Ahead of the 2022 Canadian Game Awards and Canadian Indie Game Awards, we are honoured to share with you this year’s Selection Committee members. The committee members have been chosen for their roles within the industry, ranging from event organizers in esports to social media specialists, hosts, and advocates. These wonderful individuals have been given the serious task of deciding this year’s nominations for the Canadian Game Awards and Canadian Indie Game Awards.
Diviyan Matheendran
Associate Esports Producer – Halo Championship Series
Formerly on the Microsoft Store Gaming and Community PM team, Matheendran currently works on the competitive road map of events and activations for the Halo franchise.
With the recent launch of Halo Infinite, Matheendran has been ramping up competitive events within the industry for the Halo scene. Matheendran specializes in empowering the community through grassroots partnerships and activities.
Garett Bambrough
General Manager – Pittsburgh Knights
Bambrough has been in esports for over 17 years as a former professional Counter-Strike player and coach, desk analyst, commentator, and esports consultant. During his Counter-Strike career, Bambrough won the CGS World Championship in 2007, WCG Canada championships in 2009 and 2010, and represented Canada at international events in Chile, Brazil, and China.
Currently, Bambrough is the General Manager of the Pittsburgh Knights. He is responsible for driving all esports operations, including team management, talent acquisition, and game development.
Hayley Macfarlane
Marketing Executive for Gaming and Esports
Macfarlane has been in the consumer gaming space since joining Microsoft in 2001, where she worked on the inaugural launch of Xbox. After various roles and many product and games launches, she left the company in 2014.
With a love of gaming and an interest in the burgeoning industry of esports, Macfarlane was hired to run the Marketing and Communications department at WorldGaming Network in 2015, helping develop the esports tournament operator. Since 2019, Macfarlane has worked with The T1 Agency as a marketing consultant for their gaming and businesses.
Maria Abila
Senior Program Manager – Community Gaming Programs & Events
Navneet Randhawa
Social Media Lead – Team Liquid
Randhawa is a marketing professional who has been working in the esports and media field since 2013. She has worked with production companies, esports teams, and media houses from startup to thriving.
Over the years, Randhawa has worked with Acer Esports, theScore Esports, OverActive Media and Team Liquid. Currently, she is the Marketing Director at OS Studios, focusing on marketing, channel growth, content strategy, and engagement. When she isn’t working you can find her casually streaming games, art, and cooking.
Paul Hunter
Editor – Walmart Canada
Hunter has written for and developed his personal website NextGenPlayer since 2008, where he’s covered the industry and events such as E3 in LA, Tokyo Game Show, Montreal International Game Summit, and Fan Expo Toronto and Vancouver.
He is the former Gaming Editor at Best Buy Canada, working for the company for 10 years. Currently, Hunter is the Lead Writer for Walmart Canada’s all-digital Walmart Gaming Catalogue. Hunter has also produced the Down to Play podcast.
Roger Roecken
Co-Host of Still Got Game, Content Creator
Roecken is a graphic designer and co-host and producer of the gaming podcast Still Got Game.
He has been gaming since the days of Atari, and is a content creator on Twitch. Additionally, Roecken’s gaming content can be found on YouTube and TikTok.
Stephanie Greenall
Head of Communications – Tilt Five
For Greenall, it all started with a bowl of Froot Loops and Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel’s Castle on a ColecoVision console. Decades later, Greenall has upgraded her console, but not her breakfast. Through her work with Interactive Ontario, Stephanie became an advocate for the Canadian video game industry and she continues to champion her favourite Canuck devs.
Greenall also works with VRTO – International Spatial Media Symposium, and Festival of International Virtual & Augmented Reality Stories (FIVARS). She is currently the Head of Communications at Tilt Five, working on developing and transforming existing video games into holographic ones.
Stephen Crane
Founder and co-runner – Canadian Game Devs
Crane is the long-time mind behind Canadian Game Devs, the one-stop shop dedicated to games made in Canada and the studios and teams behind them. He was worked for years to create a community that supports and follows the Canadian gaming industry.
Over the years, Crane has helped provide resources for game developers and create original content such as podcasts and features. Crane now works as co-lead of the website and organization.
Valerie Shih-Lau
Esports Coordinator – Pittsburgh Knights
Shih-Lau has provided her expertise as a project manager and coordinator within the industry for a number of years. Previously, she has worked alongside Waveform Entertainment, Team Serenity, and Toronto Fortnite.
Currently, Shih-Lau is the Esports Coordinator for the international esports organization Pittsburgh Knights. She supports the organization in event logistics, team operations, and client relations.
Be sure to tune in to the 2022 Canadian Game Awards and Canadian Indie Game Awards this April. For more information, follow The Canadian Game Awards on Twitter.