Personal Website
Aug 06
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

Comic-Con 2024 Panel Speaker

Thank you so much Comic-Con for having me as a panel speaker for the “Career Paths Into Game Development” panel, hosted by Kate Edwards. I’ve been doing this panel at Comic-Con and WonderCon for a few years now, and every single time it is rewarding. We always give a good amount of time at the end for open Q&A from the audience, and each time we get a fresh mix of Q&A that makes the panel different every time. I’m always so grateful and humbled to be able to contribute and help in any way I can to those who want to follow the same path I have. For those who have been following this blog over the last 10+ years, I am so grateful to you. As you might have noticed, the posts are starting to become further and further apart. When I started I was posting once a month, and now I am posting once a year. With the launch of God of War Ragnarok (after Call of Duty let’s not forget!), which took us to The Game Awards, speaking at GDC, and being a panelist at Comic-Con, I have been telling everyone I speak to that my […]
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Mar 26
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

Wondercon 2023 Panel Speaker

Thank you so much WonderCon for welcoming me back as a panel speaker this year. And thank you Kate Edwards for being a wonderful host once again! We spoke about how we each got into the games industry, shared our do’s and dont’s, and answered questions from the audience. It’s always really important to me to put in the work for the next round of aspiring game developers, to help them get in just as I did, which is exactly why I started blogging my journey.
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Mar 23
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GDC 2023 Speaker

Another bucket list ticked off on my game development journey. This one was a pinch-me moment because it was exactly 10 years after the very first time I visited GDC – which you can read about here (Attending the 2013 Game Developers Conference). It’s crazy to read my blog back then and see a girl who was just starting to break into the industry and experience GDC for the first time. I really had no idea how the next 10 years would propel me into the most amazing AAA career and I’m incredibly grateful for all of it. The one thing I absolutely do remember, is how critical that first GDC was in fostering my very first connections that truly helped me generate job opportunities and build a strong gamedev network. Going to that first GDC was 100000% worth the investment. My GDC talk was part of the Animation Summit – Tricks of the Trade. I joined a number of other speakers who spoke about a wide variety of animation topics. Mine was production focused of course. I spoke about building a strong animation team, and fostering it through the game development cycle to get the best out of them […]
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Dec 10
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God of War Ragnarok Behind The Scenes Featuring Yours Truly (Video)

This was a huge honor, to be included in the Behind The Scenes series for God of War Ragnarok. Santa Monica Studio and Playstation did a series of videos, each which showcased a difference department or segment of the development of the game. I was featured on the making of cinematics, alongside some of my Leads and Directors (who I am also lucky to call my friends) who I worked alongside with through the development of the game. In this video, we broke down the mechanics of a cinematic, and our process in making one of them come to life through the entire cinematic pipeline. I am hugely proud of ensuring each cinematic went through this pipeline successfully, and reported on the timeliness and overall roadmapping of each cinematic along this pipeline. Hope you enjoy it! And check out the other videos in this Behind The Scenes series as well 🙂
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Dec 09
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

The Game Awards!!!

We made it to The Game Awards! We were up for almost every category, including Game of the Year, which honestly blows my mind and achieves every dream that teenage Estelle ever wanted when she started her desire to become a game developer, and left her country to do it all. Holy shit. Even thoughhhhhh we didn’ttttt winnnnnn Game of the Year……Elden Ring was very deserving and a worthy contender and to be nominated alongside Elden Ring is an honor in itself. But we did win Narrative of the Year, and being part of the Narrative Team of God of War Ragnarok, THAT is a huge compliment and win for our department – and being a highly narrative-first game, that is a huge win for our studio. Celebrations went well into the morning as I’m sure you can imagine, and it was a wonderful cap to the years of hard work that this team put in.
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Nov 11
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

God of War Ragnarok Is Out! Launch Party

It was years of hard work, a crazy pandemic, and for me personally, the loss of some family members, during the making of this game. But it is out in the world now and I know everyone at Santa Monica Studio couldn’t be prouder. My role on this game was Cinematics Producer, helping to get all the cinematics made from the script all the way to final VFX and sound going in. And there are several hours of cinematics in there so I hope you enjoy 😉 However, that was not my original job when I started at Santa Monica Studio. My first was was as a Features Producer, spending several months working on the Wolf Sled, Dragons, and traversal mechanics for Kratos. I’m so proud to have contributed to those memorable moments in the game as well. The Metacritic is 94, which boggles my mind and is more than I could ever dream of in my career. This is what my entire journey from Australia has led to, and this is what this entire blog has culminated to. I hope you found this journey from my very beginnings studying game design, to my shipping this game of the year […]
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Sep 09
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

