Purple Moon
Defunct American developer of girls' video games
title: "Purple Moon" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mattel", "american-companies-established-in-1996", "video-game-companies-established-in-1996", "video-game-companies-disestablished-in-1999", "defunct-video-game-companies-of-the-united-states"] description: "Defunct American developer of girls' video games" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Moon" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Defunct American developer of girls' video games ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Purple Moon |
| logo | File:Purple Moon logo.gif |
| type | Private |
| fate | Assets purchased by Mattel |
| predecessor | |
| successor | |
| founded | |
| founder | Brenda Laurel |
| defunct | |
| hq_location_city | Mountain View, California |
| hq_location_country | U.S. |
| area_served | |
| key_people | Nancy Deyo (chief executive) |
| Brenda Laurel, vice president for design | |
| Kristee Rosendahl, webmaster | |
| Pamela Dell, story director | |
| owner | |
| num_employees | 40 |
| num_employees_year | 1999 |
| :: |
| name = Purple Moon | logo = File:Purple Moon logo.gif | type = Private | industry = | fate = Assets purchased by Mattel | predecessor = | successor = | founded = | founder = Brenda Laurel | defunct = | hq_location_city = Mountain View, California | hq_location_country = U.S. | area_served = | key_people = Nancy Deyo (chief executive) Brenda Laurel, vice president for design Kristee Rosendahl, webmaster Pamela Dell, story director | products = | owner = | num_employees = 40 | num_employees_year = 1999 | parent = Purple Moon was an American developer of girls' video games based in Mountain View, California. Its games were targeted at girls between the ages of 8 and 14. The company was founded by Brenda Laurel and others, and supported by Interval Research.{{cite book |title= Cyberliteracy: navigating the Internet with awareness |last= Gurak |first= Laura J. |authorlink= Laura J. Gurak |year= 2001 |publisher= Yale University Press |location= |isbn= 0-300-08979-1 |page= 75 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TltFOFTPQCgC&dq=%22Purple+Moon%22+%22Brenda+Laurel%22&pg=PA75}} They debuted their first two games, Rockett's New School and Secret Paths in the Forest, in 1997. Both games were more or less visual novels and encouraged values like friendship and decision making. Purple Moon's games were part of a larger girl games movement in the 1990s, initiated largely by the surprise success of Mattel's 1996 CD-ROM game Barbie Fashion Designer.
Laurel based her game design on four years of interview research she had done at Interval.
An associated website, purple-moon.com, featured characters from the games and allowed users to trade virtual items. Some items arose from brand partnerships with companies such as Bonne Bell and SeaWorld. Children were required to have parental consent (email or verbal) in order to register on the site.
Purple Moon's games faced some criticism such as claims that they perpetuated gender stereotypes and ethnic stereotypes.
The company folded in spring of 1999 and was bought out by Mattel, creators of Barbie, one of the most famous and well-known franchises aimed at young girls. Mattel kept Purple Moon's website running for a while but did not develop any further products.
In a 2009 interview, Laurel said that "In a way, the need for the kind of cultural intervention we made with Purple Moon no longer exists, in that girls and women are full participants in the world of computer-based interactivity, but we still have a problem with female designers getting their work out there. And there are many genres and areas of interest for girls and women that remain untouched. Heroes like Tracy Fullerton (USC), danah boyd (now at Microsoft, I believe), Justine Cassell (Northwestern) and Henry Jenkins (founder of the Comparative Media Studies program at MIT and moving now to USC) keep the flame burning for women in gaming."
Works
;Rockett series
- Rockett's New School
- Rockett's Tricky Decision
- Rockett's Secret Invitation
- Rockett's First Dance
- Rockett's Adventure Maker
- Rockett's Camp Adventures
;Secret Paths series
;Other games
References
References
- Takahashi, Dean. (19 Feb 1999). "Purple Moon Ceases Operations Amid Tough Rivalry From Barbie". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
- Harmon, Amy. (22 March 1999). "With the Best Research and Intentions, a Game Maker Fails". [[The New York Times]].
- Laurel, Brenda. (1999). "New Players, New Games".
- Ricadela, Aaron. (February 19, 1999). "Sun Sets on Purple Moon".
- (20 March 2013). "Rhetoric/Composition/Play through Video Games: Reshaping Theory and Practice of Writing". Palgrave Macmillan.
- Laurel, Brenda. (2001). "Utopian Entrepreneur". MIT Press.
- Laurel, Brenda. (1998). "CHI 98 Conference Summary on Human Factors in Computing Systems".
- Riedman, Patricia. (27 April 1998). "Purple Moon Courts Sponsors: Girls Site Balances Revenue Needs with Children Privacy Issues". [[Advertising Age]].
- (15 March 1998). "Purple Moon: Thanks but No Thanks for Rockett's New School". GREAT: Gender Relations in Educational Applications of Technology.
- Eisenberg, Rebecca. (13 February 1998). "Girl Games: Adventures in Lip Gloss". [[Gamasutra]].
- McManus, Emily. (2 March 2009). "We brought girls roaring into the online game space: Brenda Laurel Q&A". [[TED (conference).
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