• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 06:08
CEST 12:08
KST 19:08
  • 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
uThermal's 2v2 Tour: $15,000 Main Event10Serral wins EWC 202544Tournament Spotlight: FEL Cracow 202510Power Rank - Esports World Cup 202580RSL Season 1 - Final Week9
Community News
Weekly Cups (Aug 4-10): MaxPax wins a triple3SC2's Safe House 2 - October 18 & 195Weekly Cups (Jul 28-Aug 3): herO doubles up6LiuLi Cup - August 2025 Tournaments5[BSL 2025] H2 - Team Wars, Weeklies & SB Ladder10
StarCraft 2
General
Real talk: we need to stop nerfing everything Weekly Cups (Aug 4-10): MaxPax wins a triple Geoff 'iNcontroL' Robinson has passed away Serral wins EWC 2025 uThermal's 2v2 Tour: $15,000 Main Event
Tourneys
Global Tourney for College Students in September RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series SC2's Safe House 2 - October 18 & 19 Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament LiuLi Cup - August 2025 Tournaments
Strategy
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 486 Watch the Skies Mutation # 485 Death from Below Mutation # 484 Magnetic Pull Mutation #239 Bad Weather
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion ASL20 Pre-season Tier List ranking! Simultaneous Streaming by CasterMuse StarCon Philadelphia Player “Jedi” cheat on CSL
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues KCM 2025 Season 3 Small VOD Thread 2.0 [ASL20] Online Qualifiers Day 2
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates [G] Mineral Boosting Simple Questions, Simple Answers Muta micro map competition
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Total Annihilation Server - TAForever Beyond All Reason [MMORPG] Tree of Savior (Successor of Ragnarok)
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine The Games Industry And ATVI European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
INnoVation Fan Club SKT1 Classic Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread [Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Korean Music Discussion
Sports
TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Gtx660 graphics card replacement Installation of Windows 10 suck at "just a moment" Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
TeamLiquid Team Shirt On Sale The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Gaming After Dark: Poor Slee…
TrAiDoS
[Girl blog} My fema…
artosisisthebest
Sharpening the Filtration…
frozenclaw
ASL S20 English Commentary…
namkraft
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
Blog #2
tankgirl
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 531 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
Canada16711 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
Canada16711 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
10156 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 States4336 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
Canada11350 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.
Moderator"In Trump We Trust," says the Golden Goat of Mars Lago. Have faith and believe! Trump moves in mysterious ways. Like the wind he blows where he pleases...
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 52m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
SC2_NightMare 40
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 5731
Bisu 1556
BeSt 1449
Barracks 1254
Hyuk 551
actioN 509
ggaemo 469
EffOrt 287
ZerO 259
Pusan 207
[ Show more ]
PianO 117
Soma 106
TY 100
ToSsGirL 67
sorry 62
Killer 59
HiyA 47
soO 39
Backho 35
Sacsri 33
Noble 16
Mong 12
Movie 6
IntoTheRainbow 5
Yoon 4
CasterMuse 0
Dota 2
XcaliburYe264
Counter-Strike
olofmeister1713
shoxiejesuss702
Stewie2K638
allub343
x6flipin102
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King109
Westballz26
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor192
Other Games
summit1g6413
FrodaN3041
ceh9603
Happy308
Fuzer 171
SortOf154
rGuardiaN22
ZerO(Twitch)12
Organizations
StarCraft: Brood War
CasterMuse 47
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• davetesta8
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV454
League of Legends
• HappyZerGling125
Upcoming Events
Wardi Open
52m
Wardi Open
4h 52m
RotterdaM Event
5h 52m
Replay Cast
13h 52m
WardiTV Summer Champion…
1d
RSL Revival
1d 6h
PiGosaur Monday
1d 13h
WardiTV Summer Champion…
2 days
The PondCast
2 days
WardiTV Summer Champion…
3 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
LiuLi Cup
4 days
Online Event
5 days
SC Evo League
5 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
WardiTV Summer Champion…
6 days
SC Evo League
6 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
6 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
Sharp vs Ample
Larva vs Stork
Liquipedia Results

Completed

StarCon 2025 Philadelphia
FEL Cracow 2025
CC Div. A S7

Ongoing

Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
BSL 20 Team Wars
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 3
BSL 21 Qualifiers
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
HCC Europe
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025

Upcoming

ASL Season 20
CSLAN 3
BSL Season 21
BSL 21 Team A
RSL Revival: Season 2
Maestros of the Game
SEL Season 2 Championship
WardiTV Summer 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters Fall
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
Roobet Cup 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
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 © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.