GOD OF WAR RAGNAROK TRAILER (VIDEO)

We have a trailer!!!! I am so honored to be a part of this team and working on this game. We just showed the trailer for God of War Ragnarok and we are beyond thrilled by the excitement and response from fans. Several of the things in the trailer I worked on – well, frankly as the Cinematics Producer, a large bit of the trailer was from the Cinematics team 😉 and I’m so proud of the animators and the cinematographers for all the hard work they put into this trailer. I’m proud of Santa Monica Studio as a whole, too, because this studio has really put their entire heart and soul into this game, and through a pandemic nonetheless! Working on a video game through Covid will definitely be a memory we will never forget, and we can’t wait to put this baby out into the world and into the hands of gamers.
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Aug 29
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

GAMES FOR CHANGE 2021: HOSTING A PANEL ON MENTORSHIP (VIDEO)

I've had the honor of being on a number of panels, but this was a first for me - moderator and host for the panel "New Approaches To Mentorship In A Pandemic" at Games For Change!
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Jul 26
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

Comic-Con @ Home 2021 Virtual Panel (Video)

I returned to the yearly panel ‘Paths Into Game Development’ to discuss my unique journey alongside other amazing and talented developers, including fellow coworker from Santa Monica Studio, Erica Pinto. Thank you so much to Kate Edwards for hosting us once again. I hope, as always, those looking to become a game developer find our advice and experiences useful.
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Jul 26
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

Gamestress Virtual Showcase Interview (Video)

Thank you so much to the wonderful folks at Gamestress events for having me on their show to discuss my journey and my experience working as a female developer. It’s so uplifting to meet other awesome women in the industry, share our stories, and offer our advice. Check out the show in the video!
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Mar 10
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

International Women’s Day 2021

Thank you Sony and Santa Monica Studio for featuring myself and 4 incredible other women in a story on the company website for International Women’s Day! It’s the ultimate dream to be able to share my story and my passion with future generations, to inspire more diversity in our studios. Read all of our stories here.
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Sep 16
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

RAGNAROK IS COMING – TEASER (VIDEO)

The game I am currently working on just dropped a teaser! Ragnarok is coming! I’m so excited to show you what we have been working on, but for now, we will have to wait 😉
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Jul 31
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

Global Game Jam: Next

Thank you so much to the wonderful organizers at Global Game Jam for hosting the event GGJ Next, a separate jam for high school students! I had the honor of joining the mentors this year and assisting groups of teenagers with their games over the course of a week. The week before the jam itself, we hosted a number of workshops and speaking engagements to tour students through the world of game development, hoping to gain their interest as a potential future career. These sorts of events are half the fun in my job, and it is a no-brainer to give back to students in the same way I needed that assistance when I was first starting out as a dev. I definitely encourage other developers to participate in future years. For that, feel free to reach out to the president of the Global Game Jam, Kate Edwards, or visit their website: https://ggjnext.org/
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May 31
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

Wondercon At Home Online Panel (Youtube Video On Post)

This year, with Covid 19 unfortunately shutting down many conferences and conventions including Wondercon 2020, our yearly panel was instead recorded and placed on Youtube at their request for the Wondercon at Home series. Thank you once again to Wondercon for having us and supporting the panel to continue online, and for Kate Edwards for once again hosting.
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Mar 08
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

International Women’s Day 2020

Happy International Women's Day to all my fellow women game devs out there.
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Oct 20
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

Hosting Project Scientist at Santa Monica Studio

Recently, I had the privilege of volunteering alongside other Santa Monica Studio employees to host a group of 37 girls between the ages of 4 and 11 at our studio. We showed them a series of introductory classes into each discipline, including programming, animation, sound, and even suiting up some of them on the mocap stage, in the hopes of igniting interest in and promoting careers in STEM.
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Jul 24
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

Comic-Con 2019 Panel

Had the amazing opportunity to speak on a games industry panel at Comic-Con this year!
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Jun 20
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

New Job At Santa Monica Studio!

This is next level to share. I still don't know if I believe it myself. I really hope this isn't a dream I'm about to wake up from. I started a new job as an Associate Producer for Santa Monica Studio.
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May 19
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

Speaking about production At Reboot Develop Blue 2019

This was my first time I have been asked to speak overseas. It was amazing to see the European games industry and the smiling faces of Croatia against the beautiful backdrop of Dubrovnik.
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Apr 12
by Estelle in Uncategorized 0 comments

Time To Bid Farewell to treyarch

I recently left my job at Treyarch. It was a heavy decision to make, but I wanted to discover new challenges at new studios, and grow myself further, and when the decision to stay or leave came to me, I felt like it was best for me to go.
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