Samantha Ryan is passionate about games. She grew up a gamer playing on an Atari 2600 and Commodore 64. Today you can still find her not only playing the latest games, but she’s turned her passion into a career that has launched and steered the creative innovation of some of the great game franchises we enjoy. As Senior Vice President and Group General Manager, Samantha now oversees the BioWare, Full Circle, Maxis, and Motive Studios at Electronic Arts, where she and her teams are leading the charge on some of the most beloved game franchises including: The Sims, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Skate, and Star Wars: Squadrons. Samantha joined Electronic Arts after leading Warner Brothers Games. As Senior Vice President of Production and Development for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, she oversaw a strong suite of franchises including: Injustice: Gods Among Us, Batman: Arkam City, as well as the award-winning Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Samantha previously served as President of Monolith Productions leading title hits, such as F.E.A.R., Tron 2.0, and No One Lives Forever, until the company's acquisition by Warner Bros.

As the Chief product Officer for Survios, TQ Jefferson defines the product roadmap as the company looks to level up from scrappy startup to developer with legitimate AAA aspiration. This stewardship will encompass all projects currently in development, including those with partners such as AMC and MGM, as well as expanding the company’s vision to new partners and projects. Jefferson began his career in games at Activision; starting in QA and moving through the ranks into Productions. Then went on to management roles at Pixar, Telltale and Skybound; as well as Executive roles at Marvel, FoxNext, and most recently as a VP in Disney’s Games & Interactive Experiences group. With over two decades in the industry, he has exhibited a special knack for steering franchise expansion for companies looking to leverage IP in the world of gaming. This expertise covers everything from TV standouts like “Family Guy,” “Archer,” and “The Walking Dead,” to film series such as “Predator,” “Avatar,” and “Alien” to iconic cross media IP such as the Marvel Universe and Pixar. Jefferson attended UCLA where he studied Psychology and East Asian Studies.

Dave Anthony is best known for his pioneering work on the blockbuster Call of Duty video game franchise. He was the Game Director and writer of Black Ops 1 & 2, respectively the #2 and #3 best selling games of the last decade. In 2020 he co-founded Deviation Games with Call of Duty: Zombies Game Director and lifelong friend Jason Blundell. Their mission: to create a world class AAA studio with an inclusive environment and a culture where ego is put aside and the best idea always wins. Outside of the video game industry, Dave is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a distinguished Washington D.C. think tank.

Charles is in his 13th year of serving the video game industry after standing atop an escalator at the 2008 D.I.C.E. Summit introducing himself to people in an effort to break in. He is currently the Head of Business Development, Americas, for Room 8 Group as well as the Chief Battering Ram of Blockade Runner, LLC. During his industry tenure Charles has worked in many sales and business development roles on both the publisher & partner sides where he has had several opportunities to put smiles on people’s faces. He has an MBA from University of San Diego.

Caroline has been in the games industry since she joined EA in 2013, where she started as a Development Manager on EA mobile teams in Austin, TX. She managed development on a number of mobile titles including Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes and SimsCity BuildIt. After managing a project between EA’s Helsinki studio and a third party developer in China in 2017, she became extremely interested in external development, prompting her to join EA’s XDI (External Development Intelligence) team in 2018. Caroline is passionate about optimizing and improving external development practices and building positive, impactful partnerships between EA and external developers.

Colby Acree is a former XDS Advisory member that has been working in Games and Entertainment for over twenty years, in and around his hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah. Colby’s focus over the last ten-plus years has been on External Development, with a heavy emphasis on Art Production and Pipelines. As a former Character Artist and Art Lead at Disney Interactive, Colby discovered the wonderful world of External Development through the ever essential need to scale his team’s services to support various titles in production simultaneously. Since then, Colby’s been scaling studio needs in almost all aspects of game production from Concept to final Cinematics at WB Games, Avalanche. – “I’m energized by that magic that happens from bringing engaged teams and talent together from around the globe to collaborate on amazing AAA games and stories.”

Since entering the industry in 2007 Jake has served in key positions related to Product Management, Production, Design, Business Development, Studio Operations, Consumer Sales, Marketing, and PR. As a result, he approaches each production with an intimate understanding of player/audience psychology, publishing strategy, production pipeline optimization, game mechanics/design, and studio management oversight. During his tenure, he has overseen the release of 10+ internally developed projects and 400+ externally co-developed titles ranging from AAA to indie to mobile, alongside contributions to 40+ theatrically released films as well as 2 animated TV series.

