GDC 2026: Meet the Developers of This Year's Featured ID@Xbox Games

As thousands of game developers from across the industry descend upon the 2026 GDC Festival of Gaming in San Francisco, ID@Xbox has prepared a jam-packed preview event for press and creators to play the latest games and meet some of the developers working to bring them to life. 

Whether you're planning to stop by and get your hands on the demos or just say hello, we thought now would be a great time to introduce you to the incredible creators from across the globe that we'll be featuring. Don't forget to check out all the other amazing panels and events we'll be sponsoring at the show. We hope to see you there!

Name: Nicolas Guérin
Title: Creative Director
Where is your team based? Montréal, Canada
How big is your team? 20 people
Describe your role: As the Creative Director, Nicolas is the one responsible for creating the game’s vision, and guiding the team to make it happen. At Thunder Lotus, Creative Directors are also Game Directors, and as such is also in charge of the design and story of the game.
What is the inspiration behind your game? At Fate’s End is meant to allow users explore the complex dynamics behind family relationships.
Demo Length: 30-45 minutes

Name: Ken Kim
Title: Founder and CEO
Where is your team based? Seoul, South Korea
How big is your team? 100 people
Describe your role: Ken oversees the studio’s overall vision and leads its major projects. For MONGIL: STAR DIVE, the official successor to the original Monster Taming - the game that spearheaded Netmarble's growth, he is focused on driving the IP’s evolution. Ken's goal is to preserve the core appeal of the original IP while integrating modern sensibilities and cutting-edge technology to resonate with the global market.
What is the inspiration behind your game? Our inspiration was to maximize the original’s universally beloved “collecting and growth” experience and reimagine it as a modern action-adventure where character narratives and emotions truly come to life.
Demo Length: 15+ minutes

L to R: Nicolas Guérin, Ken Kim, Mike Willette, Heidi Borge

Name: Mike Willette
Title: Executive Producer
Where is your team based? Los Angeles, CA
How big is your team? 40+ people
Describe your role: Mike's role as executive producer is to build and lead the team. He oversees the development process, establishing the vision with the creative and technical teams, plans development and resource management with the production team, and ensures successful execution of the game from concept to launch.
What is the inspiration behind your game? We wanted to combine our love for the Invincible franchise with our collective passion for the fighting game genre to create an authentic experience that feels visceral and brutal - one that gets you out of your seat.
Demo Length: 20-30 minutes; stop by or reach out to becca@fortyseven.com to set up an appointment.

Name: Heidi Borge
Title: Founder & Director
Where is your team based? Adelaide, South Australia
How big is your team? 4 people
Describe your role: Heidi works as the sole director, designer, writer, and programmer on the project, as well as the lead 2D & 3D artist.
What is the inspiration behind your game? I want to create character-driven, narrative-centric games; through Delphinium, I'm exploring how the farming sim genre can be used as the foundation for a story-centric experience.
Demo Length: 4-8 hours (when played in full, but the first hour showcases a range of mechanics, setting, etc!)

Name: Vanessa Chia
Title: Co-founder and Producer
Where is your team based? Toronto, Canada
How big is your team? 10 people
What is the inspiration behind your game? We’re inspired by 80s / 90s sci-fi films and anime like Back to the Future, Blade Runner, The Thing, Akira, and of course, Stranger Things.
Demo Length: 40-50 minutes

Name: Josh Presseisen
Title: Game Director
Where is your team based? Our team has members in both the US and UK.
How big is your team? 20 people
Describe your role: Josh's role is as both the Game Director and its creator. He works with the teams to lead on creative decisions around the visuals, narrative, mechanics, and audio to ensure they stay true to the game’s design.
What is the inspiration behind your game?  I was inspired when watching people playing on handheld devices, and wondered what would happen if the world they played in was linked to the world they lived in. How interesting would it be to deliver a sense of wonder from something that feels completely original yet comfortingly nostalgic?
Demo Length: 15-20 minutes

