The Story of Van Tran - The Woman Who Made the First Video Game with a Female Protagonist
Today, there are plenty of video games that feature great female protagonists — from newer titles, like Horizon: Forbidden West to more long-standing franchises, like Tomb Raider. These, however, are far from the oldest female-led games. That title arguably belongs to Wabbit, by now defunct video game company, Apollo. It’s touted as the first video game to have a named, playable female character.
Wabbit, in itself, is an important fragment of video game history. The Atari 2600 title is not only celebrated today for its female protagonist, but it also garnered plenty of praise then for its impressive graphics. That said, Wabbit has an underlying story that’s even more intriguing — one that’s over a decade in the making.
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For years, people searched for Wabbit’s elusive designer — a Vietnamese woman named “Ban Tran.” After releasing Wabbit in 1982, she seemingly disappeared from the video game scene without a trace. Thus, video game historians and enthusiasts got to work.
The search was first undertaken by two people: Kevin Bunch of the Atari Archive, and Kate Willaert of A Critical Hit! They had their work cut out for them as “Ban Tran” was a common name among Vietnamese women. Bunch sent out dozens of letters in 2019, all addressed to the same name. Meanwhile, Willaert reached out to Ban Tran’s former colleagues in Apollo, as well as the subsequently formed MicroGraphic Image. Unfortunately, the «Ban Tran» they were looking for never responded.
Willaert also documented the duo’s findings on Twitter in 2021, tapping into their community in an attempt to learn more. Eventually, the Video Game History Foundation pitched in to help. The organization opened a Discord channel dedicated to finding Ban
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