She received the Pioneer Award at the 2018 Game Developers Choice Awards in recognition of her lifelong contributions to video games. Kodama remained a producer at Sega until her death. Later, as producer, she oversaw the development of several Sega video games, including the commercially and critically successful Skies of Arcadia. She did artwork for other Genesis games, including Altered Beast (1988) and Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). The success of Phantasy Star led her to continue with the series thereafter, including directing Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium (1993) for the Sega Genesis. Kodama began her career at Sega as a graphic designer on arcade games and Master System games, including Alex Kidd in Miracle World (1986) and Phantasy Star (1987). She is often recognized as one of the first successful women in the video game industry. She is primarily known for her work on role-playing video games including the original Phantasy Star series, the 7th Dragon series, and Skies of Arcadia (2000). Rieko Kodama ( Japanese: 小玉 理恵子, Hepburn: Kodama Rieko, May 1963 – May 9, 2022), also known as Phoenix Rie, was a Japanese video game artist, director, and producer employed by Sega from 1984 until her death. Phantasy Star, Skies of Arcadia, 7th Dragon Video game artist, director, and producer
