GameSkills Shows First Experts in Mentor Lineup

GameSkills, the Creative Europe Media-backed advanced training initiative for European game studios, has announced the first confirmed experts for its 2026 programme.

Their names and topics:

• Tara Voelker (Senior Accessibility Producer, Netflix Games): Managing Accessibility Across the Production Pipeline
• Will Shen (Creative Director, Unknown Worlds): Designing Systems That Scale and Evolve Without Breaking
• Karla Reyes (Founder & Creative Director, Anima Interactive): Balancing Representation, Narrative Coherence, and Creative Intent
• Tommy Thompson (Director, AI and Games): Automating Repetitive Production Tasks Without Losing Oversight; and Using AI to Inform Business Decisions — Not to Make Them
• Tülay McNally (Senior Director Play4All Strategy, Scopely): Expanding Audiences Without Alienating Existing Ones
• Jennifer Estaris (Sustainability & Games Expert): Designing Game Mechanics with Long-Term Impact in Mind
• Celia Hodent (Game UX Strategy Expert): Designing for Engagement in Saturated Markets
• Kate Edwards (CEO, Geogrify LLC): Expanding Your Game’s Reach Through Culturalization

“GameSkills was designed to help European studios respond strategically to the accelerating changes reshaping the games industry,” says Sophie Romano, Project Lead at GameSkills. “By bringing together internationally recognised experts and enabling leadership teams to train collectively, the programme supports studios in strengthening decision-making, resilience, and long-term competitiveness.”

Running from April to November 2026, the programme will include an in-person summit at gamescom dev in Cologne. Applications for studios are still open until tomorrow, 20 February 2026.