Casey Thomas

Profile

Casey Thomas is a veteran within the games and esports industries, known for her remarkable amount of perseverance and persistence, from her own experience has decided to challenge traditional standards within the space.

She’s a gamer at heart and got into building video games in 2016, where she’s creating the next esport title “Drone Legion”, this competitive drone racing game challenges players’ skills and speed in high-intensity racing-style matches, the game was nominated twice in 2019 amongst international triple-A titles like CS:GO, Dota 2, and F1 in the Australian Game Developer Awards.

Casey has showcased at many large gaming events such as PAX Aus, Melbourne Esports Open, AFL’s League of Origin grand final, and at the Australian Grand Prix. She has worked with the likes of Global Victoria, Rod Laver Arena, Marvel Stadium, and the Australian Grand Prix, demonstrating the need for not only change in the gaming space but pathways into esports is vital in today’s society.

During Covid-19 to keep herself busy she created the Indie Esports platform that could revolutionize games and esports - this platform is in the early stages of development, yet that didn’t stop it from being Globally nominated twice!

She’s spent countless hours networking and listening to the desires of game developers and esport players observing clear wants and needs that are missing in both industries. Now through her two startup companies along with countless event lanyards, she’s leveraging the industry pains into future foundations and merging games and esports together, creating a new target market.

Casey has had a very unique pathway, not completing high school she jumped from job to job from retail, hospitality, dental assisting, massage therapy, tattoo artist to becoming an online game design teacher empowering the next generation and delivering unique skills and industry insights to help them succeed.

Casey has spoken at numerous Melbourne and Regional events, she’s also an accredited international speaker since speaking at India’s largest gaming event (IGDC), and she’s also an Olympic committee member which no doubt, she’ll challenge that space to represent and be inclusive of games and esports.

Casey was nominated top 3 young female entrepreneur, has been in numerous news articles through PC tech review, technology & gadget expo, PAX Aus, Future Assembly, Get into Games (GIG), Melbourne Esports Open, AFL’s League of Origin grand final, she was one of Melbourne’s first members within Develop Pacific 30 under 30s, ABC’s GDC Good Game special, Events Horizon, Launch Vic Smart company, Tathra Street podcasts, Melbourne International Games Week, Esports conference (EGAA), high school esports, nominated in Telstra’s best business award, Girl Geek Academy, Tech Schools, UK Womenize program “inspiring stories” to name a few.

Expertise

Talking Points

Dev to be more - from indie to beyond

What is it like to start your career in the incredible world of video games, and, once you do how do you start production, find talent and what happens with your game once it’s ready to be released.

Who is this for:
Gamers who want to understand how games are made, anyone who likes to design their own games, high school students who are interested in video games and their development, anyone who has a game idea of their own, small to large brands and how they could be involved in video games, entrepreneurs, and game developers who want to know what comes next when you’re ready to release a game.

Key Takeaways:
- Understand the general workflow of what goes into a game
- Understanding how games are made
- Develop a toolkit of game terminology and understand the passion behind building games
- Learn about some of the struggles that game developers face
- Grow an appreciation for those in the space

Embracing the game - esport players

Ever wondered what it would be like to be a global sensation in the world of esports? Where can you start, what are the biggest games in esports and how can you be signed into a team? What steps could you take to help with your success.

Who is this for:
Competitive players, established esport players, gamers on YouTube, gamers on Twitch, small to large influencers in the games or esports space, anyone who wants to take their career in competitive esports to the next level.

Key Takeaways:
- Understanding what you want as a player
- Understanding how games work
- What aspects of games change it from a “game” to “esports”
- Be brave to try something new
- Understanding pains of clubs, players and visibility

Journey into games & esports

Casey shares her unique journey from the beginning of her career, the trials and tribulations she’s faced across the years and how it’s helped shape her into the ambitious passionate person she is today. This is a harsh but very real empowering story from her past to her future vision.

Who is this for:
Anyone who wants to know about the life of a developer, the life of an entrepreneur, those who are thinking of starting a games studio, or anyone who wants to know industry insights.

Key Takeaways:
- Different pathways into game development
- Different pathways into esports
- How to do things differently
- Setting yourself up for future success
- Future vision for games and esports

Pathways from high school into games & esports

Creative and aspiring students looking to leave school and start a life in gaming, where can they start, how can they stand out from the crowd, where can they go to get advice, what key things should they look out for.

Who is this for:
High school students looking at careers in games, anyone in STEM and education, educational facility members, universities, and parents with creative and competitive children.

Key Takeaways:
- Understanding why games are important
- How to balance gaming and work-life balance
- Understanding options available for school leavers
- Breaking stereotypes in games and esports
- How quickly the games and esports space changes
- What value could you find and bring to games and esports