GDC 2024 Session Viewer

Berg, Mark

Title: Technical Audio Artist

Company: Electronic Arts

Mark Berg is a jazz school graduate turned shoe-gaze pop musician turned technical sound designer. Originally from Edmonton, Canada, Mark started his audio journey studying Music Technology and Jazz from Grant MacEwan in 2011 where music production first piqued his interest. This led him to tour under his creative moniker, Tropic Harbour. His love for ear candy and all things production led him to the non-linear world of video game audio. With the wisdom of the game audio community and continued learning from the School of Video Game Audio he expanded his sound design horizons and landed a role at Electronic Arts as a technical audio artist on FC 24. Now living in Vancouver, Canada, you can find him listening to D&D podcasts, harvesting new foley sounds, and lamenting the finite amount of time for creative pursuits.

Bogucki, Zack

Title: Senior Sound Designer

Company: PlayStation Studios

Zack Bogucki is a senior sound designer at PlayStation Studios. Since joining their team in 2015, he has worked on games such as Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, and Death Stranding. However, his most impactful contributions have been on Insomniac titles — he performed Foley, designed cinematics, and implemented SFX for Marvel's Spider-Man, Miles Morales, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Most recently, he co-led the hero SFX pillar for Marvel's Spider-Man 2, designing in-depth interactive systems for player Foley, traversal, and combat across the title.

Chávez, Averie

Title: Producer

Company: Meta

Averie Timm Chávez is an Emmy-Award Winning Producer on Meta’s Entertainment Content Team. She specializes in creating immersive experiences that bridge entertainment and technology, and is passionate about building community in virtual spaces. Recent projects include Stranger Things VR, Horizon’s Comedy Night Market, and NBCU Halloween Horror Nights.

Collins, Blake

Title: Senior Foley Mixer

Company: PlayStation Studios

Blake Collins is the Senior Foley Mixer at PlayStation Studios in San Diego. With a background in Film and Television spanning over 16 years, he teamed up with Senior Foley Artist Joanna Fang to establish the Foley Department at PlayStation in 2021. Together, they've worked on titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, and MLB The Show 23. Before joining PlayStation, Blake honed his skills as a Foley/ADR mixer at respected studios including Skywalker Sound, Paramount Pictures, and One Step Up Inc. His contributions extended to projects like Top Gun Maverick, The Mandalorian, Fortnite, Skyfall, Vader Immortal, and 32 Sounds, among many others. Blake's dedication to his craft has earned him recognition, including awards from CAS, M.P.S.E., and GANG. In his free time, you’ll find him in his woodshop making new props for the Foley stage or crafting a new piece of furniture. He also enjoys mixing live sound for his church on Sundays and building Lego with his kids.

Fayolle, Arnaud

Title: Art Director

Company: Ubisoft, Positive Play

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.

Ferencz, Joe

Title: CEO

Company: Gamefam

Joe Ferencz is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Gamefam, a leading metaverse game developer and publisher that creates connected experiences with the largest gaming communities and well-known brands. He has been a business and creative leader as an artist, strategist, marketer, and producer to pop culture and gaming’s biggest brands over the past two decades. Joe founded Gamefam in 2019 and has led the company’s growth and evolution as the world’s first professionally-managed, fully-dedicated metaverse gaming developer and publisher. In his executive role, Joe oversees strategy and production at Gamefam and has developed and evangelized the company’s vision and structure, driving 14 consecutive quarters of revenue growth. His leadership style is to set goals and then collaborate with leaders within the company to find the best ways to achieve those goals - including constantly raising the bar creatively by delivering the most delightful and well-produced live operated games in the metaverse. Joe began his career as an art director on sports licensed consumer products, including NFL, NCAA, and NHL merchandise before attending business school at the University of Michigan. In the years leading up to founding Gamefam, Joe leaned into his love for video games and dove head first into the industry, soon becoming a brand strategist and marketing executive, using his creativity and innovative ideas to benefit intellectual properties such as Assassin's Creed, Subway Surfers, and Crayola. He helped each IP expand beyond its core platform into new forms of media, including tech-driven merchandising and revenue streams. Joe’s game design and producing credits include App Store Editors' Choice winners He-Man: The Most Powerful Game in the Universe, Star Wars Rebels Recon Missions, and Hot Wheels Race Off, which has over 100 million downloads. As the consulting Executive Producer for Hot Wheels video games, Joe helped elevate the brand to one of the top toy IPs in gaming today, executing 15 successful product launches between 2015 and 2018, including the Forza Horizon 3: Hot Wheels Expansion Pack, named the “#1 Xbox Exclusive of 2017” by Metacritic and Hot Wheels Infinite Loop, nominated for “Best Mobile Game” and “Best Racing Game” at Gamescom 2019 and named a “Best of 2019 Games” by Apple. Joe is based in Los Angeles and enjoys a fulfilling life that includes close friends and family, and a blind dog whom he proudly serves as an obsessive caretaker. He spends his time outside of Gamefam playing jazz piano, volunteering at 826LA, and deepening his love of animation and anime.

