Video games have always been a way for Beni to connect with others. The game development process fascinated him from an early age, and he took any chance he could get to learn more about it. This led to an incredible opportunity interning in Blizzard’s QA department, then becoming a full-time member of the team. Though he spent six years in QA, Beni found his true passion in joining the Events team, which combined his love of artistic expression, connecting with community and enjoyment of organization and process. For the last 15 years he has produced experiences of all shapes and sizes. Regardless of the event, whether it’s a small, intimate dinner or large custom event for thousands, Beni is driven to make each one better than the last!

Billy has had a lifelong interest in gaming, art, technology, and helping others. Starting out as an animator at Electronic Arts, he quickly discovered his true calling as a technical artist. He then spent nearly 13 years working as a tech artist, game developer, and leader at Blizzard Entertainment before joining Bonfire. Still a hardcore gamer, here Billy is also heavily engaged in giving feedback to Design. He has a fascination for improving one's self and the inner game: the mental aspect of competitive sports and gaming.

"Work harder, better. Make faster, stronger... Evolution never over." --Abathur

Braden is a Los Angeles native who grew up surrounded by creativity. His parents instilled a love of music in Braden from an early age. After interning with local recording studios, he discovered game audio and honed his craft in his backyard shed with a laptop and a pair of headphones. Now, after almost a decade of professional experience and training from some of the world's most prolific game sound designers, Braden is an expert. When he's not working, he can be found playing video games, rock climbing, or playing with his two dogs. At Bonfire, Braden continues to put his audio skills to the test to bring our game to life in new and exciting ways.

Chris spent most of his early years trying to escape his small town in rural Kansas by grinding levels in MMOs and playing entirely too much CS 1.6. The in-game friendships were life changing - they ignited his curiosity around how players and developers forge communities and culture together. Since then, he’s spent 10 years working on League of Legends and helped launch TFT, Legends of Runeterra, VALORANT, and more. When he’s not locked in battle, Chris spends his time exploring the trails of Southern California with his trusty pug. Chris is hyped to be at Bonfire where he hopes to bring opportunities for players everywhere to build and connect together.

Christina's love for Super Smash Bros. N64 sparked her lifelong gaming passion. The magical feeling of finding her own close-knit gaming group inspired her mission to create spaces of belonging for others. After nine years at Supercell, where she built the Clash of Clans' brand, orchestrated its Super Bowl debut, established a storytelling team, and shaped new game IPs, Christina joined Bonfire to nurture a company culture where everyone feels seen and valued. When she’s not steering our culture, you’ll find Christina at a karaoke bar or lighting up the dance floor.

Desiree would watch her parents play video games till she was old enough to take a kick at the can herself, immersing herself in Zelda, Gauntlet Legends, Golden Eye and more. When she discovered animation and art could be a bonafide job, she left home to attend Vancouver Film School for classical and 3D character animation. Now, Des combines her passion for games with her previous experience to bring Bonfire’s first game to life! When she isn't working, you can find her hiking with her dog, drinking delicious beer, and obsessively playing Dota 2.

Growing up the youngest of four boys, Greg spent his formative years simultaneously falling in love with video games and trying his best to get a turn to play them. When he couldn't get his hands on a controller, he'd spend his time drawing out game ideas onto his trusty pad of grid paper. After taking "Intro to Computer Animation" in high school, he was hooked on turning those ideas into realities. Greg eventually landed his first industry gig at Sony working on God of War: Ascension. Since then he's bounced around LA working on projects big and small; from Respawn's Jedi Fallen Order to Giant Sparrow's What Remains of Edith Finch. He now happily finds himself at Bonfire, ready to bring more big ideas to life for players everywhere.

Originally from Guam, Izzy's family moved to the mainland US when she was seven years old. Throughout her childhood she played many games, but it was the Final Fantasy series that really hooked her and left an indelible impression. Inspired, she wrote her first program at 13 years old and from then on knew that making games was meant for her. Honing her skills on smaller game projects and competing in hackathons, Izzy would go on to work on such franchises as Call of Duty and Apex Legends. A builder at heart, she still finds time to build custom mechanical keyboards, construct Gundam model kits, and she’s always in search of the perfect boba milk tea. She’s excited to join Bonfire’s small but mighty team and see what amazing things they can all create.