Harish Rao is one of the top Art Outsourcing Managers in the game industry. He leverages his extensive 25 years of experience across the gaming and film industries that helped produce multi-million dollar interactive entertainment products. Currently managing a team of 50+ developers, Harish collaborates closely with some of the best minds and companies in the gaming industry from all over the world as the Art Outsourcing Manager for Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), the maker of PlayStation.

Brian has been developing games in Dallas for over 20 years, with 16 of those years at Gearbox Software. As the Production Management Director he helps all aspects of the business to identify and coordinate strategic partnerships with external developers. The best games require the best developers, so why not find the best developers in the world to work with?

A recognized leader in helping game developers find the fun, improve player experiences, and drive funnel, engagement, retention, and monetization KPIs, Jason Schklar is the co-founder and Chief Game Consultant at UX is Fine! Jason has spent half his career as a studio leader at companies including Amazon, Disney, Microsoft, and Zynga, and the other half as a consultant, making sure dev teams of all sizes have access to the best user experience insights in the world.

Rodrigo started his career in the game industry twelve years ago. Known in the Brazilian game industry as Mágiko (Magician), Rodrigo is CEO of PUGA Studios and a board member of the Brazilian Association of Game Development Companies (Abragames). Starting as CEO at PUGA by the end of 2017, Rodrigo is helping to create a studio known for high-quality services and a good, diverse and inclusive work environment. As a result, the company is expanding at a good pace, with an average annual revenue growth of 285% y/y.

Dan is the VP of Production for Aspyr overseeing production, project management, studio creative and QA. Prior to that, he's worked at Discovery Channel, Scopely, Unity, Gamestop, Spil Games and Gamehouse.

Experienced negotiator, Erica Ferrer prospected and closed deals with companies such as Ubisoft and Bandai Namco, handling communication, reviewing legal contracts and proposals. With a bachelor degree in Business Administration, Erica has been working in the IT industry since 2009 - currently in charge of international sales and partnerships at Manifesto Games. On a personal note, Erica likes time management games, is passionate about music and loves sushi.

Nazia Rashid is currently leading the Production of a live game called Growtopia. Even with a degree on International Business, she has made her way through the gaming industry with a passion and fresh approach. Working with a talented team of designers, programmers, and testers - they together deliver content, manage the game, and deliver a high-quality, fun experience for players. Her experience now varies across on relationships with vendors, pipeline, production planning, deliveries, leading and managing.

Currently an Art Outsource Manager at Riot Games for the first person shooter "VALORANT," Hayley has a wide range of experience within the entertainment industry. She began her career in Practical Effects building props, set pieces, and miniatures, and then she transitioned from physical to digital as a 3D Artist. She entered the gaming industry as an Outsource Artist on the most recent release of “God of War.” She brings a unique perspective to VALORANT thanks to her unique set of professional experiences and her hybrid skillset that merges both art and production.

Scott Russell is the Studio External Art Director at Respawn Entertainment. With 19 years of experience on some of EA’s most successful franchises that include Apex Legends, Battlefield, and Need for Speed; Scott has operated on both sides of external engagements and is focused on building out a dedicated career path for artists at Respawn who focus on external development.

Brian is currently an art lead on the Valorant maps team. Brian has 18 years of experience in developing video games as a concept artist. Some of the titles he worked on include multiple titles on Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted 2, Lost Planet 3, and Valorant. Brian graduated from Art Center College of Design in Illustration.

31 years old, I've been a professional developer for over a decade. Starting my career as a mobile developer of a few award-winning apps (AO.dk mobile among them) I moved to game development in 2012. Since then I have developed tens of games, coordinated teams of up to 30 people and worked closely with clients and co-development partners from Europe, USA and Asia.

Jesse is a gaming industry veteran of 20 years. Along with being a character artist, he has been working with external development since 2007 when he took over the lead character artist role during the production of Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Since then, he has helped manage teams of all sizes, started an award-winning studio in Brazil, and now finds himself at Gearbox helping deliver AAA gaming experiences utilizing the best studios from around the world.

As CPO of PTW, Kasturi Rangan is the in-house visionary, guiding the teams in future-leaning thinking and evangelizing for great product. Rangan is an industry veteran and has been with PTW for over a decade, significantly growing and leading operations across the Quality Assurance, Innovation, and Customer Experience lines of business. In his most recent role at PTW, Rangan was the Regional President over North American and India operations. He was also recently appointed as the CEO of PTW’s game development and art studio, 1518. In his role as CPO of PTW, Rangan oversees the product innovation and transformation arm for PTW globally.

