Robin Hunicke to deliver keynote at first OKRE Development Rooms event of 2022

World-leading games designer Robin Hunicke, CEO of indie game studio Funomena, is to give the keynote at the first OKRE Development Rooms event of 2022.

Hunicke co-founded the San Francisco-based studio in 2012. Funomena creates experimental games across a variety of platforms, including PC and VR, and has a mission to help people experience their innate playfulness, curiosity and creativity.

The many award-winning titles Hunicke has worked on include Journey, Wattam, and Boom Blox.

Robin is also Professor of Games and Playable Media at UC Santa Cruz where she explores games as a medium of critical, social and expressive artistic practice.

She will give the keynote at OKRE Development Rooms: Preservation Era on Wednesday, January 26th.

OKRE Development Rooms are monthly events taking place on the final Wednesday of every month, bringing entertainment industry creatives together with leading researchers and experts by experience from around the world.

They are produced by the charity OKRE, a global hub for collaboration across the entertainment industry, research and social impact sectors. OKRE’s aim is to expand people’s understanding of the world through opening knowledge across research and entertainment.

The only event series of its kind, OKRE Development Rooms are open to creators working across games, film, audio, social media and television. Each event provides a rich mix of perspectives and cutting-edge research to inspire future projects.

Titles of other OKRE Development Rooms in the 2022 season include Constructing Catastrophe, The Quest for Eternal Life and How to Rewrite Reality.

Booking for each event is free, although places are limited.

The Editorial Committee for the 2022 OKRE Development Rooms has also been announced, including Ambreena Budaly (Adidas Originals), Lizzie Francke (BFI), Des Gayle (Fellow Traveller), Akua Gyamfi (The British Blacklist), Manda Levin (BBC), Fiona McDermott (Channel 4), Jason Phipps (Chalk & Blade) and Chella Ramanan (3-Fold).

Iain Dodgeon, Director of OKRE, said: “Following the success of OKRE Development Rooms in 2021, including our event at Cannes Film Festival, I’m delighted we’ll be staging the OKRE Development Rooms monthly from 2022. Anyone with a passion for creating compelling content knows the value of fresh and unexpected perspectives. Guided by such a talented and passionate Editorial Committee, these are events not to be missed. We have already seen the results of past events come to fruition and I can’t wait to see what this next season of the OKRE Development Rooms inspires.”

Lisa Jamieson, Executive Producer for OKRE Development Rooms said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to have the chance to lead this unique event series. OKRE Development Rooms offer an opportunity to bring researchers together with the entertainment industry that can be found nowhere else and I can’t wait to see what stories are shared and collaborations created.”