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Rebecca Heineman and transgender people

Rebecca Heineman aka “Burger Becky” was a pioneering American videogame developer and transgender activist.

Background

Rebecca Ann Heineman was born on October 30, 1963 and grew up in Whittier, California. As an adolescent, Heineman was an avid player of the Atari 2600 gaming console, initially using pirated games and later learning how to reverse engineer and code the games.

In 1980, at age 17, Heineman was the first champion of a national U.S. video game tournament, winning on Atari 2600 Space Invaders. Heineman then wrote for Electronic Games magazine, which led to being hired as a programmer by Avalon Hill.

Heineman created. helped develop, or ported many games, including:

  • London Blitz
  • Chuck Norris Superkicks
  • Robin Hood
  • Wasteland
  • The Bard’s Tale
  • Out of This World
  • Wolfenstein 3D
  • The Bard’s Tale III: Thief of Fate
  • Dragon Wars
  • Tass Times in Tonetown
  • Borrowed Time
  • Mindshadow
  • The Tracer Sanction
  • Battle Chess
  • Defiance
  • Killing Time
  • Shattered Steel
  • Jazz Jackrabbit 2 
  • Half-Life (canceled Mac OS port)
  • Activision Anthology
  • Aliens vs. Predator
  • Baldur’s Gate II
  • Heroes of Might and Magic IV

In 2013 Heineman co-founded Olde Sküül with Jennell Jaquays, Maurine Starkey, and Susan Manley.

In 2017, Heineman was inducted into the International Video Game Hall of Fame. Heineman won the Gayming Icon Award at the 2025 Gayming Awards.

Heineman was married to fellow game designer Jennell Jaquays (1956–2024) and had five children. Heineman died of cancer in Heath, Texas on November 17, 2025.

Transgender activism

While working at Amazon, Heineman was was Transgender Chair of Glamazon, Amazon’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group.

Heineman was named to the advisory board of the Videogame History Museum in 2011, and served on the GLAAD board of directors.

In 2014, Heineman helped end the ongoing call-out and shunning campaign by Parker Molloy against prominent trans artists and entertainers. After Molloy demanded in a private Facebook message that Heineman “unfriend Andrea James or me,” Heineman looked into Molloy’s false claim that Christina Kahrl said James looked forward to Molloy’s suicide, which Kahrl denied. Heineman then posted screencaps and later messaged James: “I noticed that you’ve seen the “Chat” I had with Parker. For the record, the post is unaltered and 100% true. You have my permission to use is as you like. Have fun!!!”

Heineman was known for helping other trans and gender diverse programmers and game developers with code and industry connections.

References

Legacy (November 19, 2025). Rebecca Heineman, 1963 – 2025. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/legacyremembers/rebecca-heineman-obituary?pid=210324122

Staff report (November 19, 2025). Remembering Gaming Legend Rebecca Heineman. GLAAD https://glaad.org/remembering-gaming-legend-rebecca-heineman/

Rodriguez, Matthew (November 19, 2025). Rebecca Heineman, 1st National Gaming Champ, Has Died at 62: Games “Allowed Me to Play as Female.” them https://www.them.us/story/rebecca-heineman-obit-death-cancer-space-invaders-atari-gaming-champ?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Edwards, Benj (November 19, 2025). Celebrated game developer Rebecca Heineman dies at age 62. Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/interplay-co-founder-and-pioneering-game-developer-rebecca-heineman-dies-at-62/

Masters, Catherine (November 18, 2025). R.I.P. Rebecca Heineman, legendary game designer and trailblazer. The A.V. Club https://www.avclub.com/rebecca-heineman-dies-games

Purchase, Robert (November 18, 2025). “One of the most brilliant programmers around” – tributes pour in as Interplay co-founder Rebecca Heineman passes away. Eurogamer https://www.eurogamer.net/one-of-the-most-brilliant-programmers-around-tributes-pour-in-as-interplay-co-founder-rebecca-heineman-passes-away

Litchfield, Ted (November 17, 2025). Legendary game designer, programmer, Space Invaders champion, and LGBTQ trailblazer Rebecca Heineman has died. PC Gamer https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/legendary-game-designer-programmer-space-invaders-champion-and-lgbtq-trailblazer-rebecca-heineman-has-died/

Masters, Catherine (October 7, 2025). Industry Legend Rebecca Heineman Reveals Cancer Diagnosis, Launches GoFundMe Campaign. The A.V. Club https://www.avclub.com/industry-legend-rebecca-heineman-reveals-cancer-diagnosis-launches-gofundme-campaign

Litchfield, Ted (October 5, 2025). First US videogame champion, legendary programmer, and Interplay co-founder Rebecca Heineman is fundraising to deal with the costs of an aggressive cancer diagnosis. PC Gamer https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/first-us-videogame-champion-legendary-programmer-and-interplay-co-founder-rebecca-heineman-is-fundraising-to-deal-with-the-costs-of-an-aggressive-cancer-diagnosis/

Slotnik, Daniel E. (February 1, 2024). Jennell Jaquays, Who Unlocked Fantasy Dungeons for Gamers, Dies at 67. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/arts/jennell-jaquays-dead.html

Johnson, Shakeena (May 30, 2021). Seven trailblazing LGBTQ+ pioneers who helped to shape video gaming as we know it. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2021/05/30/lgbt-video-game-pioneers-david-gaider-danielle-bunten-berry-gaming/

Drury, Paul (May 2019). In the chair with… Rebecca Heineman. Retro Gamer. No. 192 https://archive.org/details/retro-gamer-raspberry-pi-buenos-aires/Retro%20Gamer%20192/page/91/mode/2up

Marie, Meagan (December 4, 2018). Women in Gaming: 100 Professionals of Play, pp. 32–33.. Dorling Kindersley, ISBN 978-0241395066

Barton, Matt (February 22, 2008). Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games, p. 197. CRC Press, ISBN 978-1439865248

Media

VCF Southwest (June 30, 2023). How I reverse engineered the Atari 2600 because I was broke, with Rebecca Heineman. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5MKMnIn8Rc

The Retro Collection with Rebecca Heineman (February 2, 2023). Rebecca Heineman – Developer & Co-Founder of Interplay | Retro Tea Break. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPTLPXNtb2I

The Retro Hour (Retro Gaming Podcast) with Rebecca Heineman (July 1, 2016). The Retro Hour – Episode 26 (Space Invaders to 3DOs With Rebecca Heineman). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8PbLVCMLsw

Resources

Burger Becky (burgerbecky.com)

Sailor Ranko (sailorranko.com)

Olde Sküül (oldeskuul.com) [archive]

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

IMDb (imdb.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

X/Twitter (x.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)