Whether tinkering with PC games with his friends or playing D&D and Magic the Gathering with his cousins, Kyle loved to share games with others. While completing his Software Engineering degree at the University of Alberta, Kyle landed an internship with Electronic Arts working on the not yet announced Skate game. As a casual skater himself, the experience got him hooked on a career in game development. He returned to EA after graduating and spent the next 14 years as a gameplay engineer on franchises including Skate, Need for Speed, and Plants vs Zombies. Having the opportunity to work with the small group of amazing folks at Bonfire was something Kyle couldn't turn down and he's stoked to help bring the creative ideas at Bonfire to life!

Megan has built her career on a desire to forge strong bonds with others and help them succeed. Her operational expertise was developed as the right hand of numerous dynamic and creative leaders in the games industry and Bonfire has honed her collaborative and creative problem solving in the strategy space with a lens for diversity, equity, and inclusion. She takes food and eating quite seriously, is a horror movie aficionado, a dedicated board game rule follower, and an amplifier of voices big, small, soft, hard and in between.

Michelle’s first exposure to gaming was when she bartered her car washing and weed pulling skills in exchange for a SHARP 19SV111 television with a built in NES - it was worth every bee sting and sunburn, and unlocked her life-long passion for games. She bridged her love of video games into her role of helping others find their place in the industry, hiring at companies including Riot Games, Netflix, Microsoft and Phoenix Labs. Michelle is excited to now bring her people-first approach to building teams to Bonfire. As someone who doesn’t have a college degree, she recognizes the challenges that come from navigating a “non-traditional” career path and is passionate about making space for those historically excluded from making games. When she isn’t geeking out about all things hiring, you can find her fostering kittens, hiking, and eating popcorn.

Morgan grew up loving games, and was lucky enough to turn this interest into a 15 year career in the industry. She started out covering tech, but spent most of her career as a reviewer, journalist, and television producer covering the world of video games. She also hosted the long running television show X-Play, where she was able to learn about the industry from the developers themselves. She is excited to bring her production experience, her love of games, and her high-elf ranger to Bonfire Studios.

Born and raised in Orange County, Nick was yelled at a lot by teachers for always drawing in class. His love of drawing collided with his second love on a fateful day in 1985, when Christmas provided a Nintendo Entertainment System. Thus, the world of video games was revealed. Nick’s first (and very humbling) career experience was at Quicksilver Software creating art for Master of Orion III. He learned a lot from that experience and was happy to find a much better one working with amazing humans on Diablo 3 and, his favorite experience, as Lead VFX Artist on Overwatch. When not brewing beer he is experimenting in the kitchen, woodworking, or hanging out with friends (as well as dog Sirius and cat Abbey).

When it came time to choose a career path, Rachel looked to the one consistent inspiration in her life, video games! Her career started in QA at Blizzard and quickly evolved to Technical Art and eventually VFX. Through her career, Rachel has had the privilege of working on such titles as Diablo III, Overwatch and Warcraft Rumble as a VFX artists. She then moved to Bonfire to be their founding VFX artist and has since grown her career and expanded into Production. Now, Rachel is excited to help the team realize their vision by helping to create amazing games with amazing people.

Rob’s love of game design started when he was introduced to D&D with his elementary school friends. Designing campaigns for his friends showed him the power of games to bring people closer together. During his professional career, he led the design of Starcraft: Brood War, World of Warcraft and Warcraft III. As Chief Creative Officer at Blizzard, he served as the Executive Producer for Diablo III and Hearthstone. Bonfire is the next phase of his journey to deepen and enrich friendships through gameplay.

He was that kid who took everything apart to see how it worked, so it was inevitable that he would try to figure out how to make the video games he loved. When he took his first computer programming course, his career path was set. He has worked as a game, tools, and engine programmer at Insomniac Games, Blizzard Entertainment, and Riot Games on titles such as Ratchet & Clank and Diablo 3. Sam was also a co-founder of Booyah, creator of several top iOS and Facebook games.

The first time he wrote a multiplayer game in his school computer lab, he fell in love with making games. He started his career as a gameplay engineer on a series of open-world action games including The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction and Prototype. Zaven then worked on some of gaming's biggest multiplayer franchises - Destiny & Battlefield. As a Technical Director at EA, Zaven helped lead technology development on new IP projects. Now, his passion for games, technology, and team building have brought him from Vancouver to Bonfire to help create amazing games and build amazing teams.