfriend and truly found myself through games.<ref name=":2" /></blockquote>Case was still involved in the Cyberathlete Professional League in some capacity. She eventually transitioned into being CPL's "Master of Ceremonies",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ign.com/articles/2001/05/24/stevie-case-interview-2|title=Stevie Case Interview|last=Humphries|first=Scott|date=2001-05-24|website=IGN|access-date=2019-07-10}}</ref> and in 1999, Case joined the CPL's [[board of directors]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Electronic Entertainment Expo 2001 Directory - Official Exhibit Guide|year=2001|pages=34|chapter=Speaker Biographies|type=booklet|quote=In 1999 Stevie rejoined the CPL as a member of the Board of Directors.}}</ref>

Case left Ion Storm in January 2001<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shacknews.com/article/11930/case-leaves-ion-storm|title=Case Leaves Ion Storm|last=Gibson|first=Steve|date=2001-01-29|website=Shacknews|language=en|access-date=2019-07-09}}</ref> to follow Romero to his new company, [[Monkeystone Games]], which was founded in August 2001.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="Ramsay2015">{{cite book|first=Morgan|last=Ramsay|title=Online Game Pioneers at Work|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zEYnCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA256|date=3 June 2015|publisher=Apress|isbn=978-1-4302-4186-7|pages=256–}}</ref> Monkeystone was a mobile game development company formed from Romero's interest in mobile games, sparked by him wanting to move away from the lengthy development cycles of big-budget computer games.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Howarth|first=Robert|date=2001-10-04|title=MonkeyStone Games - An ex-ION interview with Killcreek, Romero and Hall|url=http://www.voodooextreme.com/games/interviews/monkeyboy/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011221071931/http://www.voodooextreme.com/games/interviews/monkeyboy/|archive-date=2001-12-21|access-date=2019-07-12|website=Voodoo Extreme}}</ref> Case worked as a producer for Monkeystone's first game, ''[[Hyperspace Delivery Boy!]]'', and also created the music and sound effects.<ref name=":13">{{Cite interview|last=Stevie|first=Case|subject-link=Stevie Case|interviewer=dolo|title=Stevie "KillCreek" Case Interview|url=http://dynamic3.gamespy.com/~dteam/article.php?sid=85|access-date=2019-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020420004142/http://dynamic3.gamespy.com/~dteam/article.php?sid=85|archive-date=2002-04-20|date=2002-01-25}}</ref> She also was credited on titles like Monkeystone's ''[[Red Faction (video game)|Red Faction]]'' port for the [[N-Gage (device)|N-Gage]].<ref name=":14">{{Cite web|url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=42652&tab=credits|title=Red Faction|website=AllGame|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115071351/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=42652&tab=credits|archive-date=2014-11-15|access-date=2019-07-12}}</ref> After leaving Monkeystone Games, Case became a senior project manager for [[Warner Bros.]] Online's mobile group.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Steinberg|first=Scott|date=Summer 2004|title=Love & Rockets - The stuff that makes girl gamers tick|magazine=Surge|issue=3|page=58|quote="All my fame came because I was female," admits Case, who now works as a senior project manager for Warner Bros. wireless division.}}</ref>