Aleksandra Korabelnikova
Alex is a creative director and narrative designer on a mission to get rich off “my daddy didn’t love me” games and then act like she don’t know nobody.
speakers
2024
Aleksandra Korabelnikova
Creative Director and Narrative Designer
Andrew Putter
Director
Putter Studio
Andrew Putter
Putter was a co-founder of the Mother City Queer Projects, the collaborative events which celebrate queer culture. He instigated the Suburbanist projects with young artists, coders, writers, architects and others, practically exploring the question: what is underground culture? Putter has consulted widely as a cultural worker, including for the Cape Town Carnival and for Cape Town Partnership. Since 2015 he has run Putter Studio, an independent creative space in Cape Town.
Anja ‘Nanna’ Venter
Producer
Free Lives
Anja ‘Nanna’ Venter
I’m a producer at indie games studio Free Lives, an assistant program director on Playtopia and a Super Friend at Super Friendship Arcade. My background is in art and design, and I hold a PhD in Media Studies. My focus throughout my career has been on cultivating creative scenes – whether through art, systems or technologies – to make the world a less lonely place.
Arielle King
Narration Designer
Arielle King
Hello, my name is Ari. I’m an aspiring Narration designer from Switzerland. I have a background in Illustration and graphic design. The first game I made was during a workshop where the goal was to make interactive stories emulating a Gameboy Advance style; that was the first time I tried my hand at interactive storytelling and I had a lot of fun.
I sometimes take my inspiration from heroic-fantasy and B-movies as well as PS1 style games, which I express in a playful and sometimes absurd way.
Avuzwa Ntshongwana
Developer
Southgame Studio
Avuzwa Ntshongwana
As a certified AWS cloud engineer, I have expertise in cloud engineering, game development programming), and Android development. My primary objective is to elevate my career in the digital creative space specifically in the game development field and XR (Extended Reality) to the fullest extent possible. I have successfully completed my project management studies at Wits Business School.
Furthermore, I am the founder and director of Southgame studio that has achieved numerous accolades, including the prestigious Games for Change Africa Award in 2022. Additionally, I hold a key role as one of the esteemed organizers for WIGI (Women In Games International). Currently, I am employed at Fakugesi as a skilled project coordinator.
Bracken Hall
Game Designer
Bracken Hall
Bracken (he/him) took a quick detour through the field of game design on his way to becoming a science teacher, but decided to hang out here for a while. During this ongoing 10-year layover, he has been involved in game design, education, and community building. He usually lives somewhere in South Africa, where he currently works as an independent game designer by day, and an English teacher by night.
Céline Veltman
Developer
Céline Veltman
I’m a self-employed game developer that collaborates frequently with other game developers. My current project is a charming space adventure where you create your own solar system.
Craig Fairweather
Co-Founder
We Throw Switches
Craig Fairweather
Craig Fairweather (he/him) is 50% of We Throw Switches – a videogame-adjacent production // curation // hardware studio – who create and show incredible digital things. They’ve produced alt.ctr.PARTY! at GDC, made arcade cabinets for the V&A museum in London, and made a few experimental games of their own.
Crystal Ball
Producer
Team Lazerbeam
Crystal Ball
I’m the band manager/producer at Team Lazerbeam, helping bring thrilling games like Wrestling With Emotions 2 and Shroom and Gloom to life. My dream job: Clearing the clutter so that artists can make their best art. I found my game dev family in Cape Town, where I also co-run Playtopia’s volunteer program and proudly wear my Super Friendship Arcade T-shirt.
Dominique Gawlowski
Managing Director
Free Lives
Dominique Gawlowski
I started in events and the music industry and ran my own businesses for almost 18 years before pivoting into games. I have spent my life in the arts and am driven by a collective willingness to make cool shit.
I started at MCQP then co founded Sub_Urban Magazine, a multimedia digital art magazine and then worked in film and then became an artist manager and worked with bands like Lark, Kidofdoom and Haezer. I naturally was also an event organiser which started out as epic house parties that culminated in a 5000+ EDM festival called GRIETFEST. I was co owner of GRIET (an events and artists agency) for many years before mic dropping music and joining the games industry. I am currently the MD at Free Lives and have a very long but rather cool story as to how I got here.
