Ali Hajighafouri joins the GalaChain Hackathon judges’ panel from the Games Startups Accounts team at Amazon Web Services. Ali and the AWS for Games team work tirelessly to ensure that every game team, from indie to AAA, can take full advantage of world-class cloud infrastructure to build, run, and grow their games. Ali has worked with teams running games ranging from a few hundred to millions of active players spanning all genres and platforms. He and his team are passionate about helping game developers and publishers realize their vision cost-effectively and in full readiness for global scale.
As an enthusiastic gamer and game maker, Ali brings the perspectives of a professional, a hobbyist, and a consumer to his judging duties, and he’s excited to see the Gala community take web3 to new heights during the GalaChain Hackathon and beyond.
While a lifelong gamer, Ali’s journey has taken him through sectors including healthcare, construction, and industrial services before he came home to supporting the gaming space full time. At every stage of his career he has leveraged technology to break down information silos, foster collaboration, and empower end users to own their virtual identities. He’s understandably excited about the transformative possibilities that blockchain brings to all these spaces.
As a hackathon judge, Ali will be on the lookout for projects that make web3 more accessible to game makers and players, minimizing the distance between mainstream gamers and ownership of their investment in play. He’d love to see projects that:
Accelerate game development and help creators de-risk their efforts in an ever more challenging industry landscape.
Immerse game makers and players further in their game worlds and blur the lines between virtual worlds and the real one.
Integrate play between game worlds, allowing players to gain further value from their time and money spent by carrying their loot, levels, and other gains from one game to the next.
Empower game makers, players, and fans to find each other and build welcoming, supportive communities.
Special consideration will be given to any project that somehow helps Ali get his two month-old to sleep through the night.
