PRGDA GDC 2022 SCHOLARS!
We are incredibly excited to announce the recipients of the PRGDA GDC 2022 Scholarship! Coming from both the island and the US mainland, our scholars represent a variety of Puerto Rican professionals and students currently defining their careers in the game industry. We’re excited about what this opportunity can provide them. Look forward to their GDC recaps in a few weeks after they return!
We are ever thankful to the LATAM Video Games Federation for graciously giving GDC All-Access Passes to our community.
Julian R Basso
Company: Edenic Era Studios
Area of Focus: 3D Art, Design, Engineering
My name is Julián, I'm a Puerto Rican hard surface 3D artist and recent SCAD graduate with a strong passion for gaming and the virtual world. Making projects with the Unreal engine for years has allowed me to explore other sides of game development as well such as visual scripting, material functions, and level editing. My goal is to help create unique digital experiences while keeping an eye on the industry back home, aspiring to one day develop high-quality games in PR that show what we have to offer as game devs.
Rico Corazón
Company: RicoRicoRPG, Gala Games, Last Gameboard
Area of Focus: TTRPG, Community, Biz Dev, Streaming
Rico Corazón(he/him) is a full-time Dungeon Master, IRL Streamer, and DEI Consultant currently based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Rico has been published for his research in the field of Gender Studies as well as his work in creating fantasy content, all in the hope of making more equitable communities, real and imagined. He's worked on projects with groups such as Fantasy Flight Games, Wizards of the Coast, Gala Games, and has spoken at various conventions on turning your passion for gaming into a full-time career. Rico is always looking to escape the chaos of reality into a world of fantasy, a world where folks can go beyond who they are and the identities they hold to feel empowered as a hero.
Emanuel Garcia
Company: Polus PR
Area of Focus: Narrative Design, Community, Marketing
Emanuel is a manufacturing engineer with over 5 years of experience in project management and production. Since January 2021, he’s been working professionally at Valectonia Publishing with online publishers as a tabletop RPG designer and project manager.
Emanuel has a passion for storytelling and provides narrative design consultation and education to indie developers. He’s currently working on an MMORPG called Greater Powers as a narrative designer.
Sylvette Rosario
Company: Gladius
Area of Focus: Art
I graduated from Atlantic University College and am currently working for Gladius Studios since 2018– mainly as a 3D Character Artist– but I also do 3D generalist work. I've been very passionate about art and video games since I was a child, so working on something that involves both is truly a blessing.
Bryan B. Bonilla
Freelance & Volunteer for the PRGDA
Area of Focus: Game Design, Engineering, Sound
Bryan B. Bonilla Díaz is an indie developer focused on games and audio. He studied Game Design and Development at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico (Bayamón Campus). Has been around the local game development scene for 5+ years and is also a volunteer for the Puerto Rico Game Developers Association (PRGDA). Currently working on “PixelTwips” and helping with audio on “Behbes Adventure”.
Amarilys Rosado
Company: Amas Behbes and VeoVeo
Area of Focus: Art, Game Design
I am a professional UI/Particle artist with several years of experience in the local industry. Some of the biggest projects I've worked on are "Bunny Madness: Anarchy" a video game of bipedal creatures where I worked as the UI/UX artist, texture artist, and also particle effects artist, "Tailormade Radio" a music app for mobile similar to "Pandora Radio" where I worked as a UI/UX artist and photographer. I'm currently developing my own video game called "Behbes Adventures!" with a small team acting as director/creative director while I also juggle with my small business "Amas Behbes". I've also worked as a freelancer for over 6 years doing 2D art, animations, logos, UI/UX designs, and storyboarding. I've worked for clients such as Yadier Molina's M4 clothing brand making web banners, Claro's commercials doing video editing, Pepsi's "Viva Las Plenas" post Hurricane Maria's 2D animated commercials, and more.
Daniel Narvaez
Student at Parsons School of Design - The New School
Area of Focus: Game Design, Production
Daniel Narvaez is a game designer based in the Bronx, New York who is passionate about systems thinking and Puerto Rican cultural representation in games. He is currently a fourth-year at Parsons School of Design. He hopes to start his own studio one day. In his spare time, Daniel likes to dance Salsa.
Arturo Lopez
Student at Atlantic University College
Area of Focus: Art, Game Design, eSports
Hello! My name is Arturo Lopez. I'm a 3D artist from Puerto Rico. Video games have been my passion since as far back as I can remember, I think video games are the ultimate form of art since it's a symbiotic union of all mediums made interactive. Games have gotten me through countless hardships, they give my life meaning and a sense of purpose, and all I want is to create work that does the same for others.
Carlos Rodriguez
Student at Universidad Interamericana Bayamon
Area of Focus: Game Design, Engineering
I've always loved creating things, combine that with a love for video games, and it's only natural that this is the path I choose. When I got my first laptop back in high school, I started experimenting with Unity to learn how to make games. I used the many failed attempts that followed as a learning experience. I'd ask myself what went wrong, why it went wrong, and most importantly how can I prevent this in my next attempt.
