Tomorrow, our eagerly awaited judging session for the Games Innovation Challenge will take place! We'd like to introduce our panel of industry experts who are deciding which game will take the crown and a chunk of the £5,000 prize pool.
Those joining the 2024 Games Innovation Challenge panel are...
Cassie Hughes - Director, Nox Lumina / Community Manager, The Noir Network / Co-Founder Black Twitch UK
Cassie is a streamer, creator and influencer who co-founded Black Twitch UK, a platform dedicated to highlighting the voices and content of black streamers in the UK. Director of Nox Lumina a platform for events, that encourages safe spaces and educational resources and a managing director of a care agency that supports vulnerable adults.
Cristian Leon - Senior Lead Environment Artist - Sledgehammer Games
Cristian is a CG artist with a wealth of experience spanning over 15 years. Throughout his career, he has contributed to a diverse array of projects, ranging from small to large-scale productions and multi-studio AAA titles. Currently, Cristian holds the position of Senior Lead Environment Artist at Sledgehammer Games, where he is instrumental in the development of the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Cristian's expertise lies in crafting highly detailed interactive environments, utilizing cutting-edge techniques in high-end real-time graphics. This includes high poly modelling, photogrammetry, and PBR materials, all of which contribute to creating immersive gaming experiences.
Helena Watson - EMEA Player Communications Lead - Dreamhaven
Helena began the games portion of her career (it's been a wild ride) at Blizzard, working on player communication for World of Warcraft and Overwatch. After a short stint in France and a longer stint in California for Blizzard, Helena returned to the UK for Riot Games to lead publishing for Northern Europe. She worked on League of Legends, Arcane, and Worlds - and launched VALORANT, Teamfight Tactics and more. She is currently the Global Comms Lead for Dreamhaven, a start-up publisher and studio making brand new player-first games with unique worlds and adventures (coming soon!).
Julien Houeix - Sr. Sales Partnerships Manager - Twitch
Julien Houeix leads in the commercialisation of live content sponsorship opportunities across Music, Sports, Gaming, and Entertainment. He drives innovative and scalable business models for media and sponsorship offerings, collaborating with both internal teams and external partners to optimize revenue generation and strategic growth.
In his current role, Julien spearheads the go-to-market strategy for EMEA sponsorship programs in collaboration with Twitch and Amazon sales teams, ensuring the successful execution of impactful campaigns. Additionally, he manages business development initiatives to secure valuable third-party partnerships with rights holders, media companies, and production agencies, fostering mutually beneficial relationships that enhance market presence.
Vivian Naydenova - Brand Manager MOBA & Strategy, Northern Europe Publishing - Riot Games
Vivian Naydenova is the London-based brand manager for League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics and Wild Rift in Northern Europe publishing at Riot Games, striving to improve the player experience in the UK, Ireland, and the Nordic countries. Vivian has worked in the games industry for just over 3 years and has been an avid gamer her whole life. Vivian has a wide background in brand management, strategy and product marketing. Prior to her career in games publishing, she worked agency side in the digital marketing space spanning a multitude of different industries. In addition to Riot’s games, Vivian plays a wide variety of games in her spare time, including MMOs, strategy games, life sim games, and many more.
William Avery - Account Manager, Gaming, Tech & Entertainment - UNiDAYS
William is an Account Manager for gaming, tech and entertainment at UNiDAYS.
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