Designing for a Cooler Planet: How Katoa: Oceans is Driving Sustainable Sport Improvement – Key phrases Studios Restricted

Contributors: Nigel A. Franks (Snowed In Studios), Elliot Stevens (VOLTA), and Chuck Byas (Liquid Improvement).
The panel, hosted by Caroline Calaway of Calaway Consulting and Sankari Studios, brings collectively the creators of Katoa: Oceans alongside the event companions who helped carry the mission to life, together with Snowed In Studios, VOLTA, and Liquid Development.
As a part of the Key phrases Studios group, Snowed In, VOLTA and Liquid Improvement carry collectively world-class artistic manufacturing experience to drive innovation in sport growth.
Katoa: Oceans is greater than only a superbly crafted environmental stewardship sport. On this formidable title, participant accomplishments set off real-world donations to environmental NGOs – completely aligned with the tagline: Play the sport, save the world.
Based by veterans behind main franchises like Name of Obligation and James Bond, Sankari Studios was born from a shared need to make video games which have a optimistic impression on the planet.
The group envisioned Katoa: Oceans not solely as a compelling gameplay expertise however as a platform the place in-game achievements translate into real-world motion. To attain this formidable aim, Sankari knew they wanted skilled companions to assist carry their imaginative and prescient to life – and that’s once they reached out to Key phrases Studios.
From the very first conversations, the alignment between Sankari and Snowed In Studios was clear. As growth ramped up, Snowed In introduced in VOLTA and Liquid Improvement to collaborate, forming a multi-studio partnership united by a shared dedication to environmental stewardship and sustainability.
This wasn’t only a collaboration; it felt like a single, built-in group. For a lot of of VOLTA’s artists, the mission was deeply private – some got here from coastal areas immediately impacted by air pollution and habitat loss. That keenness fueled the artistic course of, shaping the vivid environments and wealthy visible id of Katoa: Oceans.
By combining our strengths, we have been capable of create an expertise that’s visually beautiful, emotionally resonant, and purpose-driven – proof that video games is usually a highly effective pressure for environmental change.
The mission started on the top of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when funding in video games was booming and conversations round ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and DEI (Range, Fairness, and Inclusion) have been changing into central to many studios’ missions.
However whereas the ambition for Katoa: Oceans was clear, sustainability in sport growth isn’t easy. Among the key challenges we confronted included:
What grew to become clear is that there are not any simple solutions. True sustainability requires devoted planning, new processes, and ongoing funding – however the industry-wide dialog has began, and Katoa: Oceans has helped speed up it.
The XDS ECO Meet-Up will discover challenges in how sustainability could be built-in into artistic pipelines, how distant work impacts carbon footprints, and the way partnerships like this one can drive significant change.
Be part of Nigel A. Franks (Snowed In Studios), Elliot Stevens (VOLTA), and Chuck Byas (Liquid Improvement), alongside Christian Rossi, Chief Inventive Officer and co-founder of Sankari Studios, moderated by Caroline Calaway, previously of EA, Riot and founding father of Calaway Consulting, for a 20-minute conversational panel – adopted by an open networking session.
That is your probability to achieve insights into the way forward for sustainable sport growth and listen to first-hand how Katoa: Oceans helps redefine what’s attainable.
XDS ECO Meet-Up – Designing for a Cooler Planet
📍 Fairview Patio
📅 Thursday, September 4
⏰ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
If you want to speak to a member of our group at XDS 2025, please attain out utilizing the shape beneath. 
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