Our Speakers of IGDC 2024
Abhijeeth Swaminathan
Visai Games
Abhijeeth Swaminathan
Visai GamesAbhi (He/Him) is a game designer from Toronto who released his first game, Venba in 2023 and now runs a small studio called Visai games. He wants to tell intimate stories with interesting mechanics and hopes to see more games made from around the world with their own unique perspectives.
André Rocca
Moonactive
André Rocca
MoonactiveI’m a Brazilian artist with over 13 years of experience working as a Visual Development Artist, Art Lead and Art Director for Animation and Mobile Games Industry.
Bryce Johnson
Microsoft
Bryce Johnson
MicrosoftBryce is an inclusive designer for Microsoft Windows + Devices where he is devoted to ensuring Microsoft products are accessible. Bryce initiated and designed the Inclusive Tech Lab at Microsoft, which has now hosted over sixteen thousand visitors; it is a facility where people can explore how people with disabilities interact with Microsoft products and services. He strives to design systems of accessibility enhancement, like the Surface Adaptive Kit, across our devices. Bryce is one of the inventors of the Xbox Adaptive Controller and a proud member of the Microsoft Adaptive Accessories team.
Benjamin Carcich
Valarin, Inc. & Building Better Games
Benjamin Carcich
Valarin, Inc. & Building Better GamesBenjamin Carcich started his career as a military officer before shifting into game dev at Riot Games working on League of Legends. He spent over 8 years there, starting in associate production roles and eventually advancing to director roles He left Riot to start a consultancy in 2020, realizing that his ability to change the industry through better leadership would be best realized independently. He’s been supporting individual producers, game studios, and publishers ever since. Ben spent time on League post-launch (2011-2017) and was on Valorant while it was in R&D. Ben is a certified co-active coach and official ICAgile trainer. He’s been teaching concepts around Agility, Production, and Game Development Leadership since 2015. He hosts the Building Better Games podcast and newsletter and has spoken at multiple events including GDC 2024.
Christopher Bergstresser
OV Entertainment
Christopher Bergstresser
OV EntertainmentChristopher has over 30 years of experience in the gaming industry with companies such as Konami, Atari, SEGA, MTG, and EG7. Extensive work in game development as well as other key operational roles. 20+ years in games M&A and investments.
Chris Smith
BIGR Social
Chris Smith
BIGR SocialA 16-year veteran of the gaming & esports industry, Chris started as a semi-professional player and subsequently worked in every facet of the industry including PR & marketing, journalism, game commentary, player management and much more. He recently ran a global marketing agency from 2018-2022 which included running the world’s largest VR esports event in Miami among servicing client in gaming, esports, crypto and tech. Since this he co-founded an AI startup called BIGR Social that wholly automates social media for small business and joined LMTLSS, the world’s largest CS map maker with over 1.7 billion rounds played across published maps.
Karan Parikh
Rain Studios
Karan Parikh
Rain StudiosKaran is the founder and CEO of Green Rain Studios. He is an immersive technologist with expertise in real-time workflows. Karan India’s first Unreal authorized instructor and is a master mentor in Unreal Engine’s Virtual Production Fellowship program. Karan is focused on using technology to blur the lines between real and virtual worlds. His areas of expertise include virtual production, animation, games, XR, and simulations. His collaborative works have been displayed at some of the most prestigious art galleries, public spaces and museums such as Times Square in NYC, Artechouse in D.C., The Strong Museum of Play in Rochester NY.
Jordan Weisman
Endless Adventures Incorporated
Jordan Weisman
Endless Adventures IncorporatedJordan Weisman has been a game designer and entrepreneur for over 40 years, creating iconic franchises like BattleTech, MechWarrior, and Shadowrun. A pioneer in merging storytelling, socialization, and technology, he has developed over 30 video games and was an early innovator in VR with his global LBE centers in the 1990s. He founded FASA Interactive, later acquired by Microsoft, where he served as Creative Director for Xbox's launch. Weisman also led transmedia projects like I Love Bees and Why So Serious through 42 Entertainment. After co-founding Harebrained Schemes to develop CRPGs and tactical games, he worked with Disney Imagineering and Walmart on AR projects. He is currently the CEO of Endless Adventures Incorporated, focusing on no-code game development.