As the Legacy Portfolio Manager, Juney is responsible for exploring opportunities for the Paradox Interactive portfolio of games no longer in active development. She was formerly the Lead Producer at SOEDESCO Publishing, where she built the publishing pipeline & team for PC & console and supported the worldwide release of 50+ games digitally & at retail, while at the same time developing & running the in-house porting team. Prior to that, she obtained an MSc. degree in Game and Media Technology from Utrecht University, alongside organising and running mid to large scale events in the game development industry.

Túlio Caraciolo is Producer at Manifesto Games. In the game industry since 2005 Tulio helped put into production dozens of games with partners as Bandai Namco, Disney Jr, Sea World, Zynga, Digital Chocolate and others. These games have been downloaded millions of times and operated by years with Tulio as part of the teamo or teams under his supervision. Now he is responsible for Manifesto's production team that is composed of 50 people that operates a few games with millions of active players.

Eric has been in the game industry for over 20 years as an artist, Outsourcing Manager and Producer on games like Return of the King, Godfather, Mafia 3 and most recently on Episode and War Dragons for Pocket Gems. Eric is currently the Director of Art Development at Pocket gems where he oversees the art pipelines for both live games and games currently in development.

Kay has over 10 years of experience in the CG Video Game Industry and 5 years of experience in finance. As one of the founding members of the studio, her role in CounterPunch includes leading a unique and skilled team to stand out in providing high-quality character creation, rigging and animation. As the CounterPunch team joined Virtuos in 2020, Kay took the lead as the studio GM, where she oversees end to end cinematic content creation.

I started in the industry as a French tester over two decades ago and have held various positions at Babel Media in the UK, managing our Localisation, Audio, LQA and FQA service delivery teams. Back in 2005 I oversaw the launch of our Montreal studio, which is now Keywords’ largest operation. These days I am part of Keywords’ Business Development team for Europe, working as Client Partner. I guide our clients through our ecosystem and help build customised solutions for them, integrating our various studios and services around the world.

An established expert in best practices related to distributed development, Tina Merry has an extensive production track record in games, directing and coaching large global teams under a distributed development model. Shipping over 25 “AAA” video game titles across multiple platforms while working with recognized brands and organizations including FIFA, Electronic Arts and King Activision, she has directed global business functions including Quality Assurance and Central Art. Certified in both Cultural Intelligence and Unconscious Bias (Train the Trainer) frameworks, Tina leverages production, project management and global leadership experiences to help organizations improve effectiveness while supporting inclusion, innovation, and production excellence.

Walter de Torres is a Founding Partner of Pixel Mafia, an art services company located in the Philippines. After working more than 15 years on the game development side, Walter, alongside Coby Chan decided to switch over to the services side by establishing Pixel Mafia in 2017. Prior to Pixel Mafia, Walter was the Head of Production for the Gears of War franchise at The Coalition Studio and before that, he was a Group Development Director at both EA Singapore and EA Vancouver.

Christie is a Bay Area native. She attended California College of the Arts in San Francisco and graduated with a BFA in Illustration. While working in health tech and freelance illustration, Christie discovered a love and passion in the game industry. She currently works as the Offshore Art Coordinator for Pocket Gems, where she oversees the pipeline and content creation of the story telling game Episode.

Annelie Fors is the Operations Manager for the Respawn Outsourcing Department. Combining her background in Engineering and Business development with her years in the gaming industry she helps her studio build teams and partnerships that drive scale. Just as the Ancient Greeks, she shares the philosophy that the sum is greater than the sum of each part!

en Hernandez is the Director of Business Development at West Studio, a concept art and visual development studio based in Los Angeles. Combining over a decade of sales experience with a lifelong passion for games and storytelling, she bridges the worlds of contracts and creative to nurture new business relationships and strategize client solutions while guiding West Studio's overall marketing strategy and messaging. Her genuine excitement for games and entertainment haven't waned since joining the industry in 2016, as she seeks every opportunity to learn more about the intricacies of development to better understand and anticipate its ever-changing needs.

Background in computer engineering, with a MSc and PhD in computer sciences. 13+ years in the tech industry, 8 of which at Kokku. Has participated in the production, through Kokku, of several titles, such as Horizon Zero Dawn, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 1&2, Truck Driver, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, among others. Currently taking on the role of Director of Production for Kokku.

Amy Pejic is a Production Director at The Coalition Studio. Prior to working on Gears of War 4 and Gears 5 at The Coalition, she was a Development Director at Electronic Arts where she shipped titles in franchises like UFC, NHL, Def Jam, and Skate. Amy holds a BA in Political Science and a BA in Creative Writing from Purdue University. When not herding cats in game development, you can find her curled up on the sofa with a good cookbook, or outside walking the dog, riding her bike, or paddling a kayak.

