Dinosaur Polo Club, the Wellington-based studio behind Mini Metro and Mini Motorways has a new CEO: Amie Wolken, former Studio Director of Wētā Workshop’s Game Studio.
Wolken joins Dinosaur Polo Club more than four years at Wētā. She was the lead programmer on the upcoming Tales of the Shire prior to becoming Studio Director, and developed augmented reality experiences like The Makeup Mirror at Wētā Workshop Unleashed. She also co-founded GEO AR Games in 2015, a studio focused on augmented reality games that engage players with the outdoors.
“I’m incredibly excited to be welcomed as the newest Dino,” said Wolken. “Expanding on the success that this talented team has had with their Mini games is a huge opportunity! Dinosaur Polo Club is the coolest little studio in the coolest little capital in the world, and I can’t wait to discover what we do next.”
Wolken takes over from Dinosaur Polo Club’s former CEO Chantelle Cole, who now serves as Programme Director for the NZ Game Development Sector Rebate (GDSR) at NZ On Air. The studio was founded in 2013 by Peter and Robert Curry, and made its mark with the BAFTA-nominated minimalist railway simulation game Mini Metro in 2015. The studio has since grown to a team of 30 people, and released its second game, Mini Motorways, in 2019.
“We’re so thrilled to have Amie join our evolving team as we look ahead to what the next few years hold for our studio and our games,” said Robert Curry. “She’s worked on incredible projects with talented people from all over the country, and we know she’s going to lead Dinosaur Polo Club to bright places.”
It’s always nice to see a local developer find the success that Dinosaur Polo Club has had. It’ll be interesting to see what’s next for this squad of dinos with Wolken at the helm.