John Kelly
Aged Dice Studios
John Kelly
Aged Dice StudiosJohn Kelly is the CEO of Aged Dice, a tabletop gaming startup. With over a decade of experience in game design and executive leadership, John excels in running teams and business units. His previous roles include Vice President of Design at Mayhem Studios, Creative Director at PlaySimple Games, and Director of Product at Wargaming. John has a proven track record in managing game design projects from concept to live operations in mobile and console gaming sectors.
Jaeho Hwang
MINTROCKET
Jaeho Hwang
MINTROCKETJaeho Hwang is the Game Director of Dave the Diver at MINTROCKET. He has left his mark on games of unique and fulfilling quality, from his first-pixel art mobile action game, , in 2017 to one of the biggest hits of 2023, . His profound passion for subculture also led him to create in 2019.
Marco Pisanu
Remedy Entertainment Plc.
Marco Pisanu
Remedy Entertainment Plc.Marco Pisanu is the Lead Game-Tech Programmer at Remedy Entertainment Plc., with over 15 years of experience in game development. His career includes roles at Ubisoft, Guerrilla Games, and Cloud Imperium Games, contributing to notable titles such as "Horizon: Zero Dawn," "Star Citizen," "Control," and "Alan Wake 2." Marco specializes in programming AI engine technologies, focusing on AI decision-making algorithms, pathfinding, awareness frameworks, and other AI features. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.
Mathew Farber
University of Northern Colorado
Mathew Farber
University of Northern ColoradoMatthew Farber, Ed.D. is an associate professor of educational technology at the University of Northern Colorado and the co-director of the Gaming SEL Lab. He studies how playing and making games can foster empathy, compassion, perspective-taking, and ethical decision-making. He developed game-based lessons with Tracy Fullerton for her award-winning Walden, a game EDU and has also worked with UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), iThrive Games, and Games for Change. He was a contributing writer for Origin101, the official learning companion for Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed film Origin. Author of several books, including Gaming SEL: Games as Transformational to Social and Emotional Learning, and articles, Dr. Farber has been invited to the White House and has been interviewed by NPR, The Washington Post, Fast Company, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. Upcoming in March 2025 is a new book published by MIT Press and co-authored with Tracy Fullerton: The Well-Read Game: On Playing Thoughtfully.
Nathalie Galla
Godot Foundation
Nathalie Galla
Godot FoundationNathalie started her games industry career originally as programming student, but through volunteering at conferences and freelancing in the online marketing field, she found her permanent home in Community Management. She joined the Godot Foundation in December 2023 and has since worked on building up the project's social media presence and leads volunteer teams to support with moderation as well as the organization's own GodotCon event.
Paolo Abela
Fatus Games & Independent Multiplayer Consultant
Paolo Abela
Fatus Games & Independent Multiplayer ConsultantPaolo is an 11-year experienced game developer in the multiplayer field. Former CEO of StarworkGC S.R.L, the 50-people gaming studio that developed Hunt For Gods, he's now the Lead Engineer of Ariokan, the Technical lead of Unity's official Small Scale Competitive Multiplayer Template and a consultant for Indie and AA studios that work on multiplayer games.
Tim Morten
Frost Giant Studios
Tim Morten
Frost Giant StudiosTim Morten is the CEO and co-founder of Frost Giant Studios. He was previously the Production Director of StarCraft II, and he's excited to now be working on a new real-time strategy game called Stormgate. Tim got his start in the game industry in 1994 at Activision, and subsequently helped lead development teams at Electronic Arts and Blizzard.
Thiago de Freitas
OV Entertainment Group
Thiago de Freitas
OV Entertainment GroupWith 18+ years of experience in the Entertainment Industry, currently serves as CEO at OV Entertainment Group, a pioneering cross-media company pushing the boundaries of the Entertainment industry. OV Entertainment Group adopts a bold strategy by integrating Games, Films/TV, Advertising, and Technology & Tools under one roof, thus mitigating the risks associated with a single-industry focus. His previous roles include Principal Commissioner of Audiovisual at the National Council for Cultural Incentive (CNIC) and Member of Brazil's Superior Council of Cinema (CSC). In these positions, he played a crucial role in creating and implementing public policies aimed at fostering and developing the audiovisual sector.