Dope Saint Jude
Artist
Dope Saint Jude
Dope Saint Jude, a Cape Town-based electro-hip hop artist, transitioned from drag king performances to her own music. Her EPs “Reimagine” (2016) and “Resilient” (2018) gained traction, with the lead single “Grrrl Like” featured in “Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts” and commercials. Her 2022 EP “Higher Self” garnered attention, with tracks featured on Netflix and in a MAC ad. She’s toured Europe and the US, performing at festivals like Terre Du Son and Shambala. Her music featured in Apple ads and the Oscar-nominated film “Nimona.” As an advocate for the queer community, she speaks globally about her experiences. She’s been
involved in campaigns for H&M, Ballantines, and serves as an advisory member for Bridges For Music, a Cape Town-based NGO.
Elben Schutte
Senior Composer
Pressure Cooker Studios
Elben Schutte
Elben Schutte, a senior composer at Pressure Cooker Studios, is a born and bred musician, growing up in a family of talented musicians in Pretoria, South Africa. Now based in Cape Town, he heads up the Gaming division of Pressure Cooker Studios and boasts a versatile portfolio spanning film, television, advertising, and game soundtracks, with recent gaming projects including Semblance and Ancient Dungeon VR.
Schutte’s involvement in the early access medieval city-builder game, Manor Lords, has received widespread acclaim. With Manor Lords accumulating over 3 million wishlists on Steam, Schutte’s passion for gaming, combined with his talent for cinematic storytelling, gave him a creative edge in crafting this immersive soundscape.
Schutte’s work on Manor Lords has attracted the attention of prestigious publications such as Forbes, Rock Paper Shotgun, and COGconnected.
Indie game publisher Hooded Horse praised Schutte’s music for its beauty, meticulous attention to detail, and historical authenticity, enriching players’ experiences.
Beyond his remarkable musical abilities, Schutte embodies the core value of Pressure Cooker Studios: ‘We Nurture Talent.’ He spearheaded the Pressure Cooker Internship Programme, dedicated to fostering emerging composers and championing the future of the industry.
Emmanuel Omijie
Creative Director and Co-founder
VCD Studios
Emmanuel Omijie
Emmanuel Omijie is the Creative Director and Co-founder of VCD Studios, creators of The InBetween and recipients of the Game Devs of Color Expo Grant. Driven by a passion for game design, Emmanuel focuses on developing games that celebrate diverse cultures while offering fun, engaging experiences
Evan Greenwood
Creative Director
Free Lives
Evan Greenwood
Evan Greenwood is a South African game designer with 15 years experience. He founded the Free Lives in 2012, a studio which has released several of Africa’s most successful video
games.
Evan has made dozens, possibly hundreds, of prototypes, and also a few very good games.
The studio at large, and Evan specifically, are continually trying to improve their process to more reliably repeat their infrequent successes. As such, fostering a culture of creativity and
camaraderie has been a serious project for Evan ever since he gave himself the nebulous
authority of “Creative Director” at his own company.
Fey Vercuiel
Lead UI/UX Designer
Omeda Studios
Fey Vercuiel
Fey has worked in UI/UX field for over 18 years; during that time she’s shipped games in nearly every major genre in franchises such as Halo, Assassin’s Creed, Candy Crush, Total War and Runescape. She currently works on a MOBA called Predecessor at Omeda Studios.
She is originally from Cape Town and left to work in Europe to shape her career in the gaming industry. Fey has directed large design teams of up to 23 people and been involved in shaping and delivering business strategies from the perspective of always empathising with the players. Her design philosophy is deeply rooted in finding that balance between understanding player needs, business metrics and leaning on creative experience.
This will be her first industry event in South Africa and she’s excited to be able to share her craft knowledge.
Henk Scheepers
Head of Game Design and Development
Vega School
Henk Scheepers
Heading up Game Design and Development qualification at Vega, Henk’s been teaching into the degree for the past six years. As a lecturer, he’s all about helping students navigate the game creation process and getting them ready for the game development industry.
In his own time, Henk has developed ΔVØID (2024), a game that really captures his love for crafting fun and engaging gameplay experiences. He also worked on Echoplex (2018), a puzzle-platformer known for its unique mechanics and storytelling.
James Mathes
Creative Executive Officer
Pressure Cooker Studios
James Mathes
James is the Creative Executive Officer at Pressure Cooker Studios, a Music and Sound Design Studio in Cape Town, South Africa, the studio behind the soundtrack of the 2024 hit game Manor Lords by Slavic Magic. James and his team at Pressure Cooker are pioneering the African Audio Arts Industry and enjoyed there first major game success with Semblance developed by Nyamakop and release on Nintendo Switch.
