a starting point to achieve this. “We founded the studio in Summer 2019, began
our concept development in Autumn 2019 and started seeking investment in February 2020. Covid-19 kicked in just before we went to GDC to pitch the game. Our goals were well aligned, considering the pandemic.” The individuals that ultimately founded the
Bonsai Collective had been working together for a while on some interesting games, and it was the existing relationships that had formed between them that made them decide to work together on a more permanent basis. “The journey started when Harry [Corr] and
Benni began working together on the puzzle game Q.U.B.E. 2 back in 2016 whilst I was still at Team17,” says Emery. “Benni and Harry discovered they really enjoyed working together on that project, and they then had an opportunity to work on another contract with a large UK development group.” “We needed an experienced producer, and
that’s how we came to work with Hollie, who was looking for new challenges.” adds Bonsai’s creative director Benni Hill. “On that contract we realised all three of us had similar aspirations and goals. Taking our experiences of working in the industry and setting up something that in our eyes, would improve on some of the challenges we had faced, with inclusion and diversity being a core value.” It also turns out the name ‘Bonsai’ came before
‘Bonsai Collective’, and that while it doesn’t have that much to do with the studio’s debut title Luna Abyss, it does have a lot to do with the studio’s guiding ideals. “The name Bonsai originally came about when
we were doing contract work,” says Emery. “Benni used it as the term for the work he was doing in storytelling. It represented the idea of ‘Carefully Cultivated Stories for Videogames’.” “By extension,” continues Hill,
“when all three of us decided to set-up our studio, that idea of careful cultivation carried across to all aspects of our work; from our team members to our wellbeing, our identities, the games we develop, and the relationships that we build. The collective aspect just referred to the three of us coming together collectively with our past
January 2023 MCV/DEVELOP | 17
“Our intention was to do things differently.
We wanted our studio to cater to different lifestyles, backgrounds, disabilities, including immunocompromised persons, and
underrepresented voices. Being a flexible remote studio was a starting point to achieve this.”
experiences to drive our studio forward.” Inclusivity and well-being are high on Bonsai
Collective’s list of priorities, and that’s by design. Everyone at the company discusses identity before they even sign on, to prevent potential clashes and pick out the right people. “The first thing we ask any person we speak
to; whether it is a job interview or business relationship is what their pronouns are,” says Emery. “Identity and acceptance are incredibly important to us, so having that as our first questions in an interview, for example, sets the tone for our beliefs and goals. “I’m a strong advocate for trans-rights and
LGBTQ+ representation and our team are staunch supporters of this advocacy. We ensure that if any
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