Minecraft:Lydia Winters

Template:Infobox person Lydia Winters is Minecraft:Mojang Studios' former Chief Storyteller. Prior to 2020, she was the Brand Director, and before that the Director of Fun. She was best known as the host of the Minecraft:MINECON and Minecraft:Minecraft Live livestreams, and was also a special advisor at Minecraft:Block by Block, a charity dedicated to using Minecraft:Minecraft to improve public spaces worldwide.

She was the first woman to be hired by Mojang, in June 2011.<ref name=PopSugarInterview /><ref>https://clios.com/clio_juror/nojs/2007</ref> She announced her departure from Mojang in October 2024, after over 13 years at the company.<ref name=Resignation>Template:Tweet</ref>

She shares a Minecraft:YouTube channel with Minecraft:Vu Bui, where they post videos about photography.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/@LydiaAndVu</ref>

Early life

Winters graduated in 2008 from Template:W with a bachelor's degree in "Elementary Education and Teaching".<ref name=LydiaLinkedIn>https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydiawinters/</ref> She then taught fourth grade for a year before delving into photography, often shooting local weddings.<ref name=PopSugarInterview>The Incredible True Story of How a Florida Teacher Became Head of 1 of the Biggest Brands on Earth - PopSugar; November 17, 2017</ref> Later, she discovered video blogging after attending a photography workshop, and began making daily videos about random topics. Despite her style becoming popular, which also led to her raising $10,000 for breast cancer research, she then decided to focus her videos on videogames after consulting with friends.<ref name=PopSugarInterview/> Although Winters had played only one video game by then, Template:W, she decided to play Minecraft as her friends thought it would be hilarious. On November 15, 2010, she uploaded her first video to YouTube under the name "MinecraftChick" as "Minecraftgirl" was already taken.<ref name=PopSugarInterview/><ref>Template:Ytl</ref>

Career

By June of 2011, Winters sent an email to Mojang asking if she could interview the creators of Minecraft at that year’s Template:W. Minecraft:Carl Manneh, the CEO of Mojang at the time, replied, asking her if she could host a portion of their booth dedicated to Minecraft on the Template:W.<ref name=PopSugarInterview/> She accepted, and was soon at the booth in Los Angeles. Manneh was so impressed with how she acted that he had told the rest of the staff that Winters would be hired. She was then hired on June 28, 2011, and flew to Stockholm that December.<ref name=PopSugarInterview/><ref>Template:Tweet</ref>

Over time, Winters' job evolved from being a community builder to a more senior role toward merchandising, licensing, and events. Winters said that she also had an instrumental role in adding Minecraft:Alex, the predominantly female character, to Minecraft.<ref name=PopSugarInterview/> As with licensing, Winters would tend to avoid using gendered typecasting as a way of making Minecraft accessible to everyone, saying that she wouldn’t approve descriptions of Minecraft:Steve and Alex if they weren’t gender neutral.<ref name=PopSugarInterview/>

Winters announced on October 4, 2024 that it would be her final day with Mojang Studios.<ref name=Resignation/>

Filmography

Year	Work	Role	Reference
2015	Minecraft: Story Mode	Herself	In-game credits
2017–2018	Minecraft:Minecraft Mini-Series	Minecraft:CommuniKate	<ref>Template:Ytl</ref>
2023	Minecraft	Tiny Lydia

Gallery

• Winters' official Mojang avatar. She is seen holding her pet spider.
  Winters' official Mojang avatar. She is seen holding her pet spider.
• Lydia with Minecraft:Tyler Pappas
  Lydia with Minecraft:Tyler Pappas
• Lydia in action figure form
  Lydia in action figure form