PRESS RELEASE
Featuring creative giants, award-winning music designers, international cosplay champions and story designers responsible for some of the most well-known games, the Special Guests appearing at PAX Aus 2024 are a showcase of some of the best gaming geniuses from around the world.
The custodians of The Lord of the Rings are bringing Hobbit lore to Tales of the Shire! Join Wētā Workshop’s Game Studio for two panels across the PAX Aus weekend. Celebrating 20 years at Wētā Workshop, Art Director Stephen Lambert will share his insights into the construction of Bywater in this one-hour Fireside on Friday.
Saturday PAX attendees can hear from Lead Game Producer, Calliope Ryder, Game Designer, Catherine Booth, Art Director, Stephen Lambert and a name that will be familiar to veterans in the gaming industry, Game Studio Director Tony Lawrence, all about the highly anticipated cosy sim, Tales of the Shire!
The big names continue with BAFTA-nominated actor Abubakar Salim: an actor, producer and video game creator, known for playing Bayek of Siwa in Assassin’s Creed Origins and Alyn of Hull in HBO’s House of the Dragon. The founder and CEO of Surgent Studios, who released their debut game Tales of Kenzera: ZAU in April 2023, Abubakar is also an avid RPG player with appearances in Critical Role’s Downfall special, The Glass Cannon Network and beyond.
Another major creative name in the gaming industry, Rich Lambert, Game Director on The Elder Scrolls Online, will be attending PAX Melbourne and is excited to connect with the passionate community. Prior to his work on The Elder Scrolls Online, Rich worked on other Bethesda titles such as Oblivion and Fallout 3 at Bethesda Game Studios.
Senior Story designer for FFXIV, Natsuka Ishikawa and Saki Takayanagi, Teams Quest and NPC Designer for FFXIV, will be joining the PAX Aus Special Guest lineup.
Natsuko Ishikawa has been a pivotal member of the Final Fantasy XIV team since 2013, joining during the development of A Realm Reborn. Prior to her work on Final Fantasy XIV, Natsuko gained experience with a number of other RPG developers.
As a Senior Story Designer, Natsuko is responsible for crafting compelling scenarios and managing related aspects of game development. She played a key role in shaping the critically acclaimed main scenarios for Shadowbringers and Endwalker. Currently, Natsuko continues to support the team as a senior member, bringing her expertise and passion to the ongoing evolution of Final Fantasy XIV.
Saki Takayanagi has also been an integral part of the Final Fantasy XIV team since 2013, joining during the development of A Realm Reborn. As a Quest Designer, Saki is responsible for designing and implementing quests and coordinating characters within the game. Her contributions play a crucial role in shaping engaging and immersive experiences for players.
Sonia Coronado is a senior music designer from Cartagena, Colombia, currently working at PlayStation Studios Creative Arts. Some of her recent game credits include God of War Ragnarök, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us Part II. In her short time at PlayStation, she has been nominated and won several MPSE awards as a music editor, most recently being recognised for her supervising role in God of War Ragnarök. The games she has worked on have also been recognised by the industry with nominations and wins at D.I.C.E., The Game Awards, BAFTA’s Games Awards and G.A.N.G. Awards, among others. Lastly, she’s been a speaker for GameSoundCon and Develop:Brighton, as well as a panellist for SCL and a guest lecturer for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Adding to the lineup is James Landino, an internationally recognised video game/anime composer and DJ based out of Tokyo, Japan. His influence of electronic music bridges the gap of gaming, anime, and dance music culture together, amassing millions of plays across multiple platforms.
He is best known for his work on the musically acclaimed video game Omega Strikers, along with other projects including No Straight Roads, Fortnite, Tower Of God, Roblox, Chunithm, Osu!, RWBY, Cytus II, Amplitude HD, PUBG Mobile, Dropmix. James most recently produced for the vtuber music project Advent’s original song “Sirens,” for Hololive.
From another creative realm, international cosplay champion, Sameer Bundela, will be attending PAX Aus. Sameer Bundela, also known as Sameer Tikka Masala, is a pioneering cosplayer in India. He has been cosplaying for over 13 years and has the distinct honour of being the first professional cosplayer in India. He has won numerous awards (over 40) nationally and internationally and is the current Cosplay Champion of India (an honour he’s had 4 times)
Joining the meet and greet line up is Australia’s Esports pride and joy, FlyQuest. FlyQuest is a professional multi-title esports organisation originally founded in 2017, with the mission statement of “Make the gaming landscape better than we found it”. If you’re looking to be a fan of an Australian competitive gaming team that competes on the global scale, there is no one that does it with more distinction than FlyQuest CS2! The team consists of Christopher “dexter” Nong, Jay “Liazz” Tregillgas, Joshua, “INS” Potter, Alistair ‘aliStair” Johnston and Declan “Vexite” Portelli, a lineup which competed under the “Grayhound Gaming” banner until joining FlyQuest in 2024. The team is coached by Erdenetsogt “erksSt’ Gantulga and managed by Chris “GoMeZ” Orfanellis.
And rounding out the Special Guest announcements is Josh Weier, an accomplished video game developer with over 20 years of experience, most of that time spent at Valve. He played a key role in the creation of iconic games like Half-Life 2 and Portal 2. Originally from Wisconsin, Josh now calls Melbourne home.
These special guests join previously announced talent including Storytime speaker Julian Wilton (Creative Director of Massive Monster, creator of Cult of the Lamb), Mark Meer (voice of Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect game series), and John Robertson (The Dark Room, Comedian) as part of the stellar lineup of guests at PAX Australia.