With a mission to build a platform for talent to flourish on the African continent. James has spent the past 14 years building a robust and secure infrastructure to service the media industry all the while growing talent in the local industry. By using the credibility and experience for story telling gained in the film and media industry with clients around the world like Netflix, Amazon, Paramount and Disney+ James is on a mission to bring an authentic African voice to the global game and media industry.
Joanna Oluoch
Game Designer, Digital Artist & Software Developer
Joanna Oluoch
I am a game designer, digital artist, and software developer from Kenya. With my background in Mechatronics Engineering, digital art, character design, and programming, I draw inspiration from the world around me to merge tech, engineering, and art. My goal is to address challenges and captivate users through unique and engaging stories. I grew up in Oloolua Forest, and this inspired me to create ARGO (Augmented Reality Guide: Oloolua).
ARGO’s mission is to foster a symbiotic relationship between visitors to the nature trail in the forest and nature, inspiring players to become stewards of the environment through immersive gameplay while hiking through the forest. ARGO is my first original game, blending my love for environmental conservation and video games to create a meaningful impact on the public.
Johann Ungerer
Entrepreneur and Software Veteran
Johann Ungerer
I am an entrepreneur and software veteran with over thirty years of development experience. After exiting my software consultancy business at the end of 2022, I have been freelance consulting while working on my game, “Making Friends.”
My first job was writing COBOL code at a big bank, and since then, I’ve also built systems in C++ and C#.
In 2022, I completed a Startup Accelerator program with the Founders Institute in Texas and now mentor and advise startups.
Kane Forster
Game Animator and Rigging Artist
Free Lives
Kane Forster
Kane Forster is a Cape Town-based Game Animator and Rigging Artist at Free Lives. With a background in films and cinematics, Kane has transitioned into the gaming industry, contributing to two indie games: Terra Nil and Anger Foot. Known for his creativity and skill in bringing characters to life, he continues to explore the dynamic challenges of animation and rigging in game development.
Kyle Jantjies
Author and Book Coach
Kyle Jantjies
Kyle Jantjies is a 16x Published Fantasy Author, a book coach, and a Creativity and Innovation Professional Speaker. He is known for his unique ideas, his youthful expression, and dynamic approach. Kyle has been hosted on a number of podcasts, newspapers, radio interviews, and TV broadcasts. His books have reached the Top Ten in three different Amazon Categories and he currently speaks regularly on Creating the Innovators of our Future.
Lars Espeter
Game Design Lecturer and Game Designer
Academy of Digital Arts
Lars Espeter
Developing and publishing his first game in 1993 for the MS-Dos system started a career into the games industry and interactive media development. His team worked as an outsourcing team throughout the 1990s for various companies on advertising games, educational games, game graphics, animations, and more.
In 2000, after developing his own game engine, the team of Angry Ant Entertainment started developing their own real-time 3D games. Casual action games, educational
games, and others were the teams main focus. In 2007 he created his first game development course for the Designschule Schwerin, Germany and, from 2011, a second course in Leipzig, Germany. In 2012 he developed and started the first South African standalone game course in 2012 for Friend of Design in Cape Town. The course was accredited in 2014. In 2017, he and the founder of Friends of Design started GDoutsourcing as a part of the Friends of Design Holding. GDoutsourcing connects South African career starters in the field of interactive media and game technology with companies and clients in Europe.
The ORI Foundation and being a member of the AfriGames Consortium followed. His Alumni students now work in South Africa, Germany, France, Switzerland, and the UK.
Leon van Niekerk
Game Developer and Tech Entrepeneur
Clockwork Acorn
Leon van Niekerk
Some-time game developer, some-time tech entrepreneur. My career has taken me from entertainment to education, tech recruitment to fintech, online marketplaces to management consulting. All along that twisting path I have carried a fascination for how we work, create and play together. While I have met many incredible individuals in my life, I believe humanity is at its best when we’re working together towards a shared purpose, and I am passionate about how we build the organisations that empower us to do that.
