Search Results

Agostinelli, Strider

Title: Head of AI Research and Development

Company: LiveArena Technologies & AI SIG

Strider Agostinelli is a seasoned software engineer and technology leader with over 20 years of experience and 15 years in the Video Games Industry. Throughout his career, he has contributed to more than two dozen titles, collaborating with both indie developers and leading AAA studios such as Electronic Arts, Activision/Blizzard, and Square Enix. At Square Enix Ltd, he served as the Head of Technology during the Embracer Group acquisition in 2022. Strider's expertise lies in new technology, automation, and interactivity. He has worked on multiple acclaimed franchises, including Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Tomb Raider, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. His development of proprietary artificial intelligence and automation tools has resulted in the saving of hundreds of thousands of man-hours across various projects. Currently, Strider is the Chair of the International Game Developers Association's Artificial Intelligence Special Interest Group (IGDA AI SIG) and serves as the Head of AI Research and Development for LiveArena Technologies. Through his leadership roles, Strider actively shapes the future of AI in gaming and beyond, advocating for advancements that prioritize creativity, efficiency, and ethical considerations.

Bethea, Chase

Title: Composer / Technical Music Designer

Company: Chase Bethea

Chase Bethea is a Professional Multi-Award Winning Video Game Composer/Technical Music Designer known in the industry as the Swiss Army knife of Video Game Composition. Chase has a diverse collection of compositions that can be described as a fusion of texture and complexity which allows the player to become immersed in the experience. His soundtrack for Cubic Climber earned a Noteworthy on Destructoid. In 2016, Chase was nominated for Artists of the Year – Independent Composer by VGMO in the entire industry for his I Can't Escape:Darkness score. In 2021, he won an award for the AGROUND soundtrack from the NYX Game Awards. In 2023, Chase Bethea won another NYX Award for the remarkable video game score, “On the Peril of Parrots“and garnered two Global Music awards, one for the same score and the other recognizing his excellence as a composer. Two of these pieces are featured in NYC Jam Sessions VGM Real Book Vol. II. In March 2024, Chase was honoured with one of the industry’s most prestigious awards: the “Excellence in Artistry” Award from the Black in Gaming Foundation. This recognition serves as a testament to his consistent dedication and remarkable contributions to video game music within the industry. Chase has also scored Aztec Ride, a highly addictive fun mobile game that shipped on Google Play in October 2020 and was nominated for a Pocket Gamer Mobile Award. Chase was selected to perform live at Indiecade 2019 and selections of his game compositions have also been performed live by the Virtual Video Game Orchestral at MAGWest 2022 and 2023. Chase has also been a guest speaker at many conferences such as 2022 Global Game Jam (Keynote Speaker), GDC (Game Developers Conference (4x), PAX, Audiokinetic, MAGWEST (3x), IGDA, GameSound Con (2x), Berklee College of Music (2x), Game Devs of Color (2x), ADC (Audio Developers Conference), A2IM, Indie Game Business and EPOS Gaming.

Boyne, Adam

Title: Co-Founder

Company: BetaJester Ltd

Adam is a talented games programmer and designer, as well as co-founder of BetaJester Ltd, an indie games and work-for-hire studio based in the UK. Alongside his extensive experience building innovative and engaging games across all genres, in his spare time he also reaches out to the industry by supporting and mentoring upcoming developers and students on their journey. He is also the founder of Playing Attention, the first group dedicated to supporting and raising awareness of ADHD in the UK games industry. Alongside these roles, he is also a committee member for Limit Break, a co-founder of the IGDA Neurodivergent in Games SIG, and an ambassador for Safe In Our World.

