2019 GDoC Expo Panel - Planning For The Win
7Game Creation is hard. We’ve all had “good ideas” for a game, but the actual steps of prototyping, designing, getting funding, and eventually releasing are all huge milestones that can feel like very steep hills for many, whether you’re in video games, or tabletop.
Join our panelists to learn about the challenges of getting awareness for your game, successfully crowdfunding (and what that means), securing a publisher, and many other realities of getting your games designed, developed, funded and (hopefully) released in 2019.
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Sherri Smith - Moderator
An avid gamer, audiophile and lover of extra-large phones and super-fast gaming laptops, Sherri L. Smith has been covering consumer electronics for over a decade. She has covered tech for Black Web 2.0, BET.com, FastCompany. com and Inc.com. Considered an expert in her field, she’s made appearances on CNN, Fox News, Cheddar and numerous panels discussing the joys and pitfalls of tech and gaming. She currently serves as the assistant managing editor at Tom’s Guide/Laptop Mag with a focus on gaming software and hardware as well as virtual, augmented and mixed reality and audio.
Brandon Dixon
Brandon Dixon - Creator and Author of Swordsfall. He’s a longtime omni-nerd who grew up during the golden days of Toonami, Spawn comic books and G4. (yeaaa remember that?) However, as a black man in the hobby, he found himself longing for more stories that told the adventures of people that looked like him. Creating Swordsfall has not only been an effort to be the change he wanted to see, but also as his own personal journey.
Evva Kraikul
Evva Kraikul is the Founder & Creative Director of GLITCH, an independent video game label home to bold new voices and big ideas. As an award winning systems designer with 10+ years of experience, Evva has worked alongside over 50 major technology and gaming industry partners such as Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Riot, and PBS to develop games, design programming, and launch international initiatives. HyperDot is part of our games expo.
Geneva Heyward
Geneva “Gensuta” Heyward is a game developer currently pursuing a BFA at NYU. They've made a couple of games since they started attending the School of Interactive Arts ( where they now work!) and wants to create more games with marginalized folk being badass. When they're not making games, they're daydreaming about starting an indie rock band. Skate & Date is part of our games expo.
Kevin Zhang
Kevin Zhang is a co-founder at Serenity Forge, a game development and publishing studio that makes meaningful games. As a designer, producer, and business development manager on the team, Kevin works with a diverse team to bring ideas to life. Having had his life changed forever after playing Journey in 2012, Kevin seeks to create games that can positively change the player’s outlook on life in meaningful ways.