Marina Diez
Game Designer, Business Expert and Filmmaker
btf Games
Marina Diez
Marina Díez (she/they) is a Spanish award-winning game designer, business expert and filmmaker based in Berlin and London, UK. She’s the CEO at Three of Cups Games, an ethical and diverse games studio based in London. Marina is also a Principal Game Designer at BTF Games for The Berlin Apartment. Previously, she was the Lead Game Designer for the game Dordogne by Un Je Ne Sais Quoi Studios & Umanimation. Marina is also a consultant on emotional game design for indie and AAA companies.
She is involved in many community initiatives and activism. Marina is also a regular speaker at games events such as GDC, EGX, PAX, A MAZE,… In 2023 she also hosted Independent Games Festival at GDC in San Francisco. Marina is also a film director and her work has been screened and awarded all over the world.
Marina is a lister of 100 Most Influential Women in Games 2022, a Forbes 30 Under 30 2021 honoree, a Game Dev Heroes 2020 winner, a former BAFTA Crew member, an IGDA Velocity GDC 2019 recipient.
Mascha Camino
Quest Designer
Guerilla Games
Mascha Camino
Mascha Camino is working as a Quest Designer at Guerrilla Games in Amsterdam. Focused on creating narrative entanglements and meaningful experiences for her players.
Since she started studying in Berlin, she enjoyed volunteering at events. Furthermore, she grew to love the community and was able to build up a few projects herself. Events like: Femisphere – Highlighting diversity in the games industry, the Indie School Trip, Devolution, and one of Berlins biggest Indie Dev gatherings, the Talk & Play, which she is moderating and co-organizing with Lorenzo Pilia. She appreciates rogue likes and is always looking for cute indie games to play.
Melissa Nzuza
External Ops Manager
Free Lives
Melissa Nzuza
Melissa is the external ops manager at Free Lives and a director of The Playtopia Foundation.
Her passion lies within the growth of the South African games industry and the creation of a more inclusive industry. Melissa fosters these goals by hosting various community events at Maker’s Massive, co-organizing Playtopia Festival and providing funding opportunities to local game developers through the Free Lives Jam Dole.
Currently, her focus is on the festival itself, but she is looking forward to growing The Playtopia Foundation in the year ahead.
MetaRick
Chief Global Universal Metaverse, XR, Spatial Computing, AI Officer
Uncanny Alley
MetaRick
MetaRick aka Rick Treweek is the Chief Global Universal Metaverse, XR, Spatial Computing, AI Officer of Uncanny Alley, a civilization in the metaverse. He resides on the fringes of the Metaverse, accessing its portals through his studio in Kommetjie, Cape Town, South Africa.
Currently, MetaRick is collaborating with the Ferryman Collective on a live theatrical performance set in virtual reality. This production had its world premiere at the 81st Venice Film Festival, where it received the XR Fan Experience collateral award.
His storytelling and world-building are centered around Uncanny Alley, bringing to life the nuances of the metaverse.
Social media
Twitter: @metaverserick
Instagram: @whyrickwhy
Michaela Bussey
Associate Producer
Nyamakop
Michaela Bussey
From the moment I pressed an arrow key age 6 I knew I was made to be a… videogame producer?
I am currently following that accidental dream as an Associate Producer at Nyamakop where I enjoy ensuring artists follow pipelines and look at Gantt charts – even though only producers can decode their cryptic meaning.
I am a two time Campus Game Jam winner with ‘Four Old Men’; have participated in the Pokemon TCG world championships; and have played over 2000 hours of Animal Crossing.
I am still searching for the arrow key that makes me an Art Director some day – I guess it can only be UP.
Robin Baumgarten
Experimental Hardware Game Developer & Interactive Installation Artist
Robin Baumgarten
Robin is an experimental hardware game developer and interactive installation artist based in Berlin, Germany. His works range from award-winning one-dimensional hardware games, over weird wobbly spheres, to walls full of door stopper springs that visualise quantum physics in a playful yet scientifically accurate manner.
Rodwin Malinga
Game and Level designer
Nyamakop
Rodwin Malinga
What’s up! I’m Rodwin, a game and level designer at Nyamakop, located in South Africa. My world revolves around creating immersive experiences that seamlessly blend artistry with technology. Whether I’m sculpting game worlds or composing soundtracks, my driving force is a relentless passion for creativity and innovation. Drawing inspiration from film, fashion, automotive design, and architecture, I’m always pushing the boundaries of interactivity and storytelling.
