Written by: David Laprad
Published: September 4, 1999

She was the first member of the Cyberathlete Professional League and an early torchbearer for females in professional, competitive gaming. From her early days as game player with the CPL through her rise to game designer at ION Storm on the 3D action title Daikatana, she has experienced a broad spectrum of the industry. Now she is stepping even further into the limelight in a photo shoot in Playboy Magazine claiming to showcase women in games. Along with her burgeoning celebrity, she is staying true to her roots. Although no longer competing on a professional level, she is still a member of the CPL Board of Directors and a pervasive presence at all official events, including the upcoming NYC Ground ZERO. It all started with an interest and an inherent talent for success in a game called Quake. Please welcome Stevie “Killcreek” Case.

AVault: This interview dips way into the past, so warm up the memory chips!

Killcreek: All right!

AVault: When and how did you first become interested in gaming, and specifically, 3D action gaming?

Killcreek: I have been a game addict for as long as I can remember. I got started playing games on an Apple IIe my dad brought home when I was in second grade. I would play LodeRunner as much as I could! So I spent a lot of time with all sorts of games growing up. While living in the dorms at the University of Kansas as a freshman in 1995, I met some really cool guys who introduced me to Doom and Doom 2. I became seriously addicted. I didn’t even have my own PC, so I would take over their machines so I could play all the time. After that first year, they started telling me all about Quake. As soon as qtest came out, we were all hooked. We played constantly! We formed a clan called Impulse 9 and the rest is history.

AVault: How were you introduced to the CPL?

Killcreek: [CPL founder and president] Angel Munoz first contacted me about the CPL right after I moved to Dallas in 1997. I was working a really unpleasant, low-paying tech support job to pay my bills and doing everything I could to get into the gaming industry. Angel sent me a very simple e-mail offering some form of endorsement of me as a player. We set up a meeting to talk about his ideas. In that meeting, he outlined his plans for the Cyberathletes and asked me to join him as the first one.

AVault: What were some of the things he outlined?

Killcreek: Angel said he wanted to set up a team of professional gamers. At that time, the idea was for the Cyberathlete organizers to act as agents for the gamers, seeking out endorsements and doing public relations for each one. He wanted to put together a team of talented players who were also nice, marketable people. Unfortunately, it was a little too early to make the pro gamer and agent setup work like it should. The idea of the CPL didn't come to fruition until later, and was a more appropriate way to support and work with pro gamers.

AVault: You were the first Cyberathlete to be signed. Did this change the perception of females as generally disinterested in games or as being noncompetitive?

Killcreek: I hope it turned a few heads and made people think twice about women in gaming, but that’s an attitude shift that had already been started by a number of talented female players. Way back in the early days, players like Goddess, Kornelia and mynx were very visible and made a big difference in peoples’ view of female gamers. I hope the CPL's inclusion of women was a part of the changing attitude toward women in gaming.

AVault: What were your thoughts about the organization and its potential in its early stages?

Killcreek: From the first moment we started talking about the idea, I was very excited about its potential! There were so many great gamers out there, and the opportunity to be a Cyberathlete was one I was sure they would enjoy. It seemed like a really cool and unique way to bring players together and give them a structure for serious competition. I love watching people play, so the idea of gaming eventually evolving into a spectator event excited me as well.

AVault: There were some difficult times early on. Discuss some of the criticisms the organization confronted and how it answered them.

Killcreek: I think the organization started out with too much of a focus on money. In the beginning, the team felt a bit taken advantage of for many reasons. Primarily, they had been promised that they would be the focus. Each player was supposed to be given PR and numerous opportunities. Instead, the Cyberathlete organization itself was getting all the attention. When the focus switched to the CPL rather than the pre-selected team setup, many of those concerns were resolved. I feel like the gamers are much more valued now, as they should be. The intent was always to make the hot players into stars, and I feel that the organization has made a lot of progress in that direction. Big events with large cash prizes for the winners provides a fair battleground for anyone to win, rather than trying to force the focus to a pre-selected set of pro gamers. Now anyone can walk into a CPL event and leave as the next big thing.