MEET OUR
STAR MENTORS
Limit Break 2024 hosts over 600 mentors across all disciplines both in game development and games adjacent areas - from early stage career to seasoned veterans, there is a mentor at every level.
Learn more about this year's Star Mentors line up below, and maybe you'll be the lucky mentee to be matched with them!
Application closes Thursday 2nd May at 23:59 BST
ANNE-LOU GROSBOIS-FAVREAU
GLOBAL BRAND MANAGER, SQUARE ENIX
Area of mentoring: Brand & Product Management, Marketing & Communication
Ideal mentee: Someone who is curious and interested in learning about the industry in general, and specifically already works in a junior marketing/comms role (even outside the industry), or wants support to apply for one.
Top advice for mentees: Don't be afraid to ask any and all questions, and to be vulnerable where you're comfortable so I can give you the best possible support!
Ben Starr
VOICE ACTOR (Clive Rosfield, Final Fantasy XVI)
Area of mentoring: Video Game Performance
Ideal mentee: Someone who is ambitious and serious about exploring the numerous possibilities still unexplored within the realm of video game performance.
Top advice for mentees: Be realistic. It’s hard work and success must be earned.
Dan Pugsley
AUDIO DIRECTOR, CASSINI SOUND
Area of mentoring: Sound Design
Ideal mentee: Someone with a clear vision of where they want to be, what they want to achieve and an unrelenting passion for audio.
Top advice for mentees: It's all about who you know, so know some good people!
khally saarman-jones
DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE & CULTURE, PAYLOAD STUDIOS
Area of mentoring: People Ops, HR, General Ops
Ideal mentee: Someone who has an interest in my areas of expertise and knows what they want from a mentor, or the programme as a whole.
Top advice for mentees: Have a think about what you want out of Limit Break. What are your goals or aims and what problems are you currently facing? Try to focus on what your mentor might be able to help you with. This way you'll be able to make the most of your time with your mentor.
Loukia (lucy) kyriakidou
CHARACTER DESIGNER & ART DIRECTOR, LUCY DOES ART
Area of mentoring: Character Design, Art Direction
Ideal mentee: Someone who is interested in making the leap into art direction from art. I am ok with both quieter and more outspoken mentees, but someone with some industry experience would make the most sense considering the areas I cover.
Top advice for mentees: You experience in your personal life and in your field has formed a unique perspective that adds value into every conversation, so never be afraid to speak up.
sophie smart
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR, NO MORE ROBOTS
Area of mentoring: Production
Ideal mentee: Someone who is in their first year or two working within production, who many need help understanding and implementing a variety of production techniques or problem solving tricky situations.
They have a lot of enthusiasm and drive and may be queer.
Top advice for mentees: Flag issues early! The earlier a production problem is highlighted, the sooner it can be fixed,.
If you leave it too late, that is when people get angry as things are often less flexible further into development.
ana Dukakis
ADVANCED NARRATIVE DESIGNER, SUPERMASSIVE GAMES
Area of mentoring: Narrative Design
Ideal mentee: My ideal mentee candidate is someone who has a clear goal or questions they want to answer/explore, and proactivity to work towards it! Working together to find ways to make tangible progress is always a lot easier whenever this is the case.
Top advice for mentees: Come to each meeting with a goal in mind of what you'd like to get out of it. If you're worried that you don't have anything or simply need more time, it's better to be upfront about it and postpone (perfectly understandable so long as there's a bit of notice!), rather than try to fill it with general topics. Quality over quantity should make the sessions feel more meaningful and targeted!
rosie jarvis
FREELANCE ENVIRONMENT ARTIST
Area of mentoring: 3D Art - Environment
Ideal mentee: A 3d artist early in their career or looking for their first job who loves art and wants to improve their art and career in game art with a preference for stylized environment art.
Top advice for mentees: Be confident and don't be afraid to ask for help from your mentor.
They wouldn't offer their time if they didn't want to help you!
DANIEL Gronner
QA LEAD TESTER, ROLL7
Area of mentoring: QA
Ideal mentee: Someone looking to get a good start in their QA career, or hoping to build towards Senior testing skills
Top advice for mentees: There are more lessons in failure than success, but that doesn't make it feel better at the time.
Edd coates
LEAD UI ARTIST, RADICAL FORGE / GAME UI DATABASE
Area of mentoring: UI Design
Ideal mentee: Junior to Mid Level UI/UX Designer with an interest in progressing their career.
Top advice for mentees: When studying for any field in game development, try not to look at it as a whole; instead, break it down into its component skillsets. For example, UI design is combination of Contrast, Typography, Iconography, Patterns, Textures, Colours, and Layout. If you judge your work by the sum of those parts, it's easy to feel overwhelmed - however, if you focus on each skillset in isolation, it becomes much easier to identify your strengths and weaknesses.
This means you can focus on the areas that need the most improvement, while learning to be proud of your strengths.
osama hussain
SENIOR PROGRAMMER, SUMO DIGITAL
Area of mentoring: Development / Code
Ideal mentee: Someone who is passionate about video games and thrives for learning game programming
Top advice for mentees: Enjoy every moment of being in the game industry. It's fun after all!
ELIZABETH SIMOENS
SENIOR GAME DESIGNER, RARE LTD
Area of mentoring: Game Design
Ideal mentee: Ideally a junior game designer trying to figure out how to further their career.
Top advice for mentees: The most important attribute to foster is courage. Figuring out how to put yourself out there and make the most of any opportunity is crucial.