GDC 2025: Meet the Developers Behind Some of the Year's Most Anticipated ID@Xbox Games
From killer alien environments to world-saving cyclists, there's something for everyone in this year's ID@Xbox lineup.
This week, thousands of game developers from across the game industry will be converging on San Francisco, where the annual Game Developers Conference will allow them to do everything from sharing ideas and pitching their next game to networking with like-minded individuals and learning from their peers. We’ll be at the show in full force, starting with our annual hands-on preview event for press and creators to play the latest ID@Xbox games and meet some of the developers bringing them to life. We figured that would be the perfect opportunity to introduce some of those developers to you, too!
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Developer: Sandfall Interactive)
Name: Francois Meurisse
Title: COO & Production Director
Where is your team based? Montpellier, France
How big is your team? 30 people
Describe your role: Francois oversees the production of the upcoming and highly anticipated Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
What is the inspiration behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? Francois's inspiration stems from a lifelong love for video games and a passion to create a unique and compelling game that blends French artistry and JRPGs together.
Detective Dotson (Developer: Masala Games)
Name: Shalin Shodhan (he/him)
Title: Director & Founder
Where is your team based? Ahmedabad, India
How big is your team? 10 people
Describe your role: Shalin founded Masala Games and his role is to turn teammates into rock stars!
What is the inspiration behind Detective Dotson? India is often (incorrectly) shown as poor or ancient, in media. We want to tell stories from modern India and represent our home more appropriately.
Hela (Developer: Windup Games)
Name: Alexander Benitez (he/him)
Title: Head of Studio
Where is your team based? Umeå, Sweden
How big is your team? Approximately 30 people
Describe your role: Managing the talented team of Windup Games with overall studio responsibility with the primary focus on empowering each individual to be able to deliver the best possible work in a sustainable way.
What is the inspiration behind Hela? We felt that the world needed more places where we can charge our batteries and just have a nice and enjoyable time which lead to us creating Hela - a playful haven, a cheerful mood boost.
L to R: Francois Meurisse, Shalin Shodhan, Alexander Benitez, Fabio Baumgartner.
Herdling (Developer: Okomotive)
Name: Fabio Baumgartner
Title: Lead Game Designer, Sound Designer, and Studio Co-Owner
Where is your team based? Zurich, Switzerland
How big is your team? 12 developers
Describe your role: Fabio Baumgartner is the lead sound designer and game designer for Herdling, and co-founded the studio Okomotive with fellow students at University of the Arts in Zurich.
What is the inspiration behind Herdling? The team is inspired by the Alps and other mountain regions, along with classic atmospheric indie titles.
Hotel Barcelona (Developer: White Owls Inc.)
Name: Hidetaka Suehiro (he/him) and Yuichi Seki (he/him)
Title: Hidetaka is Director & Producer and Yuichi is Game Designer
Where is your team based? Osaka, Japan
How big is your team? Usually 10, max 40
Describe your role: Developer
What is the inspiration behind Detective Dotson? They want to develop unique video games that have never existed.
Promise Mascot Agency (Developer: Kaizen Game Works)
Name: Phil Crabtree (he/him)
Title: Technical Director & Cofounder
Where is your team based? UK
How big is your team? Kaizen Game Works is only 3 full time employees, but we work with some amazing contractors!
Describe your role: As technical director, Phil oversees all technical decisions on the game and helps to implement systems. As it's a small team, Phil writes a lot of the code, and also gets involved with design and other aspects of the game.
What is the inspiration behind Promise Mascot Agency? The desire to build games full of character and personality is our driving inspiration.
L to R: Hidetaka Suehiro, Phil Crabtree, Alex Hutchinson, Erick Bilodeau.
Revenge of the Savage Planet (Developer: Racoon Logic)
Name: Alex Hutchinson (he/him) and Erick Bilodeau (he/him)
Title: Alex is Creative Director and Erick is Art Director
Where is your team based? Montreal, QC
How big is your team? About 30 people
Describe your role: Alex serves as the director of the game and is responsible for the overall creative vision and features included in Revenge of the Savage Planet. Erick serves as the art director on the project and is responsible for the overall look of the game.
What is the inspiration behind Revenge of the Savage Planet? Alex draws inspiration from books/comics from the golden age of sci-fi, he also loves injecting humor in our games and building systemic gameplay where players can become agents of chaos. Erick loves all things 80s including but not limited to He-Man, Transformers, and pretty much any cartoon and toy from that era. All these inspirations find their way into the game into our game in unique ways.
Spices of Life (Developer: Gambir Studio)
Name: Shafiq Husein (he/him)
Title: Co-Founder and CEO
Where is your team based? Yogyakarta, Indonesia
How big is your team? 21 people
Describe your role: Setting the company's business strategy, supervising the company's projects, building mutually beneficial relationships with our partners.
What is the inspiration behind Spices of Life? Spices of Life was created to celebrate the rich cultural diversity of South East Asia through an engaging narrative-driven game experience, featuring various Asian food.
L to R: Shafiq Husein, Keita Takahashi, Mark Essen, Kristy Norindr.
To a T (Developer: uvula)
Name: Keita Takahashi (he/him)
Title: Director/Designer
Where is your team based? San Francisco and other countries
How big is your team? We were around 10, but it is 4 right now.
Describe your role: Indicating the direction and making decisions.
What is the inspiration behind To a T? Wanted to make something positive and fun because the current world we are living is totally opposite.
Wheel World (Developer: Messhof)
Name: Mark Essen (he/him) and Kristy Norindr (she/her)
Title: Mark is Co-founder + Creative Director and Kristy is Co-founder + Business + Production + Music Selection
Where is your team based? We’re distributed around the world but mostly in the US. Kristy and I are in Venice, CA.
How big is your team? Right now, we’re 10 people.
Describe your role: Mark directs the overall vision for Wheel World and works with the other designers to develop the various mechanics and level design. Kristy handles the production duties along with other operations related activities for Messhof. She also spearheads custom music OST for Wheel World and prior Messhof titles.
What is the inspiration behind Wheel World? For Mark, it’s growing up with bikes and listening to what they were thinking about. For Kristy it’s cruising through the city or countryside with sweet, sweet tunes. Vibes, vibes, VIBES!