Canales-Echeverria, Alonso

Title: Co-Founder

Company: Smarto Club

Alonso is a game producer and project manager with multiple years of experience in small studios serving as a producer, programmer and game designer. He is one of co-founders of Smarto Club, an indie game studio from Chile he started with friends in the final years of his undergraduate studies. During college, Alonso was the president of the local game development club where he organized activities such as student-led game development teams, a week-long game development course for high school students, and the biggest Global Game Jam site in Chile. He was recognized as a Scholar by the IGDA Foundation and has given talks about production as part of IGDA's Pathfindings conference. After having finished his bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Business Administration at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, he is currently pursuing a Masters in Game Design at the NYU Game Center (while still juggling the day-to-day responsibilities of running an indie studio, of course).

Cannon, Nessa

Title: Game Writer/Narrative Designer

Company: Independent

Nessa Cannon is a game writer and narrative designer with three years of experience on over a dozen games, primarily as a freelancer in the indie space. She has worked on indie hits OnlyCans: Thirst Date, Endoparasitic, and Waves of Steel, and is currently a lead writer on upcoming Raw Fury-published Star Trucker. She is a consultant on Annapurna's Forever Ago and wrote for a currently unannounced AAA project. She has spoken at PAX Online, Narrascope, and as a guest lecturer for CSU Los Angeles and Northeastern University. Nessa has been the recipient of several awards such as IGDA Velocity and Amplifying New Voices 2023.

Castagnino Ugolotti, Vania

Title: Community/Event Manager & research assistant

Company: Science Park Skovde/ Sweden Game Arena

Vania is a Peruvian artist and game developer, boasting credentials in Fine Arts and Serious Games development. She's the driving force behind the Swedish studio An Otter Team and has collaborated extensively with the Peruvian studio Hermanos Magia working both in serious and silly games. As an advocate for equality in the game industry, Vania co-founded FemDevs Perú, a non-profit network. Her community engagement spans from IGDA Perú to Sweden Game Arena, and has a professional background in publishing as an Acquisition Scout

Clewes-Boyne, Adam

Title: Studio Director

Company: BetaJester Ltd

Adam is a talented games programmer and designer, as well as co-founder of BetaJester Ltd, an indie games and work-for-hire studio based in the UK. Alongside his extensive experience building innovative and engaging games across all genres, in his spare time he also reaches out to the industry by supporting and mentoring upcoming developers and students on their journey. He is also the founder of Playing Attention, the first group dedicated to supporting and raising awareness of ADHD in the UK games industry. Alongside these roles, he is also a committee member for Limit Break, a co-founder of the IGDA Neurodivergent in Games SIG, and an ambassador for Safe In Our World.

Clough, Michelle

Title: Game Writer / Narrative Designer

Company: Talespinners

Michelle Clough is a freelance game writer, editor, and narrative designer, and a partner in the game narrative co-op Talespinners. Her work includes Destruction All-Stars, Purrfect Date, Choices, Albert Wilde: Quantum P.I., and Destiny 2. Co-founder of the IGDA Romance and Sexuality Special Interest Group and the Forum for Erotic and Romantic Interactive Media (FERIM), Michelle has been speaking at GDC since 2014 on topics related to sex, sex appeal, and sexuality in video games, and has written a book on the subject, Passion and Play: A Guide to Designing Sexual Content in Games, intended as a resource for exploring intimacy and sex in writing and game design.

Della Rocca, Jason

Title: Co-Founder

Company: Execution Labs

Jason Della Rocca is a game business consultant, investor, funding advisor, and ecosystem strategist. He currently spends the bulk of his time advising game studio founders on funding and product strategy, and advising governments around the world how to better grow/support the success of their regional game development ecosystem. As the co-founder of Execution Labs, he was a hands-on early stage investor to 25 independent game studios from North America and Europe. In parallel Jason helped launch GamePlay Space, a non-profit hub to support indies and guide them toward business success, whose alumni have generated over $300m in game sales and funding. Between 2000-09 he served as the executive director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), and was honored for his industry building efforts with the inaugural Ambassador Award at the Game Developers Conference. In 2009, Jason was named to Game Developer Magazine’s “Power50,” a list which profiles 50 of the most important contributors to the state of the game industry. As a sought after expert on the game industry, Jason has lectured at conferences and universities worldwide.

