Meet the Studio 43 Team
Studio 43 is a group that was created based on our shared desire to see our first project, High Moon, come to life. We are a team of eleven students from the Game Art and Design program at Vancouver Institute of Media arts with a variety of talents and interests.
Jakub Hajek
Producer, Character Concept Artist, Level Designer, Website Designer, UI Artist and Character Modeler
Born and raised on the Gulf Islands of BC, Jakub now resides in Vancouver. As long as he can remember he's had a passion for visual arts and has spent most of his life wanting to study 2D Animation. However, in his early 20s he found himself becoming more interested in games and decided to switch focuses. Some of his favorite games include Metal Gear Solid, Yakuza, Final Fantasy and Red Dead Redemption 2. He also remains a big fan of animation as well as comics. In the future, he'd like to become a Character Concept Artist or a Junior Producer for games.
Tyler Watts
Creative Director, Writer, Level Designer and Animator
Growing up in Vancouver, BC, Tyler has had an interest in games ever since he was gifted a Nintendo 64 as a child. After going to university for Psychology, he realized it wasn't for him and ended up working in retail for a few years instead. After seeing a friend follow her dreams to become a technical artist, he realized that he could do that too and decided to pursue game design! Some of his favorite games include The Legend of Zelda, Persona, The Last of Us, Journey, Shadow of the Colosses and Stardew Valley. Playing games has also led him to cosplaying and conventions, where he has met many of his friends. He also enjoys playing Dungeons and Dragons in his free time. Tyler plans on working towards becoming an Animator, Level Designer and eventually a Creative Director at a studio. His dream is to create strong narratives for gaming experiences that make players feel impacted.
Darshan Shete
Technical Director, Programmer, Locomotion, and Lighting Artist
Reilly Reid
Art Director, Environment Concept Artist, Rigger, UI Artist and Sound Designer
Reilly decided to pursue games design out of spite as he dislikes the current state of the industry. He enjoys games such as Halo, Yakuza, Infamous, Dark Souls and the Yakuza series. He is planning on becoming a Concept Artist.
Ryan Andrews
Programmer, Environmental Artist and Rigger
Ryan is an architect-turned-coder-turned-aspiring game developer from a small farming town in Oregon. His favorite game series is Halo alongside a host of building, strategy and team based games. After school, he'd like to become an Evironment Artist for a major studio and spend his free time wandering around drawing.
Rori Page
Character Concept Artist, Character Modeler, and Texture Artist
Rori is from Edmonton, Alberta and decided to study game design due to an interest in 3D art that she hadn't gotten a chance to explore before now. Her favorite games are Darkest Dungeon 2 and Disco Elysium. After graduating, Rori would love to become a 3D character modeler or a character concept artist!
Mike Cecil
Writer, Level Designer, Environment Artist and Texture Artist
Born in Toronto, Mike has spent most of his life in Abbotsford. His childhood dream was always to make video games, however he felt it would be an impractical choice and went into carpentry instead. Eight years into his career, he decided to pursue his dreams and switched tracks. As someone who values strong narratives, Mike's favorite games include The Last of Us I & II, Disco Elysium, God of War (2018). He also loves the Warhammer series for its deep and expansive world-building, as well as other table top games. Though he would like to create his own game someday, his main goal for the future is to get a stable job in the industry working on games he's passionate about.
Kat Rice
Hard Surface Modeler, Lead UI Artist, Prop Modeler and Audio Designer
Having lived in Vancouver their whole life, Kat was originally hoping to pursue graphic design but found that their true passion lay with game design. They are a big fan of the Last of Us I & II, Generation Zero and the Fallout series. They express themselves through a variety of creative interests including 3D modeling, drawing and writing and frequently draw inspiration from their interest in cars and automotive history. In the future, Kat would like to work on their own projects and work towards becoming an art director at Gaijan Entertainment.
Nighean Umbach
Environment Artist, Character Concept Artist and Texture Artist
Born and raised in Tsawwassen, Nighean has always enjoyed a variety of creative pursuits. After earning a Bachelors of Arts degree from Brigham Young University, she decided to pursue game design as she felt that would be the best way to explore the fictional worlds she loved. Some of her favorite games include Skyrim, Assassins Creed, Tomb Raider and Hogwarts Legacy. She also enjoys sewing, cosplay, DnD, crochet, reading and gardening.
Nighean would love to work as a Concept Artist or 3D Character Modeler in the future.
Harun Altınışık
Character Modeler, Character Concept Artist and Texture Artist
After studying Fine Arts for seven years in his hometown Istanbul, Turkey, Harun moved to Vancouver to study game design. Though his dream was always working at Blizzard Entertainment, he now wants to open his own studio to work on his own ideas. His favorite games are World of Warcraft, Bioshock, Persona 5, God of War, and Pokemon. When he's not playing games he enjoys watching videos of lava on the internet.
Nirmit Chopra
Programmer, VFX Artist, Locomotion and Animator
Nirmit hails from the beautiful city of Mumbai, India, where his passion for gaming first ignited. The allure of crafting immersive digital experiences led him to pursue game design at VanArts. Prior to this, he was doing a 3D Generalist job at an event studio called Elements Media. His favorite games span a wide range of genres, from the strategic depths of Civilization to the adrenaline-fueled action of Overwatch. Beyond gaming, he enjoys playing football, travelling and cooking. His dream job is to work as an Art Director in a studio where he can unleash his creativity and contribute to crafting captivating virtual worlds.