Game Industry People Lean Liberal

Based on political contributions by executives and developers, gamers have recently leaned left with their political views.

A GamePolitics investigation discovered that members of the gaming community who contributed to recent presidential campaigns tended to back Democratic candidates; 13 developers and/or executives contributed to the Clinton, Obama, Dodd or Biden campaigns in the past year, as opposed to just three ponying up cash for John McCain’s campaign. The donation amounts typically ranged from $1,000 to $5,000.

Developer Will Wright (Spore) and Activision Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick were the only high-profile Republican supporters. The third was Curt Schilling, who is more famous for his Major League Baseball pitching than his role as founder of 38 Studios.

The Democratic contributors list is a who’s-who of industry bigwigs: Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two CEO Ben Feder, Rockstar head Sam Houser, ESRB President Patricia Vance, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello, Sony Online’s John Smedley, Ultima and NC Soft’s Richard Garriott, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos, former ESA leader Doug Lowenstein and Valve President Gabe Newell, among others.

All campaign data was taken from public files and was limited to the 2007-2008 primary and presidential campaigns.