Concept artist on What Remains of Edith Finch, and VALORANT. Worked on various films and freelance game projects.

Tyler West is the CEO, Creative Director and Co-Founder of West Studio, a concept art and visual development house focused on world-building and IP development. After graduating from ArtCenter College of Design, Tyler worked as a studio concept artist for EA, NCsoft and Ubisoft before recognizing an opportunity to improve the creative process. He co-founded West Studio in 2008 with the vision of providing a better approach to visual development. Over the last 13 years, West Studio has continued to advance this vision, contributing work to beloved titles like BioShock Infinite, God of War, League of Legends, Valorant, and World of Warcraft.

Andrew is the CEO of Enter Capital, a San Francisco-based investment and advisory firm focused solely on technology and interactive entertainment. Among other deals, Enter Capital acted as an exclusive M&A advisor to the founders of 5518 Studios (acquired by Pole To Win) and Sperasoft (acquired by Keywords Studios).

Creator and host of "The Electric Playground,” Victor Lucas is an Emmy-winning videogame television pioneer. ”The Electric Playground," hit the airwaves in 1997 and in 2008 became a daily TV series seen around the world. Victor has produced several other TV series including, “Reviews on the Run,” and also partnered with game publishers to produce documentaries for several AAA franchises like “Tomb Raider,” “Metal Gear Solid,” “Fallout” and “Batman: Arkham.” Follow Victor’s work at EPN.tv and YouTube.com/EPNtv

I am a Shanghai native who grew up on hockey and maple syrup. I started in the game industry as the co-founder and CEO of Mindwalk Studios, a computer graphics and animation outsource company based in Beijing. As of January 2018, I took on a new challenge as the Service Line Director for Keywords Art and Marketing Services serving 1400 employees worldwide, supporting them to deliver the highest quality, innovative, and creative art that is true to our client’s vision.

Philip joined the games industry 21 years ago as an artist. He shifted to production roles within a few years and has focused on external development for more than half of his career, most recently managing external partners for Monolith Productions for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War. He finds equivalent satisfaction in crafting a compelling image, an illuminating spreadsheet, an elegant pipeline or a mutually beneficial agreement.

David Lam has been working in the games industry for over 18 years. He started out locally in Vancouver as a student at VFS and found himself drawn to character art. David had a long career at Electronic Arts working on titles such as SSX, NBA Street, Need for Speed, FIFA, and NHL. During his time as a production artist, David found enjoyment and fulfillment in teaching. He has taught BCIT, Think Tank Training Center, and VanArts. He has also participated as a demo artist for Wacom. David joined Bioware in 2012 as an Associate External Art Director and continued in a broader role as Senior Art Manager supporting the Edmonton, Montreal and Austin studios. Currently, David is working at Microsoft under Turn10 as a Senior Producer supporting external development for the Forza franchise.

Sam came to the games industry with a background in Behavioural Analysis as a consultant specialising in training businesses in negotiation and partnering. Working with a management consultancy group he helped a diverse range of companies from multinationals to supermarket chains as they made the difficult cultural transition into partnering and strategic alliancing. During this time Sam also maintained a passion for comics and gaming; co-founding a comic book studio in the mid-nineties before going on to work freelance in comics, commercial illustration and design. In 2006 he committed full time to games by joining Sumo Digital as an artist and becoming Outsource Manager in 2009. In this position he successfully guided Sumo’s Indian art studio into becoming a fully integrated partner, while managing the developer’s rapidly expanding outsource program which stretched across several simultaneous (often cross-platform) titles for a variety of publishers, including Microsoft, Sony, Sega and EA.

Carla has been active in the games industry since 2005 where she started as an Artist at Supersonic Software in the UK. She's been focused on External Development for 10+ years both in the UK and Canada at game developers such as Imaginati Studio, Microsoft's Lionhead Studio, and XBOX's The Coalition Studio.

In 2020, Carla acquired a Manager role on EA's XDI Team, focusing on de-risking External Development for EA Studio game teams and searching the globe for trusted and talented partners.

Carla's passion for process, team management, and KPIs has led her to host various talks at XDS conferences.

Dave is a fifteen year veteran of business & creative development for games, film, and television.  In 2018 Dave joined Phoenix Labs, where he specializes in connecting internal challenges with external solutions. Dave has been an XDS attendee since 2015 and a member of the XDS Advisory Committee since 2020.