Delson, Josh

Title: CEO & Founder

Company: Unexpected Accessories LLC

Josh is the founder and CEO of Unexpected Accessories, an indie studio dedicated to pushing the boundaries of experimental and wholesome gameplay. With his innovative background being a part of the Experimental Gameplay Workshop and alt.ctrl.GDC, he’s spearheading his latest title, EOPRISM, that blends fresh math inspired mechanics that redefines traditional gaming norms. Before starting his studio, Josh's recent experience was greenlighting Battlefield Mobile at Electronic Arts (EA), where he produced every weapon, vehicle, destructible, map, and sound effect leading to launch. Prior to that he supported various award winning indie games in his hometown Chicago. Outside of making games, Josh produced numerous game development curriculum including National Student Leadership Conference’s (NSLC) multimillion-dollar game program, organized game festivals like Bit Bash Chicago, and served as a Board Member for IGDA Chicago. In Josh's free time, he speaks regularly about the game industry at dozens of schools such as ArtCenter, Tufts University, Cal Poly Pomona, UCLA, DePaul University, and countless others.

Edwards, Kate

Title: CEO/CXO & Cofounder

Company: Geogrify/SetJetters

Kate Edwards is an award-winning 30+ year veteran of the game industry, and the CEO and principal consultant of Geogrify, a consultancy which innovated content culturalization, as well as the CXO and Co-Founder of SetJetters, a film tourism app. She is also the former Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and the Global Game Jam. In addition to serving in several board and advisory roles, she is a geographer, writer, and corporate strategist. In 2021, she was included in the Forbes' 50 Over 50 Vision List and was also inducted into the Women in Games Hall of Fame.

Estairis, Jennifer

Title: Game Director

Company: USTWO GAMES

Jennifer Estaris (she/her) is a game director and climate action activist. At ustwo games, a B Corp, she directed Monument Valley 2's The Lost Forest, which petitions for forest conservation, and is game directing Monument Valley 3. She has over 20 years experience in games, at SYBO (Subway Surfers), Nickelodeon, Disney, and social impact indie studios. A Filipina-American immigrant, Jennifer is an active member of the UN’s Playing for the Planet (Advisory Council), the IGDA Climate SIG, and Extinction Rebellion. As part of these organizations, Jennifer works to represent gamers and game developers who also push for normalizing sustainability, and speaks on these topics at events like GDC, SXSW, Games for Change, Pocket Gamer Connects, and more. She shows how games have been able to activate change, bringing green games to Extinction Rebellion festivals and speaking on gamers’ behalf. As part of Playing for the Planet and the IGDA Climate SIG, she helps provide a climate action path for interested game developers. Raised just outside of Atlanta, Georgia, she received her B.A. in English literature and B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.F.A. in creative writing from Columbia University. She advocates for cyclists and is mom to an 11 year old poet.

Estaris, Jennifer

Title: Game Director

Company: ustwo games

Jennifer Estaris (she/her) is a game director and climate action activist. At ustwo games, a B Corp, she directed Monument Valley 2's The Lost Forest, which petitions for forest conservation, and is game directing Monument Valley 3. She has over 20 years experience in games, at SYBO (Subway Surfers), Nickelodeon, Disney, and social impact indie studios. A Filipina-American immigrant, Jennifer is an active member of the UN’s Playing for the Planet (Advisory Council), the IGDA Climate SIG, and Extinction Rebellion. As part of these organizations, Jennifer works to represent gamers and game developers who also push for normalizing sustainability, and speaks on these topics at events like GDC, SXSW, Games for Change, Pocket Gamer Connects, and more. She shows how games have been able to activate change, bringing green games to Extinction Rebellion festivals and speaking on gamers’ behalf. As part of Playing for the Planet and the IGDA Climate SIG, she helps provide a climate action path for interested game developers. Raised just outside of Atlanta, Georgia, she received her B.A. in English literature and B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.F.A. in creative writing from Columbia University. She advocates for cyclists and is mom to an 11 year old poet.