Girard, Mathieu

Title: Senior VFX Artist

Company: CD PROJEKT RED

Mathieu Girard is a senior FX artist at CD PROJEKT RED. He joined the company in 2022 to work on Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. His prior work includes Rebellion’s Sniper Elite 5 and the PC port of Horizon Zero Dawn at Virtuos. He has a master’s degree in video game art from Supinfogame Rubika.

Golden, Katie

Title: Executive Producer

Company: Monolith Productions

Katie Golden is senior leader in game development industry who has worked primarily on AAA titles such as Forza Horizon 3, Forza Horizon 4, Forza Horizon 5, Destiny 2, Sonic Colors Ultimate, and Sonic Origins. She serves as the Treasurer of the IGDA Game Credits SIG, a special interest group providing guidance on game accreditation policies. She also co-founded SavePoint Industry Gathering, a community for game industry professionals from gender underrepresented groups. She is employed at Riot Games as a Senior Product Manager, focused on driving alignment, facilitating communication, elevating marginalized voices, and helping game developers from all walks of life do their best work to create games they love.

Kieltyka, Peter

Title: CEO

Company: Sequence

Horizon, creators of Sequence, the leading development platform for integrating web3 into games. Sequence was awarded 2024’s Best Web3/Blockchain Technology Game Changers award by GamesBeat and Lightspeed.\r\n\r\nPeter has two successful exits, is a major open source contributor, a leading web3 and blockchain architect, and was named one of Canada’s top 10 gaming tycoons by Maclean’s"}" data-sheets-userformat="{"2":5053,"3":{"1":0},"5":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"6":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"7":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"8":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"10":2,"11":4,"12":0,"15":"Arial"}">Peter Kieltyka is Co-founder & CEO at Horizon, creators of Sequence, the leading development platform for integrating web3 into games. Sequence was awarded 2024’s Best Web3/Blockchain Technology Game Changers award by GamesBeat and Lightspeed. Peter has two successful exits, is a major open source contributor, a leading web3 and blockchain architect, and was named one of Canada’s top 10 gaming tycoons by Maclean’s

Lopez Malet, Mélanie

Title: Senior Data Scientist

Company: Ubisoft

Mélanie Lopez Malet is a senior data scientist, with a focus on natural language processing (NLP) and human-machine interfaces. After her first career as a literature associate professor, she focused her work on the synergy between human creativity and machine intelligence. Her passion lies in crafting new fictional and immersive experiences powered by AI, building technical pipelines that open new creative horizons to the Ubisoft designers .  

McClure, David

Title: Lead Game Designer

Company: Independent

David McClure has worked in the games industry since 2011. He worked on the following released titles: "DEATHLOOP" at Arkane Lyon; Dead Island 2 & Homefront: The Revolution at Dambuster Studios; and Forza Horizon & Forza Horizon 2 at Playground Games.

Michaels, Sonia

Title: Career Development 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 Liberal Arts 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 change the industry from within. Sonia has presented at GDC (2015, 2017, 2019, 2023), PaxDev (2015, 2016, 2019), PAX (2023), GeekGirlCon (2017), and the New Directions in the Humanities International Conference (2018, 2019), among others. (Her GDC 2023 talk was the highest-ranked career focused talk of the conference!) 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).

Mungan, Yagiz

Title: Software Engineer / Tech Lead

Company: Meta

Yağız Mungan is a game developer at Meta currently focusing on Mixed Reality. Previously he worked on Horizon Worlds, Horizon Venues at Meta. Before that he worked on multiple bespoke games and experiences using sensors and other new/novel controls since 2010.

