Date: Saturday 2nd September
Time: 10:55am
Finding employment in a game studio after graduation is hard. Carol Taka, a Maori creative technology developer and Tash Verhoeven, a game designer, started working together at Geo AR Games, an Auckland based studio that empowers communities with digital engagement tools. Both ended up very quickly in senior roles and in deep cold water. Carol and Tash want to share their stories and learnings from their initial perception of what it would be like to work in a studio, to having to manage and run a studio almost on their own. This tag team talk from Carol and Tash provides insights into the challenges of running a studio, project and team management as well as the realities of being a creative working in games.
About the speaker
Carol is a Māori game designer, and has been working at GeoAR Games for three years. Her game designs are a reflection of her deep love for Māori culture. Alongside her roles as a producer and team manager, she also serve as a digital cultural adviser. She brings her knowledge of cultural matters to enrich the development process, ensuring an authentic and respectful representation of our culture in the games we create.
Tash specifically studied a degree which allowed her to design and make games. This gave her tons of experience in the development space. Being in a small company now, although her university experience has been extremely useful, in the industry it’s been different to what she had expected. She is passionate when it comes to game design, especially visual effects. Her role currently focuses on managing teams and projects, but I still have time on the side to make her own projects come to life.
