Keynote Speaker
With nearly three decades at the forefront of the video game industry, Jose Araiza has helped shape some of the most iconic experiences in gaming history. His career spans from contributing to the groundbreaking MMO EverQuest to producing content for AAA blockbusters like Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Today, he brings his extensive expertise and visionary leadership to the innovative startup environment at Umanaia in Montreal, continuing to push the boundaries of interactive entertainment.
Game Developers
George Ziets has been a narrative designer and writer since 2001. He spent the first part of his career on MMOs like Lord of the Rings Online and D&D Online before running off to make more traditional RPGs.
Carrie is an award-winning narrator and voice actor who has voiced characters in games like King Arthur Legion IX, The Operator, and Stream or Die.
With more than 15 years of high-profile experience across film, gaming, and VR/AR games and simulations, Mark is a seasoned and versatile designer in the 3D space.
Dalton Chutes is a self-described overly passionate game developer. In his spare time, he likes to research games, prototype games, and post copious amounts of memes.
Yuzhi Zhu aka Steven is a 3D environment Artist and lighting artist, he has 6+ years of professional experience, has shipped multiple AAA titles such as, Fortnite, Madden NFL, Forza.
Jaron R. M. Johnson is a game designer with a narrative focus experienced in both tabletop and video game design.
Conner Rush is a 24-year-old solo game developer from West Virginia and founder of the independent game studio FYRE Games.
Allen Barnhart is an adjunct at Shawnee State University, in their third year teaching English composition. Their master’s thesis on identity making in tabletop roleplayers is among the university’s most popular publications.
Henry is an explorer, experimenter, and active creator in many mediums. Henry has been a working artist since 1999 and has been in the video game industry since 2006.
Sam Bushman has been working in games for over 12 years. After he graduated from SSU he found himself applying his education to research projects, indie game development, online RPGs, and even Magic the Gathering!
Zach Inks earned his Masters of Fine Arts in Digital Production Arts from Clemson University and has taught higher education animation and drawing courses.
Nick is a current game programmer at GhostJam Games working to release the game Backseat Drivers and has worked on the titles Scrap Age VR, Scrap Age Survivors, and Vail VR.
A.J. Fulco is the founder and creative director of Tastie Games, an indie studio based in the Midwest dedicated to making games you can sink your teeth into.
Building games since 2007, Nicholas is a dedicated systems programmer working on his own game engine.
Michael Reynolds is an Illustrator and Concept artist based in Columbus, Ohio. His work showcases themes involving punchy colors, force, and intensity within semi-grounded Sci-fi settings.
Michael Rumpff is the Art Director of Barely a Studio, the creative team behind 666 Malevolence Lane, a competitive couch co-op party game.
Elliot Prince is a sixth-year Game Design student and design lead for the senior capstone game, 666 Malevolence Lane.
Indie developer Yvette Smith is creating Tulpamancy, a puzzle-adventure game about escaping the enigmatic underground labyrinth known as the Black Box.
Sophie Morris is a solo developer who enjoys experiementing with the rules of the puzzle genre.
Dayetonio Wilens-Mabry is a 3D animator and artist dedicated to creating expressive, purpose-driven characters through thoughtful design and motion.
Lily Gresham is a 3D character and creature artist who graduated from Shawnee State University in 2022 with a Bachelor's in Game & Simulation Arts and from East Tennessee State University in 2025 with a Master's in Digital Media.
Saritdikhun Somasa, also known as Sarit, has a solid educational background in Art Education, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Design and a Master of Fine Arts in Multimedia Design.
            Technology Speakers
Kory is a multilingual developer with a passion for clean code, mathematics, and video game development.
Dustin Simpkins is a recent graduate from the Digital Simulation and Gaming Engineering Technology program. Now working as a Doctoral Research Assistant for the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Ohio University.
Jonathan Reynolds is an XR Simulation Developer working for Aptima Inc. He has experience working in the Serious Game industry for about 2 years and has experience working for NASA on MRET (Mixed Reality Engineering Toolkit).