L to R: Vanessa Chia, Josh Presseisen, Abraham K, Marnix Licht

Name: Abraham K
Title: Studio Head & Creative Director
Where is your team based? Chennai, India
How big is your team? 35 people
Describe your role: Abraham works at the intersection of culture, code, and craft - directing the creative vision of Son of Thanjai while staying hands-on with whatever the project demands.
What is the inspiration behind your game? We grew up speaking Tamil - one of the world's oldest living languages - surrounded by the legends of the Chola empire, kings who commanded the seas, and temples that touched the sky, and Son of Thanjai is our love letter to that legacy.
Demo Length: 20 minutes

Name: Marnix Licht
Title: Studio Director
Where is your team based? Spread out across the Netherlands, we work remotely.
How big is your team? The core team is 5 people, but we work with some amazing external help for audio, music, narrative writing, and animation.
Describe your role: As a small indie we all wear many hats. As Studio Director, Marnix handles the overall business and marketing strategy for the game and handles communication with all external partners. Generally making things so the team gets to shine. On top of that, he also develops and designs for the game. He designed the core mechanics and many of the puzzles. He mainly handles the coding for all the mind-bending crazy mechanics you can find in Nomori. Anything involving lots of math.
What is the inspiration behind your game? Nomori is the answer to the question, what would happen if you combined the Artwork ‘Relativity’ by MC Escher with mechanics inspired by the Portal series with a twist combined with the storytelling of studio Ghibli set in cozy world inspired by Japanese Folklore.  
Demo Length: 30-60 minutes

Name: Ty Taylor
Title: Executive Producer
Where is your team based? United States of America
How big is your team? 6 people
Describe your role: Doing everything possible to bring Desolus to as many people as possible, as well as managing the technical work to bring Desolus to Xbox and Xbox Play Anywhere.
What is the inspiration behind your game? (From Mark J. Mayers, Creative Director) Desolus is an amalgamation of everything I find most interesting, which I believe makes for an original blend. A combination of the captivating art style, physics themed mechanics, surrealist narrative, and a classical piano soundtrack, makes Desolus a game which stands out.
Demo Length: 30 minutes

L to R - Mark Mayers, Ty Taylor, Chris Laviña, Max Sandler, Desiree Milner, Kyle Landry

Name: Alessandro Bovenzi
Title: Director of Business Development
Where is your team based? Across Europe
How big is your team? 20 people, 27 at peak
Describe your role:  Alessandro is part of the publishing team, focused on business development and platform relations.
What is the inspiration behind your game? As a publisher, we've been blown away by Sad Cat's vision and commitment to Replaced and we can't wait for players to be able to play the game soon.  
Demo Length: 20+ minutes

Name: Chandana Ekanayake
Title: Game Director
Where is your team based? US, Canada, Australia, China
How big is your team? 14 people
Describe your role: Chandana is responsible for studio and game direction. Design, narrative, art.
What is the inspiration behind your game? Two sisters in a food truck mech battle a fast-food empire run by their other sister.
Demo Length: 30 minutes

L to R: Alessandro Bovenzi, Chandana Ekanayake, Justin Woodward, Johnny Galvatron

Name: Justin Woodward
Title: Director and Executive Producer
Where is your team based? California, Spain, and London
How big is your team? Our main team includes 4 people, with an expanded team of assisting artists, animators, and composers.
Describe your role: Justin is the creative director at The MIX Games. For Hit em Up Highrise he worked on the vision and direction behind the concept of the game. He helped create the initial idea, influencing the design world, storyline and art direction alongside development partners Darryl, Jon and Chloe.
What is the inspiration behind your game? What if we made a roguelite beat’em-up game influenced by colorful 90s film villains, set in a dystopian maximum-security prison?
Demo Length: 15-20 minutes

Name: Johnny Galvatron
Title: Writer/Director
Where is your team based? Melbourne Rock City
How big is your team? 12 people
Describe your role: Liaising. You wouldn't believe how much liaising. Music, sometimes. Some mornings I just stare out the window.
What is the inspiration behind your game? Causing trouble, escaping trouble, the teenage wasteland, and the greatest music of all time.
Demo Length: About 30 minutes