Page 124 - Forbes - USA (December 2019)

KEZIA ADAMO, 27
Programmer, StudioMDHR old, Stander has been at this for a long time. At
NICK AMYOONY, 24 GAMES 16 he released a free Web game, Tower of Heaven.
Professional gamer, Nick Eh 30 Stander started to develop Katana at McGill Uni-
BRENT BATAS, 29; versity, taking freelance game-design gigs to help
JULIAN GARI, 28 fund what he thought would be a two-year project.
Cofounders, AutoAttack Games

JUSTIN STANDER, 26 Instead it took five years. “There were an innu-

JOSEPH BENTLEY, 27
Head of Beyond Entertainment, FO U ND ER , AS KIIS OFT merable amount of days that I woke up, worked,
Logitech went to sleep, and that was it,” says Stander. He is
JUSTIN BRITCH, 27 Not all heroes wear capes. The protagonist of developing new story lines, game levels and other
122 Head of development, Obsidian Justin Stander’s hit action game Katana ZERO add-ons to keep Katana, available on PC, Mac and
Entertainment
MAXX BURMAN, 29 is a bathrobe-wearing samurai with a penchant Nintendo Switch, current—and selling. —Kenrick
Cofounder, KitBash3d for synth-driven ’80s music. Stander’s highly Cai, Matt Perez
BONNIE BURTON, 28 rated, independent game has, in less than a year,
Producer, Bungie
sold 500,000 copies, generating $5 million in
STEPHEN ELLIS, 28; sales—a blockbuster in the indie market where
DAVID STEINBERG, 27
Cofounders, Pipeline the average game makes $16,000. For a 26-year-
REBECCA FORD, 29
Live operations and community
director, Digital Extremes
LAUREN GABA FLANAGAN, 29
Cofounder, Theorycraft

KYLE GIERSDORF, 17
Professional gamer, Sentinels
RENEE GITTINS, 29
Executive director, IGDA
RICHARD HENKEL, 28
Product lead, Riot Games
KYLE HOLDWICK, 29
Senior gameplay engineer,
thatgamecompany
MARY KENNEY, 28
Writer, Insomniac Games
NICOLE LAPOINTE
JAMESON, 25
CEO, Evil Geniuses
KEIZAC LEE, 25
Partner, Kowloon Nights
DOMINIQUE MCLEAN, 21
Professional gamer, Echo Fox
SHAYNA MOON, 28
Associate producer,
Santa Monica Studio FINANCE
SPENCER PERREAULT, 29

Principal software engineer,
Microsoft

JASMINE ROBERTS, 27
Adjunct professor, MAGDALENA KALA, 29
New York University
SAM ROSENTHAL, 28 VIC E PR E SIDE N T, BAIN CAP ITA L
Founder, The Game Band
KETAKI SHRIRAM, 28 Magdalena Kala, a vice president at private equity giant Bain Capi-
Cofounder, Krikey
tal, recently dyed her hair red to match the branding of Virgin Voyag-
JUSTIN STANDER, 26 es. The new $3 billion cruise-line venture between Bain and billion-
Founder, Askiisoft

aire Richard Branson is looking to rock the industry’s boat—swapping
JAMES SUN, 24

Senior product manager, Twitch floating theme parks for grown-up vessels (no children allowed), fea-
turing modern design, high-end restaurants, rollicking nightlife, ro-
HANAKO TJIA, 27

Agent, UTA bust fitness programs and even tattoo parlors. Kala is an observer of
RUMAY WANG, 28 the Virgin Voyages’ board, heads partnerships with brands like Vir-
Professional gamer, G2 Esports gin Atlantic and Delta and is helping run its customer-targeting strat-
SOLEIL WHEELER, 14 egy and social media influencer campaigns. Raised in a Polish farming

Professional gamer, FaZe Clan
village with dreams of an American education, Kala emailed 270 U.S.
CARRIE WITT, 29 boarding schools for a scholarship, landing at Pennsylvania’s Mercers-
Art director, Owlchemy Labs
burg Academy and later Harvard. “I grew up right after communism
ZHENGHUA YANG, 29
Founder, Serenity Forge ended, so being scrappy was very much a part of my childhood.”
—Michael del Castillo, Antoine Gara, Jeff Kauflin, Nathan Vardi

JUDGES, GAMES: STEPHANIE BARISH, FOUNDER, INDIECADE; MATT BOOTY, CORPORATE VICE PRESIDENT, XBOX GAME STUDIOS; JASON RUBIN, VICE PRESIDENT, SPECIAL GAMING INITIATIVES,
FACEBOOK; AILEENA XU, PRESIDENT OF ESPORTS, TSM (UNDER 30 CLASS OF 2019). FINANCE: BILL ACKMAN, FOUNDER, PERSHING SQUARE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT; SONIA GARDINER,
COFOUNDER, AVENUE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT; EDDIE BROWN, FOUNDER, BROWN CAPITAL; MATTHEW HUMPHREY, COFOUNDER, LENDINGHOME (UNDER 30 CLASS OF 2017).
JUSTIN STANDER WEARS A DAVID HART BLACK-AND-WHITE WOOL JACKET, MAVI DENIM TRACK PANTS, AND A NORDSTROM SIGNATURE MERINO TURTLENECK SHIRT.
MAGDALENA KALA WEARS A L’AGENCE GREEN VELVET JACKET.

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