Fayolle, Arnaud

Title: Game Sustainability Project Director

Company: Ubisoft

Arnaud Fayolle is Art Director at Ubisoft Positive Play, a team dedicated to demonstrating and amplifying the positive impact of videogames on our players and our planet. Over the past 15 years he has contributed to diverse AAA games such as Forza Horizon 3 & 4, The Division 2, The Last of Us, Deus Ex Mankind Divided and many more. He developed a holistic approach to Game Art, merging the complex elements of Aesthetics, Narrative, Gameplay, and Technology to create “Art that plays great”. A nature lover since childhood, Arnaud turned eco-anxiety into a driving force for the evolution of his work, channelling the power of games to influence a cultural shift that can solve the climate crisis. Always on the frontline of game environmentalism, you can also find him in the IGDA Climate Special Interest Group and the Playing 4 the Planet Alliance, pushing the boundaries of what video games can do for our planet.

Finley, Toiya Kristen

Title: Game Designer, Narrative Designer, Game Writer, Editor, and Consultant

Company: Schnoodle Media, LLC

Nashville native Toiya Kristen Finley, Ph.D., has been a freelancing writer and editor her entire adult life. She earned a doctorate in literature and creative writing from Binghamton University. In video games, she has worked as a game designer, narrative designer, game writer, editor, and diversity/narrative consultant (or some combination of the five) on everything from AAA titles to mobile games to games for children to small indie projects. Recent work includes writing visual novel Siren Song (Stardust Works), copyediting for Destiny 2 (Bungie), consulting and writing on Destruction AllStars (Lucid Games), and developmental editing on Insecure: The Come Up Game (Glow Up Games). A presenter at conferences throughout the year, she has lectured on freelancing and storytelling and led workshops on narrative design and game design. She is a member of the IGDA Game Writing Special Interest Group's Executive Board. The Game Narrative Toolbox (CRC Press), a book on narrative design she coauthored with Jennifer Brandes Hepler, Ann Lemay, and Tobias Heussner, was published in 2015, with a second edition published in 2023. Narrative Tactics for Mobile and Social Games: Pocket-Sized Storytelling (CRC Press), which she edited and contributed to, was published in 2019. Her latest books are Freelance Video Game Writing: The Life & Business of the Digital Mercenary for Hire (2022) and Branching Story, Unlocked Dialogue: Designing and Writing Visual Novels (2023) both from CRC Press. Of late, she has been working on her own visual novel series, beginning with Incarnō: Everything Is Written.

Huffman, Brandon

Title: Managing Attorney

Company: Odin Law and Media

Brandon is an attorney representing game developers and publishers and other media clients in corporate, intellectual property and industry transactions. Brandon volunteers as general counsel to the International Game Developers' Association, the largest trade organization focused on supporting individual game developers. In early 2017, he was awarded the IGDA's MVP award.

Kirby, Neil

Title: Senior Lecturer

Company: The Ohio State University

Neil Kirby is a Senior Lecturer in the Computer Science and Engineering department at the Ohio State University where he recently won the department’s excellence in teaching award. He previously won the College of Engineering’s Charles F. MacQuigg award for outstanding teaching. At OSU he teaches the Design, Development, and Documentation of Interactive Systems and the Low Level Programming classes. Currently he is exploring the impact of generative AI tools such as GitHub Copilot on college level programming classes. Before he returned to OSU, Neil was a Member of Technical Staff at Nokia, home of Bell Laboratories. There he developed .NET + database solutions used extensively in the Wireless business unit. Prior assignments included architecture consulting, speech recognition, and operations and support systems. Neil co-founded the IGDA Foundation and serves as secretary on its board. There he also assists in the selection of the Eric Dybsand AI Memorial Scholar. He also assists with the Scholars, Next Generation Leaders, and Velocity programs.

