Thomas Mahler is an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

video game developer best known for being co-creator of the 2015

indie game An indie video game or indie game (short for independent video game) is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A ...

title, ''

Ori and the Blind Forest ''Ori and the Blind Forest'' is a Platform game#Platform-adventure games, platform-adventure Metroidvania video game developed by Moon Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. The game was released for Windows and Xbox One in March 2015, and ...

''. Under Mahler's direction, Moon Studios developed its sequel '' Ori and the Will of the Wisps'' (2020) as well as the action role-playing game '' No Rest for the Wicked'' (2024).

Early life and career

Mahler was interested with

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s and artwork at an early age and studied traditional

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

in the

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna () is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1688 as a private academy, it is now a public university. The academy is also known for twice rejecting admission to a young Adolf Hitler in 1907 and 1908. ...

. He worked at

Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher based in Irvine, California, and a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard. Originally founded in 1991, the company is best known for producing the h ...

on visual effects as a Cinematic Artist before founding

Moon Studios Moon Studios GmbH is an Austrian video game developer founded in 2010. They are best known for their 2015 title ''Ori and the Blind Forest'', for which the studio was awarded the Best Debut award at the 2016 Game Developers Choice Awards. In 202 ...

GmbH in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

together with Gennadiy Korol in 2010.

Ori series

In 2015, Mahler co-created the critically acclaimed and award-winning

title, ''

'', with Gennadiy Korol. He won the NAVGTR Award in the Game, Original Adventure category in 2016 with Ori and the Blind Forest. The game is considered an example of video games becoming closer to

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

, and it won, among others, the

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

Games Award for Artistic Achievement and the Game Award for Best Art Direction. For example, Chris Melissinos commented that the video game audience was not used to seeing ''Ori and the Blind Forest's'' dreamlike sensitivity style of art usually reserved for high profile animated films. Mahler is currently developing '' Ori and the Will of the Wisps''.

References

External links

Moon Studios official website

Thomas Mahler on X
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahler, Thomas Living people Video game designers Video game programmers Austrian designers Year of birth missing (living people)