Sadool, Jalil

Title: CCO

Company: Steamroller Animation

Jalil Sadool has over twenty years of experience working in the film industry as a

professional animator. Together, with two industry colleagues, Adam Meyer and Keith

Lackey, Jalil co-founded Steamroller Animation in Central Florida in 2015. He led the rapidly

growing company as CEO for 7 years and is now overseeing Steamroller’s I.P. division as

CCO.

After graduating from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2004, he began his animation

career at Rhythm and Hues Studios working on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the

Witch and the Wardrobe. In 2006, Jalil joined Weta Digital Ltd in New Zealand, where he

spent five years as Senior Animator on The Water Horse, Prince Caspian, and James

Cameron's Avatar. In 2009, he was Sequence Lead Animator on Rise of the Planet of the

Apes. Jalil moved from VFX to Feature Animation in 2011, joining DreamWorks Animation

as Lead Animator on Rise of the Guardians and How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Under the Steamroller banner, Jalil has worked as Animation Director on multiple

high-profile projects including Rise of the Tomb Raider, Dauntless, Fortnite, Mortal Kombat

11, Cyberpunk 2077, and Horizon Forbidden West. Jalil and his team at Steamroller

Animation are currently producing their own animated TV series called Spice Frontier,

where he serves as Showrunner and Director of the pilot episode.

Stobo, Tim

Title: Game Designer

Company: Independent

Tim Stobo is a game designer with more than 15 years of experience. He got his start at Team Bondi on L.A. Noire, before co-founding Quest’s End Games, which contracted for various independent, mobile and AAA studios. Next, he joined Guerrilla, a PlayStation studio based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He built quests for Horizon Zero Dawn, and was Lead Quest Designer on the critically acclaimed sequel Horizon Forbidden West. At the beginning of 2024, Tim left Guerrilla and returned to Australia for his next adventure.

Stone, Kara

Title: Designer

Company: Independent

Kara Stone is an artist and scholar making work about psychosocial disability, sexuality, and the environment. She works in different media but most often in interactive art and experimental videogames. Her artwork has been featured in The Atlantic, Wired, and VICE, and exhibited at Athens Digital Art Festival in Greece, Vector Game Art Festival in Toronto, Canada and a solo exhibition at Babycastles in New York City, USA. She is a member of the Different Games Collective, a horizontal organization dedicated to expanding the culture and industry of games. She holds a PhD in Film and Digital Media with a designated emphasis in Feminist Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Alberta University of the Arts in Calgary, Canada.

Storm, Robin-Yann

Title: Tool UX and Workflow Designer

Company: Independent

Robin-Yann Storm is a freelance Tool UX Designer and Workflow Consultant. In the past he has worked as a full time Tool Designer in the AAA games industry on the 'Glacier 2' editor on which the Hitman series is built, where he was present for the end of Hitman 1 and the beginning of Hitman 2, and the 'Decima' editor on which the Horizon series was built, where he was present for the end of The Frozen Wilds, and the beginning of The Forbidden West. He has also consulted on Unity asset store level editors, and spent a few years working at Apple on AR creation tools such as Reality Composer and Reality Converter, which has made him well acquainted with the workflows of Pixar's USD framework. Next to that, he created and organizes the Tool Design Roundtables, talks at conferences around the world, and has contributed a chapter about Tool Design in the book 'An Architectural Approach to Level Design, Second Edition'.

Toole, Anne

Title: Writer

Company: The Write Toole & IGDA WIG SIG

Award-winning writer Anne Toole has written for live action series, games, animation, comics, and more. She most recently wrote for GHOST OF TSUSHIMA: Director's Cut. Her work currently appears in Netflix's original action-comedy series CANNON BUSTERS and DANIEL SPELLBOUND. Her credits include THE WITCHER game, the HORIZON ZERO DAWN games and comics, and ASSASSIN'S CREED ORIGINS. Anne has spoken extensively on storytelling across platforms at South by Southwest and Comic-con International as well as in presentations at MIT, Harvard, and Cannes. A citizen of Ireland as well as the US, Anne holds a degree in Archaeology from Harvard.

Totten, Christopher

Title: Program Coordinator and 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 the upcoming book 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.

Wewerinke, Daniel

Title: Senior Game Designer

Company: Guerrilla

Daniel Wewerinke is a Senior Game Designer at Guerrilla who loves to dive into the minds of players and provide them with interesting challenges that make them think. With over eight years of design experience and having created puzzles in games like Metrico+ and the String Theory webgames before, he successfully applied his skills to Horizon Forbidden West in the designs of the Relic Ruins, Tallnecks and Salvage Contracts activities.