Lau, JC

Title: Senior Advanced Producer

Company: ProbablyMonsters

In addition to being a senior advanced producer on the Hidden Grove team at ProbablyMonsters with experience developing multiple award-winning video games, Dr. JC Lau (she/they) is a speaker and advocate for diversity, inclusion, equity, and representation in the games industry. She is the 2022 recipient of the Individual Diversity Advocate award at the Women in Games Global Awards, and a member of both the 2022 IGDA Foundation's Next Gen Leaders and The Game Awards Future Class. JC was also featured as one of 2021's Game Changers by GamesIndustry.biz, and is a member of the #ShePlaysGames list and inaugural #QueerInGames list. JC is the creator of #WhatAGameDevLooksLike, an online movement to celebrate and amplify diversity in game development and challenge stereotypes about game developers, and aspires to build a sustainable games industry where everyone regardless of their background or experience can have a fulfilling and healthy career. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Global Game Jam.

Long, Seb

Title: Managing Director

Company: Player Research

Sebastian Long is MD of Player Research (a Keywords Studio), the leading agency for insight into players and play. As a gameplay researcher Seb has led design-improving playtest studies for hundreds of games, spanning all genres, audiences and platforms - including for beloved IPs Sniper Elite, FIFA, World of Tanks, LittleBigPlanet, Talking Tom, Hungry Shark, LEGO, Life is Strange and games including Control and Elden Ring - and influencing the development direction of international projects for businesses including EA, Sony, Xbox, Tencent Games, and hundreds more. As Managing Director Seb leads a 20-person consultancy based in the UK and Canada, providing research that drives game development decision-making, as both a consultant research strategist and the company Director. Seb is a member of BAFTA, community leader within the IGDA Games User Research and UX SIG, prolific speaker and educator, and is based in Brighton on the UK south coast.

Michaels, Sonia

Title: Career Coach/Consultant

Company: Independent

Sonia Michaels is a game industry educator, speaker, and career coach who has spent the majority of her 30+ year career working at the intersection of the Humanities and Game Development education. She is deeply committed to preparing game developers at all levels to build longer, healthier careers, avoid burnout, push back against crunch and toxicity, and transform the industry from within. Sonia has presented at GDC (2015, 2017, 2019, 2023, 2024, and GDC Showcase 2024), PaxDev (2015, 2016, 2019), PAX (2023, 2024), GeekGirlCon (2017, 2019, 2024), and the New Directions in the Humanities International Conference (2018, 2019), among many others. In April 2023, she completed a three-year elected term on the Board of Directors of the IGDA (International Game Developers Association), and in June 2023, she was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award at the IndieCade Horizons Showcase (a partnership between IndieCade and HEVGA, the Higher Education Video Game Alliance).

