• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 03:58
CEST 09:58
KST 16:58
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters10[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Siren's Call8[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End9Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915
Community News
Weekly Cups (Sep 7-12): SHIN, ByuN, MaxPax double down1StarCraft open world shooter announced at BlizzCon98Weekly Cups (Aug 30-Sep 7): herO thrives amid growing schism10Official StarCraft website teases new content ahead of BlizzCon?179Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20)9
StarCraft 2
General
How do you feel about the StarCraft shooter announcement at BlizzCon 2026? Weekly Cups (Sep 7-12): SHIN, ByuN, MaxPax double down Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool StarCraft open world shooter announced at BlizzCon Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16)
Tourneys
RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-22 SC2 AI Tournament 2026 Fall Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament KSL Week #92
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
Mutation # 543 Enhanced Defenses The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 542 The Ascended Mutation # 541 Binary Choice
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ a Announcement on the JEDI Ringing ASL22 General Discussion Syncronization issues and can't find games [ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver
Tourneys
[ASL22] Ro16 Group D [ASL22] Ro16 Group C KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues
Strategy
Replay Review Process - What do you do? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Game Theory for Starcraft
Other Games
General Games
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread EVE Corporation Diablo IV
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Post Your Watch!
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The Creator Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Diablo Animated Series on Netflix
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
[meme] I finally understa…
LUCKY_NOOB
Virtual Romance, Real-Life C…
TrAiDoS
Regacy Esports:Our Goa…
regacyesports
Dreaming of BW patches (mod…
c3rberUs
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 6732 users

Cosplayer to Studio Head

Blogs > Riku
Post a Reply
Riku
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States1064 Posts
April 08 2016 16:45 GMT
#1
Hey TL! Long time, yet again!

Some of you may remember me from, well, dressing up like a baneling (seriously: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/276689-baneling-costume-progress ). Others from my various rants and raves in this series of blogs.

I’ve been a huge gamer my entire life, from the moment I went from sitting next to my dad, watching him play Wolfenstein 3D and took control of the keyboard and mouse myself. That grew past what most would consider a hobby into a full life passion. At the time, though, I only knew how to invest in this passion by writing blogs, making cosplaying and playing a hell of a lot of video games.

That all changed a few years ago, when I realized that, holy crap, there are people who actually MAKE video games. And, thus, my entire life changed.

I went from working as a System and Design Engineer in biotech to a Software Engineer in biotech (I taught myself programming and requested a team transfer), then I began to work as both a Producer and as a Server Engineer for Fixer Studios, and then… well, I started my own studio just over a year and a half ago.

Since then, I’ve been busting my little baneling butt making my first major title, Potions: A Curious Tale.



It’s been a crazy and wild ride.

[image loading]

Of course, I started this venture in the game industry at a very tumultuous time for women in games, but I’m happy to say I’ve remained relatively unscathed for the past two years. Though I did talk about a little bit of the subtle sexism (if it even qualifies as that) that I’ve experienced in my last blog: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/494285-post-pax-potions

I’m really happy where I am now: Leading a team of great artists and developers, helping others in the game industry through IGDA and my own vlogs and articles.

I just wanted to let you all at TL know, because here was one of the places that I cultivated, shared and expanded my passion for video games.

<3

As always, reach out to me if you need my advice or help.

~Renee "Riku" Gittins

P.S.
+ Show Spoiler +
Not wanting to let QXC steal all of the Kickstarter spotlight ( http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/507100-from-pro-gaming-to-game-designer-a-qxc-story ), I’m happy to announce that Potions is now also on Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1268017280/potions-a-curious-tale



[image loading]

***
Creative Director, CEO at Stumbling Cat, Writer for Broken Joysticks - Twitter: @RikuKat
JimmyJRaynor
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada17805 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-04-08 18:30:39
April 08 2016 18:22 GMT
#2
My #1 customer is desperate for female coders. its great for me because they keep hiring women who can't do the job ; i swoop in as an outside contractor and save project after project. Of course project rescue jobs pay a lot more than normal projects. Also, there is no will to hire me and pay me as a salaried employee less than one third what they are paying me now because i'm male.
Ray Kassar To David Crane : "you're no more important to Atari than the factory workers assembling the cartridges"
Riku
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States1064 Posts
April 08 2016 18:27 GMT
#3
On April 09 2016 03:22 JimmyJRaynor wrote:
My #1 customer is desperate for female coders. its great for me because they keep hiring women who can't do the job ; i swoop in as an outside contractor and save the project. Of course project rescue jobs pay a lot more than normal projects. Also, there is no will to hire me and pay me as a salaried employee less than one third what they are paying me now because i'm male.


I hear contracting is really the way to go if you like flexible hours and don't mind the whole job instability part.
Creative Director, CEO at Stumbling Cat, Writer for Broken Joysticks - Twitter: @RikuKat
JimmyJRaynor
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada17805 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-04-08 18:49:17
April 08 2016 18:37 GMT
#4
As long as you have a nice little network of project managers you should have a steady stream of incoming work. The Arnica Web Portal and West Wind Web Connection are where i make the most cash by far and that's sort of my niche.

A big mistake most of the software engineers make is not networking with the right people; They also do not create a niche for themselves.

