Ever wondered what festival curators or publishers look for in an immersive project? Looking to sharpen your festival submission or a funding pitch deck?

In this session, Raindance Immersive Curator and Executive Producer Mária (aka MariRaku) shares 11 key takeaways from her journey curating 11 editions of the festival. Combining her festival experience with an extensive industry background—having published over 2,000 VR and MR games and experiences during her time at major XR platform companies—she delivers practical, actionable advice for indie creators, game developers, and world builders looking to break through the noise and get noticed.

Mária Rakušanová is the Curator and Executive Producer of the Raindance Immersive festival—now in its 11th edition—which takes place in London and, since 2020, across social VR platforms like VRChat. With a keen eye for innovation, Mária empowers independent creators and game developers to push the boundaries of the XR medium while championing pathways to profitability for the industry.

In addition to her decade of experience leading Raindance Immersive, she has held key roles in content acquisitions and partnerships at HTC VIVE, Microsoft, and Samsung. In these positions, she established strategic partnerships with leading XR studios and developers, with her teams directly contributing to the publishing of over 2,000 titles and shaping the funding landscape for XR games, immersive narratives, art experiences, XR for impact projects and enterprise applications. While at HTC VIVE, she also served as the Executive Producer for foundational VR and MR games and experiences.

By curating the work of VRChat world builders and creators for Raindance Immersive since 2020, Mária hasn't just discovered emerging talent from the platform—she has elevated their craft to rival that of AAA game developers and traditional filmmakers. This visionary move set the blueprint for virtual world curation for other XR festivals to follow.

EXPLORE PASS OPTIONS

Join the session live on Zoom on Friday, 19th June or watch the replay. Please see the schedule below for your local time. For sessions that fall too early or too late in your time zone, we highly recommend catching up via our on-demand replays.

  • EUROPE – FRIDAY, 19 JUNE

    • 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM BST (UK)

    • 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM CET

    • 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM EET

  • NORTH AMERICA – FRIDAY, 19 JUNE

    • 9:30 AM - 9:30 AM EDT

    • 7:30 AM - 8:30 AM CDT

    • 6:30 AM - 7:30 AM MDT

    • 5:30 AM - 6:30 AM PDT

  • ASIA & AUSTRALIA – FRIDAY, 19 JUNE

    • 8:30 PM - 9:30 PM CST

    • 9:30 PM - 10:30 PM JST

    • 9:30 PM - 10:30 PM KST

    • 10:30 PM - 11:30 AM AEST