Rohun Ranjith
Game Designer
Rohun Ranjith
During the day I’m a game designer at Free Lives, currently working on Stick It To The Stickman. However during the night I’m a game designer working on bad projects that bring me joy.
Thomas Waterzooi
Game Developer
Thomas Waterzooi
Thomas Waterzooi is a solo-dev (formerly Larian Studios/IO-Interactive) from Brussels who makes accessible games inspired by art. His games are not about skills or high-scores. They are about relaxing, reflecting, experimenting, and being absorbed into the story & aesthetics. ‘Please, Touch The Artwork’ won several awards at a.o. Google Play Indie Festival ‘22, Tokyo Game Show, Belgium Game Awards and an Apple Design Award nomination. ‘Please, Touch The Artwork 2’ was downloaded more than 500.000 times and received over 3500 overwhelmingly positive Steam reviews.
Tom Kleinenberg and Felix Pedulla
Cinematics Team
Larian
Tom Kleinenberg and Felix Pedulla
Felix Pedulla and Tom Kleinenberg are on the Cinematics team at Larian Studios. Larian was founded in 1996 and is best known for successful self-published games Divinity: Original Sin 1 and 2 and most recently multiple Game of the Year winner, Baldur’s Gate 3.
Felix started his career as a Video Editor at Crytek in September 2012 where he developed a keen sense for pacing and attention to detail. He quickly moved on to become a Cinematic Artist and shipped several games where he was mostly involved in creating cinematic trailers. In 2019 he moved to Dublin to work for Larian Studios and shipped Baldur’s Gate 3 as a Senior Cinematic Artist.
Tom worked as a Previs and Layout Artist in animation at Triggerfish Studios in Cape Town before relocating to Brown Bag Film in Dublin in 2016. When Larian started their in-house Cinematics team he jumped at the chance to fulfil a lifelong ambition to work in games and was part of the team that shipped Baldur’s Gate 3 as a Cinematic Artist.
Tshireletso Tshwenyane
Programs Director
Games for Change Africa
Tshireletso Tshwenyane
Tshireletso Tshwenyane, a 2024 Blooloop 50 Immersive Influencer, is a grassroots impact leader and Programs Director for Games for Change Africa. As an interactive media producer, she has extensive experience managing diverse game and XR projects, including facilitating residencies that support African artists. Tshireletso is dedicated to empowering communities through digital media and has collaborated with organizations such as the Gauteng Department of Education, SciBono, Meta, UNESCO, and the British Council. She has led exhibitions at renowned events like the SoCreative Summit, Playtopia, SXSW Film Festival, Fak’ugesi Festival, and Meta-Metaverse Summit. Passionate about social impact, she mentors emerging game studios and supports grassroots initiatives like WeAreVR Jozi.
Ulysses at Sea
Audio Designer
Ulysses at Sea
Ulysses is a professional Audio Designer having worked on a variety of titles in the indie and triple I space. He has a deep love for games and the magical experiences they impart on people which can be seen in his expanding list of accredited titles such as Tales of Kenzera: Zau, Loddlenaut, Desktop Dungeons Rewind, and many more. He enjoys making sounds that can shock and inspire as much as they can corner and comfort players. If he’s not wrangling voice actors together or messing around with soft synthesizers you’ll find him making music, practicing martial arts or bringing up Dune as a poem, metaphor or teeth grinding set of philosophies.
Viviane Christen
Developer
Viviane Christen
I completed my Bachelors Degree in Design with the subject Game Design in 2019 at the ZHdK. I love 3D modelling and implementing my creations into my games and projects! I am fast at Prototyping and I love to learn new skills.
Currently, I am developing my own Game «Lily The Explorer», where I am prototyping in Unity and creating art in Blender. With that project I made it into the SheGotGame 2024 program, where I am meeting with a Mentor every second week to discuss development questions.
Xalavier Nelson Jr
Studio Head
Strange Scaffold
Xalavier Nelson Jr
Xalavier Nelson Jr. is a BAFTA-nominated studio head, narrative director, writer, and Forbes 30 under 30 luminary, with dozens of titles under his belt including Stranger Things VR, Magic: The Gathering, Hypnospace Outlaw, Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator, and El Paso, Elsewhere. He also makes strides in a storytelling career outside of games, with releases such as the cult hit comic Sherlock Holmes Hunts the Moth Man.