Willem Delventhal
Indie Game Academy
Willem Delventhal
Indie Game AcademyWillem Delventhal is a game designer and business founder who specializes in UGC and Edtech. He also happens to daylight as a purple wizard helping people break into the game industry. Willem is on an eternal quest to create a world in which ALL game developers can financially support themselves by making games. He loves working on games in unusual and exploratory spaces, including a friendship first metaverse, scientific games for cats, and an AR dungeon crawling board game where an app acts as your dungeon master.
Yasushi Komori
GFR Fund
Yasushi Komori
GFR FundYasushi is a General Partner at GFR Fund, based in the United States, where he leads investment initiatives across North America, Europe, and India. His primary focus is on Seed and Series A companies in sectors such as gaming, social media, the creator economy, consumer brands, fintech, and generative AI. With a solid background in product management, data analytics, and software development, Yasushi plays a crucial role in identifying emerging trends, technologies, and founders for potential investments. He began his career at GREE in 2010, where he enhanced his skills in data analytics and product management, leading several game titles as the head of game development in both the Japanese and U.S. markets. One of these titles achieved $50M in annual revenue. Before GREE, he worked at C.A. Mobile taking a pivotal role as a server-side engineer in the ground-up development of e-commerce sites. Yasushi earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Waseda University in Tokyo.
Álvaro Fernández García
Scopely
Álvaro Fernández García
ScopelyHello! My name is Álvaro Fernández García, I’m passionate about graphic design and art, and I’m lucky to work in the world of video games. I’ve been designing and creating for more than twenty years, and have been fortunate enough to make great friends and work with inspiring teams on world-famous IPs like Star Wars and Frozen. Currently, I'm working as a UI Lead in Monopoly Go! where I'm enjoying the best team that I've ever worked with. I love graphic design, I love UI design, and I love finding the best solution for users.
Chirag Chopra
Lucid Labs
Chirag Chopra
Lucid LabsWith over a decade devoted to the gaming industry, Chirag Chopra heads an indie game studio named Lucid Labs based in India. Lucid Labs started in 2015 and quickly built up a reputation for quality and ingenuity based on its award-winning range of imaginative games, such as 'Possessions' on Apple Arcade and the newly launched UGC puzzler 'Bloom.' A desire to push the medium has earned him global recognition and accolades, including six 'Game of the Year' awards, a live featurette at WWDC Keynote, a '40-under-40' Achiever Award, and over a dozen nominations. Embracing the ethos of collective growth, Chirag also leads the Indian IGDA Chapter and finds joy in empowering the community through mentorship and initiatives.
Prateek Jadhwani
Destroyer Doggo
Prateek Jadhwani
Destroyer DoggoPrateek is the solo developer behind Destroyer Doggo, a Hyderabad-based game studio. He successfully launched Brocula, a game available on both Steam and Xbox. His achievements also include winning the Developer Acceleration Grant from Xbox. With considerable experience in the game development industry, Prateek is dedicated to creating unique and engaging gaming experiences.
Tara Phillips
Keywords Studios
Tara Phillips
Keywords StudiosAs the Director of Art Services within Keywords Studios' Create Division, Tara drives strategic growth initiatives to align with global objectives. Embracing innovation in emerging technology and tools, Tara oversee Keywords' Art Studios, fostering creativity and collaboration within these teams. In working closely with development partners, she champions the professional art services and development capabilities of the teams, establishing Keywords Studios as the premier global gaming partner. With a global perspective on the game industry, a storied background in production, and a strategic approach to partnerships, Tara actively listens, learns, and collaborates to bring the right expert voices to the table. Building and managing relationships with game development partners fuels her passion for delivering the best solutions and services possible to an industry she loves.
