Framework: an essential supporting structure of a building, vehicle, or object. “a conservatory in a delicate framework of iron”
Panel 1 – Survive, Adapt, Ship, Repeat
Hosted by: Jon Cartwright, GameConsulting
With almost 40 years of experience in the games industry, Jon Cartwright has worked in a variety of senior and executive roles in the UK and Australia. After stints at Big Red Software and Blitz Games in the UK he relocated to Brisbane in 2004 and worked for THQ, KIXEYE, and Prideful Sloth.
Since 2019 he has been providing consulting services to developers, screen agencies, investors, and publishers around the world from Brisbane, Australia. Offering local production and representation to international publishers notable successes include DREDGE, CONSCRIPT, Moving Out 2, and Before We Leave for Team17.
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Brent Waller, 5 Lives Studios
Brent Waller has been part of the Brisbane games industry since 2001, working across studios including 4DRulers/Eyecon, Krome Studios, Animal Logic, KMM Games, Sega Studios Australia and 5 Lives Studios.
Over that time he’s worked on titles and licenses including Spyro, Viva Piñata, Star Wars, Castle of Illusion, The Legend of the Guardians and Happy Feet Two, as an Environment Artist. Most recently, he worked on Cozy Caravan, released on PC, Nintendo Switch and Apple Arcade.
Hay Lee, In Shambles Studio
Hay was part of the Screen Queensland Games Residency program where she created Catto’s Post Office along with her team members. She has also completed an internship with 5 Lives Studio, working on small assets for Cozy Caravan as a 3D Generalist. While she mainly creates 3D art for her game Catto, she also loves to create 2D art, especially funny sticker designs of her character.
Patrick Klug, Greenheart Games
Patrick Klug is the Director and Co-Founder at Greenheart Games, creators of Game Dev Tycoon and the recently released fantasy business sim Tavern Keeper.
Riley Neville, Sbug Games
Riley is the director of Sbug Games, a tiny indie studio focused on imagining bouncy little critters. Their breakout title was Webbed in 2021, and last year they released their follow-up Isopod: A Webbed Spin-off, as well as a wiggly climbing game called Wirm.
Tex Barnes, Owl Machine
Tex is a games… person, with an interest in novel interaction design, experimental storytelling, and explorative development. They want you to think about the role of violence, art, and community, in games. Over the past two years they have been co-developing the hand-drawn, folkloric, pacifist, bullet-hell Key Fairy!
Panel 2 – We Have No Idea How We Got Here (And Neither Will You)
Hosted by: Simon Slee, Xsolla
Simon Slee is currently the Area Vice President, ANZ for Xsolla, a +30-year gaming industry veteran, who has held senior positions at companies such as Activision Blizzard, Atari, Sega, THQ, Glu, GT Interactive, and Double Jump Communications.
A true go-to-market specialist with an entrepreneurial spirit, his experience spans the whole gaming ecosystem from AAA, indie, mobile, start-ups, and digital media across disciplines such as publishing, marketing, business and product development.
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Cheryl Vance, Prideful Sloth
Cheryl Vance has 20+ years of experience as a programmer, business development manager, producer, community manager, and designer spanning AAA to Indie game development. With extensive knowledge in both product and project management, Cheryl has been an institution within not only Prideful Sloth but also across the Australian industry – helping many professionals across the region plan, prepare and bring their games to market.
Louis Van Dyke, Growing Games
Louis is a freelance and consulting producer with a decade of experience making games and helping others to do the same. They’ve worked with studios in Australia and internationally, shipping games across PC, console, mobile, VR, and even a live-service online open-world RPG. Louis strives to bring kindness to the games they create and to the process of making them.
Cade Franklin, Spitfire Interactive
Cade Franklin is a Lego Masters winner, brick artist, author and independent game designer. He was a lead game designer on the critically acclaimed Oregon Trail for Apple Arcade which won AGDA (Australian Game Developers Association) Excellence in Mobile Games award in 2021, and lead game designer on the indie hit Hand of Fate 2, which won AGDA’s coveted Game of the Year award in 2017. As a brick artist, Cade has completed a number of high-profile commissions including ALAND’s Paramount of Parkes in 2020 and brand ambassador for Old El Paso Australia in 2021 for their Day of the Dead campaign.
Morgan Jaffit, Big Sky Creative
Morgan Jaffit is a 25-year veteran of the games industry, co-founder of Defiant Development and Spitfire Interactive, and the pioneer behind the deckbuilding roguelike genre with Hand of Fate. He mentors studios across Australia and the world, and is the secret sauce behind more successes than you’ve heard of. He’s now crafting new futures once more with a team of dreamers at Big Sky Creative.
Kendra McCarthy, Tantalus North
Kendra McCarthy once dreamt of chasing wildlife filming for David Attenborough docos-now she wrangles game devs instead. As the Studio Head of Tantalus North, Kendra leads a team of exceptional talent, delivering external and co-development for iconic IPs with XBOX, Nintendo, Sega and Paradox. Starting her career in film, her first games industry role was building and managing a motion capture facility for Sega Australia. Here she quickly found her home and intense passion for mentoring the quirky, colourful, creative developers this industry draws in and never looked back. She now only swims with sharks in the boardroom… and the occasional diving jaunt off Minjerribah, Stradbroke Island.
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