Full Sail Armada

Armada Spotlight: Brittanny “SodaPressing” MacCleod

The game business graduate balanced schoolwork, extracurriculars, motherhood, and more as Armada’s Stream Team Captain.

Brittanny MacCleod stands against a gray background and smiles. She has long brown hair and is wearing a gray Armada jersey.

For recent Armada grad Brittanny MacCleod – or “SodaPressing” as she’s known online – gaming has always been a constant. Enrolling at Full Sail to turn her passion for gaming into a career, Brittanny flourished in her time on campus, leading Armada teams, organizing community events, and working as a caster, observer, and volunteer during Full Sail’s partnered events with organizations like EA, XP League, and NACE.

Studying game business and esports, Brittanny was able to merge her love for competitive gaming, community, marketing, and representation into an impressive resume of work, all ahead of graduation.

“A lot of what I learned in my classes, I was able to bring to my roles in Armada,” shares Brittanny. “But then a lot of what I've learned in Armada, with how to be a part of that community, how to build excitement and create healthy tension in games and such… it's incredible how by just being a part of the community, I've learned things that I can apply to both my degree and what I want to do afterward.”

The recent grad has cast live events, directed Armada broadcasts, and established herself as a leader within the community with her approachable and inclusive nature.

“Being a part of Armada for me is like being part of a family with people who didn't really have anywhere to be themselves. Here, a lot of the people who had niches that kind of kept them separated from people at school growing up or people in their workplaces as adults, we have a place where we can be ourselves, unapologetically ourselves, consistently. And we don't have to put a mask on every single time we load into a game or open a Discord message.”

Brittanny has run the gamut in her roles within the Armada community, playing competitively on varsity League of Legends and Halo teams, serving as a Student Officer and Captain of the Stream Team, as well as maintaining her ongoing involvement with the Armada Casting Team.

“I've always had a passion for what analysts and casters do. I think probably my crowning moment with casting was at this year's XP League finals; I was asked to cast alongside Life With Panda, who's a prominent caster in the Fortnite community,” says Brittanny. “After that, I was actually asked to cast professionally for that organization. That was probably my biggest crowning achievement to date.”

For Brittanny, known lovingly as simply “Soda,” her role in esports is greatly informed by another important role in her life: being a mom. “Part of what made me want to fight so hard for a space in the industry is that my daughter and her adopted older sister both play video games, and growing up, I didn't have a healthy community to be a part of. I want to end the stigma of women in games, and I want to make it a space where when my daughter grows up, she has a space and she doesn't have to feel afraid of putting herself out there like I did.”

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