Chirag “Tito” Morab
Ubisoft Montreal
Chirag “Tito” Morab
Ubisoft MontrealChirag Morab, also known as “Tito” is a Graphics Technical Director at Ubisoft Montreal. Originally from Bangalore, Tito’s foray into game development began in 2008, after which he moved to Canada to pursue his Master’s in Computer Games Technology. He has since worked in the industry at companies like Gameloft, Ludia/Jam City and Ubisoft to ship successful titles with world-renowned IPs including Jurassic World, Disney and Rainbow Six. Specializing in Graphics and Technical Art over the past 8 years, Tito has been pivotal in merging artistic vision with technical capabilities. He played an important part at Ludia, defining Tech-Art roles for the organization and leading rendering discussions with Unity’s enterprise support. A passionate community contributor, Tito frequently mentors upcoming game developers and participates in events like Gamedev.in’s Campfire. Outside of work, he enjoys dabbling with Shadertoy, geeking out about mechanical watches, and savoring fine gin!
Joshua Devendra Singh
Marvel Games
Joshua Devendra Singh
Marvel GamesWith over 20 years experience in the video game industry, Josh has worked on a variety of games. Most notably, League of Legends, Overwatch, Marvel SNAP and Spider-Man 2. He understands the art of making games and loves to share his passion and knowledge. He is currently an Art Director at Marvel Games where he supervises and consults with creative partners working on video games set in the Marvel Universe
Mala Sen
Niku Games Studio
Mala Sen
Niku Games StudioMala Sen is the Director and Artist of Niku Games Studio. She completed her B.F.A and M.F.A from Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan and started her career as a large-scale textile-artist and educator in the field of art. She always had a love of stories and realised that games are an excellent medium of expression. Therefore, she partnered up with Mridul Kashatria and pivoted into game development. Together, they started Niku Games Studio with the goal of making story-rich and cultural games. Niku Games Studio recently released the award-winning and critically acclaimed 'The Palace on the Hill', a slice-of-life RPG set in a fictional village in 90s India.
Shubham Rajanwar
Mad Mantra games
Shubham Rajanwar
Mad Mantra gamesA bit about myself, I've been developing games with unity for 5 years now, worked for few years in Pune and then moved to germany. I started ‘MadMantra’ in Aug 2023. Kamla was our first project, a survival horror for pc which become the most popular game in India very fast after release. We aim to keep making more dark/horror games as we move forward. Our primary platforms are PC/Consoles. India is on its way to become like China when it comes to games in next few decades. We want to be a major part of that journey!
Ankit Garg
Little Red Zombies
Ankit Garg
Little Red ZombiesAnkit Garg co-founded Little Red Zombies and worked as Managing & Art Director for 12 years. Having close to two decades of experience in the 3D art industry, he served as the Art Director alongside his co-founder for over 40 Game titles, including 25 AAA games such as Alan Wake 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League, Diablo 2 Resurrected, and Horizon Forbidden West. Ankit’s leadership extended to training initiatives, where he and his co-founder played instrumental roles in mentoring over 200 artists, demonstrating dedication to art and mentorship in the field of art. Noticing a lack of depth in education and driven by his own passion for teaching, Ankit founded Zombie Art School. His goal is to equip all students with specialized skills and discipline for excellence in 3D character art.
Kiran Thakkar
Avalanche Studios Group
Kiran Thakkar
Avalanche Studios GroupHello! I am Kiran, a game designer based in Stockholm. I love creating immersive experiences that bring joy to players and brighten up their day. Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to work with wonderful teams with different approaches to design, and I am excited to share my learnings with you. I started my journey into game dev at Zynga working as a Game Designer on Farmville 2: Country Escape, from there I moved to Poland to start working with CD Projekt Red, to handle the meta gameplay aspect of GWENT: The Witcher Card Game. Finally, my journey took me to Sweden to work at Avalanche Studios Group where I have worked on two AAA projects so far, their new project Contraband and theHunter: Call of the Wild. Looking forward to meeting you at the conference!
James Batchelor
GamesIndustry.biz
James Batchelor
GamesIndustry.bizJames Batchelor is Editor-in-Chief at GamesIndustry.biz and co-host of the GI Microcast. A journalist since 2006, he was previously editor of Develop and deputy editor of MCV, and has also written for Eurogamer, TechRadar Time Extension, and NintendoLife. He is the author of The Best Non-Violent Video Games, as well as urban fantasy thrillers Wandless and Blow The House Down, and creator of Non-Violent Game of the Day (@NVGOTD) - an account that explores the full breadth of video games. Based in Essex, he does still play violent games (but always on Easy/Story Mode).
