2025 Speakers
Karrie Shirou Shao, Lead Narrative Designer & Lead Writer, Pacific Drive / Ironwood Studios
Karrie Shirou Shao is a Taiwanese-American writer and designer in the video game industry. Her most recent project is Pacific Drive, the 2024 best-selling supernatural survival game on PC and PlayStation 5 described as "Stephen King's X-Files in a Station Wagon". The game sold over 600,000 copies in the first five months of its release, earning it a Best Debut Indie Game nomination (The Game Awards), a spot on the Reading List for the Nebula Awards (one of the most prestigious science fiction and fantasy writing awards), and on the BAFTA Game Awards longlist for Best Narrative and Best New IP. Shao is the game's Lead Writer and Lead Narrative Designer, creating its story and writing its script dissecting the legacy of what we leave behind, the human costs of living with public and private failure, and the price of pursuing science and technology at all costs. Her writing has garnered praise as "funny and compelling" by GamesRadar, "exquisite" by ScreenRant, and "heartfelt" by DreadCentral. Shao was selected as a BAFTA Breakthrough 2024 talent and was one of the first women to write and produce on League of Legends, the most played PC game of all time. During her time at Riot Games, she contributed to champions including Lux, Sona, Ahri, and Talon. She went on to launch over 50 titles in a collection of roles, including production on the multi-million seller Hello Neighbor franchise and North American marketing leadership on Terra Battle 2 (Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's independent studio). Shao is a full member of BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) and SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association).