Schmidt, Brian

Title: Founder/President

Company: Brian Schmidt Studios

Brian Schmidt is one of the early pioneers of the game audio industry. The 2008 recipient of the Game Audio Network Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and 2017 inductee into the Pinball Expo Hall of Fame, Brian has been creating game music, sounds and cutting edge technology for more than 35 years. With a credit list of over 140 games and a client list including Electronic Arts, Zynga, Microsoft, Sony, Capcom, Sega, Data East, Namco and many others. Brian has used his combined expertise and experience in music composition, sound design and his deep technical knowledge to further the state of the art in game audio and his music has been featured in TV, Film and in the CD-set, Legends of Game Music.Brian began his career in game audio in 1987 as a composer, sound effects designer and music programmer for Williams Electronic Games in Chicago writing music and creating sound effects for pinball machines and coin-operated video games. While there, he was the primary composer of the video game NARC. His main theme from NARC was later recorded and released by The Pixies. In 1989, Brian left Williams and became one of the industry’s first independent game composers, where he worked on such games as John Madden Football, the Desert Strike Series, Mutant League Football and the award winning Crueball. Other credits include Guns and Roses Pinball, where he worked closely with Slash to create a truly interactive Rock and Roll game experience. In 1998, Brian was recruited by Microsoft to lead the direction of game audio technologies.While there, he joined the then-fledgling Xbox organization as the primary architect for its audio and music system.Brian has been credited with bringing Dolby Digital Surround Sound to interactive gaming through his efforts at Xbox (where he also created the original Xbox startup sound).Through his ten-year tenure at Microsoft, Brian continued to drive and advance game audio technologies through tools such the award-winning “XACT” (Xbox Audio Creation Tool); the first-of-its kind tool to provide interactive mixing for video games.Brian was also responsible for the overall audio system of the Xbox 360 game system, including the XMA audio compression format, winner of the G.A.N.G “Best New Technology award” and finalist in IGDA’s “Best new technology” category.Brian currently works as a consultant to the video game industry working with companies large and small. Brian is the creator of GameSoundCon, the industry's largest conference dedicated to composing video game music and video game sound design. Brian is a frequent and in-demand speaker on game audio and game audio technologies, having given literally hundreds of educational and inspirational talks at events all over the world.Events such as the Game Developers Conference, Microsoft’s Gamefest, Sega Devcon, and the Audio Engineering Society Conference, SiGraph and esteemed institutions such as Yale University, Northwestern University and Digipen have invited Brian to share his knowledge and insight into the industry. Brian received undergraduate degrees in music and computer science from Northwestern University in1985,where he created the first dual degree program between the School of Music and the Technological Institute. He went on to complete his Masters in Computer Applications in Music in 1987, where portions of his thesis work was published in the prestigious Computer Music Journal and presented by invitation to the AES special conference on Audio Technology. Brian currently serves as President of the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.), a position he was elected to in 2012, sits on the advisory board of the Game Developer Conference, is a former steering committee member of the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group (ia-sig) of the MMA, and has been a featured keynote speaker at GDC, Project BBQ and the Montreal Interactive Games Summit (MIGS).

Shonkwiler, Grant

Title: Commander & Shonk

Company: Shonkventures LLC

Grant Shonkwiler first started making games when he was 12 years old, starting with modding and programming. Since then he has filled many different roles in the game industry: programmer, lead designer, technical producer and currently is a leadership coach and production consultant. His career has taken him from casual games at Megatouch Games, to AAA shooters at id Software and to Epic Games to work on Fortnite. Grant currently runs his own consulting company, and is the co-author of four books including Gear Up: Advanced Game Development Practices. Grant also enjoys building communities within the industry working with the IGDA and the GameDevDrinkup.

Totten, Christopher

Title: Associate Professor, Founder

Company: Kent State University/Pie for Breakfast Studios

Christopher Totten is an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of the Animation Game Design program at Kent State University. He is also an award-winning independent game designer, artist, and animator. He holds a master's degree in architecture (M.Arch) with a concentration in digital media from the Catholic University of America. Chris is a co-founder of the Smithsonian American Art Museum Arcade and a lifetime member of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). He was a member of the inaugural class for the IndieCade Horizons Faculty Excellence Awards, winning the Innovation Award for his work building an appreciation for games in the context of the arts. He has written multiple books on design, including An Architectural Approach to Level Design and World Design in 2D Action-Adventures, he is also the editor of the collected volume, Level Design: Processes and Experiences and the Level Design Practices series.

Townsend, Nancy

Title: Associate Director

Company: Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace

Nancy Townsend has always had a passion for games that promote change or tell stories from unique perspectives. As a bachelor’s student, she took a job as a Ubisoft tester and later founded and directed the first student organization for game development at Concordia University in 2008 as a large-scale independent study, since there were no game-related classes at the time. This club was the catalyst for the school creating a game development minor program. She also authored articles for the IGDA (International Game Developers Association) newsletters. After a stint in the high-stress indie gaming industry, working for Minority Media and taking various 3D modeling and video editing contract, she returned to Concordia as a producer for multiple Indigenous, creative new media projects, including building and maintaining virtual gallery, VR artworks, games, workshops and more while also directing the Skins Workshop series. She currently leads the research lab as Associate Director of Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace.