Thread by @merryh

By now, most (if not all of you, from my yelling) should know about #HoloVista being live as of the wee hours of 2AM AEST this morning.

apps.apple.com/us/app/holovis…

I have been so unbelievably lucky to be a part of this journey.

We were remarking on the launch party call last night about how completely serendipitous this project has been for a lot of us, and I am absolutely no exception.

So here's a little story - a lot of you know that when I travelled to GDC last year, I was super burned out.

I was recovering from a lot of games industry bullshit, some self-inflicted, a lot not, and I wasn't ready to face or process any of the trauma. I didn't believe in my abilities, skills, or that I had anything to offer. I was contemplating how long I could reasonably stay.

@nadya and @thisisstar saw a tweet of mine about marketing and reached out, wanting to chat. They were working on something really cool, and were talking to some marketers for advice.

We caught up and immediately it was like we'd known each other for a long time - we had a great conversation about audiences as people, what our goals in the industry were, what we cared about.

It was a super lovely, affirming conversation, and a really fond memory.

I still have the sticker & pin @numberless gave me on my pinboard, as well as the Aconite moth pin. I remember leaving feeling really refreshed, and happy to know them, regardless of what involvement we would have in the future. I just wanted to be able to watch.

Fast forward and I've had the absolute pleasure of working with them for a year and a half now, which has been an absolutely life-altering experience.

I'm so grateful that between Aconite & FV (& a LOT of therapy), I've been able to build myself back up not to the person I used to be, but someone better. Someone I'm proud of. Someone I see a future in this industry for. Someone who can hopefully extend that kindness to others.

I'm so grateful that so many people have been so passionate and adamant about allowing me room to grow and learn - especially @LiamRoutt who has always been one of my biggest champions.

Listen - what Nadya and Star have done is nothing short of incredible.

They took a ragtag team of people from all around the world, wildly different timezones, who'd never worked together before, many of whom had never worked on a game before, and we created this stunning, affirming, affecting, healing experience in two years, without any crunch.

Serendipitous doesn't even begin to cover it for me. This has been the most healing, affirming, exciting, joyous experience to work on a game like this with a team like this.

A team who is as passionate and dedicated to accessibility, diversity, kindness, technology as a tool for love, as myself.

It's given me some of the greatest collaborators and friends - Nadya, Star, Scott, Cindy, Dexter, Mari, Jay, Strix, Blake, Andrew, Andi, Cory, Sara, who I've gotten to learn SO much from along the way as well as share so many laughs.

We've gotten to work with incredible people, see masters of their craft @vpisteve and @nickytea run an ARG that went TikTok viral (??!!) and learn SO much, TJ dive in to save the day on more than one occasion, and a myriad of supporters and friends.

I feel so so blessed to be part of this journey. I am so happy people are playing our game and loving it, because it was made with so much love, and I truly hope it exudes it for every person that picks it up.

Know that this is a game made from good, for good.

Thank you to everyone who has extended a congratulations to myself or the team - we really do appreciate it so much. I would not be where I am without the people around me who have picked me up when I've been down and helped me every step along the way.

Additionally, thank you to my beautiful partner who is endlessly suffering through my wild bullshit but is never anything but my biggest supporter and smartest challenger. I would not be anywhere without you. I love you so much you dork, @BamHarrison.

Finally - @nadya and @thisisstar - thank you for taking a chance on a random, loud, silly Australian girl who you found on the internet. Thank you for your patience, thank you for your love, thank you for this absolute honor of being a part of your team. I love you both!

Look - TL;DR - buy HoloVista, rate it five stars, love it, review it - and let it heal you the way it did me.

gonna go celebrate some more now k bye

(Also we beat Star Wars on the charts today. STAR WARS. THE WAR OF STARS. I am REELING.)