Technically speaking i am a "software development contractor"; in reality i'm a coder with four part time jobs.
Ray Kassar To David Crane : "you're no more important to Atari than the factory workers assembling the cartridges"
Jealous
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
10365 Posts
April 08 2016 18:58 GMT
#5
You've come a long way since this was said:

"It's as though Riku's life is some really lame version of Speed where if she doesn't post at least one terrible blog a day, her cats will die."

Congratulations on your project and your position.
"The right to vote is only the oar of the slaveship, I wanna be free." -- бум бум сучка!
Riku
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States1064 Posts
April 08 2016 22:32 GMT
#6
On April 09 2016 03:58 Jealous wrote:
You've come a long way since this was said:

"It's as though Riku's life is some really lame version of Speed where if she doesn't post at least one terrible blog a day, her cats will die."

Congratulations on your project and your position.



Ahhh... the days of college, where writing blog posts was my escape from the harsh reality of going to a really damn challenging school.
Creative Director, CEO at Stumbling Cat, Writer for Broken Joysticks - Twitter: @RikuKat
Psyonic_Reaver
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States4342 Posts
April 09 2016 04:55 GMT
#7
Riku I remember meeting you at PAX back in.... 2010 I want to say....

Good luck with your game!
So wait? I'm bad? =(
FFGenerations
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
7088 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-04-09 17:29:55
April 09 2016 17:25 GMT
#8
fantastic trailer, congrats

i posted in your old blog that 'my "dream" is sort of like work for a year or two and then take time off to develop myself in something i really want to do, like you are doing (for me maybe it will be music or art or idk)' .... well in 2 days i move house and start studying to draw after quitting my job
Cool BW Music Vid - youtube.com/watch?v=W54nlqJ-Nx8 ~~~~~ ᕤ OYSTERS ᕤ CLAMS ᕤ AND ᕤ CUCKOLDS ᕤ ~~~~~~ ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ PUNCH HIM ༼ ᕤ◕◡◕ ༽ᕤ
Riku
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States1064 Posts
April 09 2016 17:30 GMT
#9
On April 09 2016 13:55 Psyonic_Reaver wrote:
Riku I remember meeting you at PAX back in.... 2010 I want to say....

Good luck with your game!


Thanks! :D

Maybe see you at PAX this year?

On April 10 2016 02:25 FFGenerations wrote:
fantastic trailer, congrats

i posted in your old blog that "my "dream" is sort of like work for a year or two and then take time off to develop myself in something i really want to do, like you are doing (for me maybe it will be music or art or idk)" .... well in 2 days i move house and start studying to draw after quitting my job


Nice! I hope it goes really well for you. Rock it!
Creative Director, CEO at Stumbling Cat, Writer for Broken Joysticks - Twitter: @RikuKat
fabiano
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Brazil4644 Posts
April 11 2016 23:36 GMT
#10
Nothing out of this world, but pretty straightforward, very well paced and professionally fit the narrative with the scenes.

Keep up the good work!
"When the geyser died, a probe came out" - SirJolt
Falling
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Canada11607 Posts
April 12 2016 21:08 GMT
#11
I hope you find funding for your game. It's always interesting to hear what different TL members have gone on to do.
ModeratorWake me up when Trump's term is finished. Slava Ukraini.
Riku
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States1064 Posts
April 13 2016 16:59 GMT
#12
On April 12 2016 08:36 fabiano wrote:
Nothing out of this world, but pretty straightforward, very well paced and professionally fit the narrative with the scenes.

Keep up the good work!


Thanks! :D

On April 13 2016 06:08 Falling wrote:
I hope you find funding for your game. It's always interesting to hear what different TL members have gone on to do.


Right? Kind of crazy to watch.

I went to school at Harvey Mudd and know Sean (Day[9]) and Kevin (QXC) really well. It's great seeing that they are still putting their talents towards their passions.
Creative Director, CEO at Stumbling Cat, Writer for Broken Joysticks - Twitter: @RikuKat
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 3h 3m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ProTech140
OGKoka 118
StarCraft: Brood War
Shuttle 3021
GuemChi 429
Mong 84
Soma 63
Aegong 31
NaDa 27
Noble 13
ajuk12(nOOB) 7
Britney 0
League of Legends
JimRising 559
Reynor131
Other Games
summit1g11684
ceh9604
Mew2King205
Sick101
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick783
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH382
• LUISG 7
• Letter145
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 2
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota2260
League of Legends
• Rush1686
• Stunt431
Upcoming Events
IntoTheTV X SOOP
3h 3m
Cure vs SHIN
herO vs Solar
Percival vs Classic
ByuN vs Rogue
OSC
14h 3m
Replay Cast
16h 3m
IntoTheTV X SOOP
1d 3h
Replay Cast
1d 16h
GSL
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
GSL
3 days
Shopify Rebellion Sundays
3 days
Spirit vs Mixu
Replay Cast
3 days
[ Show More ]
Afreeca Starleague
4 days
Shine vs Rush
WardiTV Weekly
4 days
Monday Night Weeklies
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
5 days
Light vs EffOrt
PiGosaur Cup
5 days
Kung Fu Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Acropolis #5 - TRS
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
Calamity Invitational
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026

Upcoming

Acropolis #5 - GSA
Acropolis #5 - GSB
Acropolis #5 - GSC
SC4ALL II: Brood War
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Copium Cup
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.