Shalaka Sontakke
Electronic Arts
Shalaka Sontakke
Electronic ArtsI am Shalaka, a game designer, and I am currently working in Electronic Arts on NFS No Limits. I aspire to work on different media or games to grow as a designer and a creative individual. I have more than 5 years of experience in live ops and have shipped multiple successful features that have positively impacted the business throughout my five years in the industry. The crown jewel game in my portfolio is the Word Search Explorer Game at Playsimple Games. I worked on it from scratch and it turned out to be a massive hit. My strengths lie in data collection, research, and generating insights coherent with the player's needs and the market. I am adept at presenting them with well-informed ideas and solutions. I like to express myself through drawings in my free time. Traveling has immensely impacted my art, life, and design perspective. I want to travel the world to taste all the delicacies out there!
Wilhelm Taht
Scopely
Wilhelm Taht
ScopelyWilhelm Taht is a seasoned executive with a wealth of experience in online, mobile, and social media industries. He currently serves as Scopely’s SVP and General Manager for its social casino studios and Bangalore operations. Since 2004, Wilhelm has held various roles in the mobile games sector, including sales, marketing, product, and general management. From 2016 to 2018, he successfully revitalized Rovio Entertainment's games division (the creators of Angry Birds) and played a key role in taking the company public as EVP of Games. Wilhelm also lends his expertise as an advisor and non-executive board member to several games and technology companies. He holds an M.Sc. in Economics from Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki.
Ryan Trowbridge
Respawn Entertainment
Ryan Trowbridge
Respawn EntertainmentRyan Trowbridge is the Tech Art Director at Respawn Entertainment on Apex Legends. During his 24 year career in video games, he has enjoyed the intersection of creativity and engineering. Early in his career he worked at Pipeworks Software and shipped several games, including Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters for Xbox, PS2, and Gamecube platforms. His contributions included texturing, modeling, animation, and rigging. Later in his career he joined Naughty Dog as a character technical artist. He focused on pushing the limits of character rigs and tools for the creative teams. He contributed work to Uncharted 1-4 and The Last of Us. While working on Uncharted 4 he directed the rebuilding of the facial pipeline to raise the bar of facial animation. While working at Naughty Dog he co-authored and published the book titled, Maya Python for Games and Film. Ryan then joined Sony Bend as the Tech Art Director and led the tech art team on Days Gone. He directed animation, VFX, lighting, shading, rigging, and pipeline tool teams. Creating quality and performant systems that could scale across an open world game. Next Ryan joined Microsoft as the Tech Art Director for The Initiative on the Perfect Dark game. While still at Microsoft he went on to join 343 Industries and took on the role as Studio Tech Art Director working on Halo.
Shayne Hayes
International Game Developers Association Climate Special Interest Group
Shayne Hayes
International Game Developers Association Climate Special Interest GroupShayne Hayes is a Co-Chair of the International Game Developers Association Climate Special Interest Group (IGDA Climate SIG), an online community of game developers who are passionate about sustainability and climate action in the games industry. Shayne recently worked with the Atlantic Council's Arsht-Rock Resilience Center to publish Heat Wave Survival and Power Grid Hero for Minecraft Education. These free games built on Minecraft's platform help players understand how to stay safe during heat waves and other climate impacts by advocating for community-level action. Shayne developed additional social impact content for Minecraft Education, including Minecraft Hour of Code: Escape Estate, UNESCO's Minecraft Peace with Nature Challenge, and Minecraft Buildability. Shayne recently spoke at the 2024 Game Developers Conference Climate Crisis Workshop and Gamescom Latam's Journey stage about how games are uniquely positioned to equip players of all backgrounds with knowledge and skills around climate change that could be life-saving. If you're interested in being a part of a passionate community of developers who are taking action on climate change, join Shayne and others in the IGDA Climate SIG Discord server! bit.ly/joinclimatesig
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IGDC 2024
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WELCOME TO
SPEAKERS OF IGDC 2024 IGDC 2024 will showcase a diverse range of carefully selected speakers, including industry experts, thought leaders, and innovators. Attendees can anticipate engaging solo presentations, interactive panel discussions, hands-on workshops, and in-depth master classes. We welcome you to join us for this event.Want To Be a Speaker ?