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Ari Gibson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ari Gibson
Gibson at PAX Australia 2024
Born
Ari Nicholas Gibson

(1983-05-14) 14 May 1983 (age 43)
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
EducationUniversity of South Australia
Occupations
Years active2005–present
Notable work
SpouseMakoto Koji

Ari Nicholas Gibson (born 14 May 1983) is an Australian artist, animator, and video game designer. He is the co-founder and co-director of the indie game development studio Team Cherry, which developed the highly successful and acclaimed titles Hollow Knight (2017) and Hollow Knight: Silksong (2025).

Before entering the video game industry full-time, Gibson worked in animation at The People's Republic of Animation from 2005 to 2010, contributing to a variety of projects such as short films and video game cinematics, most notably co-directing the award-winning short film The Cat Piano (2009). From 2010 to 2014, he co-ran the independent animation studio Mechanical Apple with Jason Pamment. Gibson co-founded Team Cherry alongside William Pellen in 2014.

Early life and education

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Ari Nicholas Gibson[1] was born in Adelaide, South Australia,[2][3] on 14 May 1983.[4]

His first video game rental was Faxanadu (1987), which begun his love for video games. Prior to developing games professionally, he would mod them.[5] Gibson graduated from the University of South Australia with a Bachelor of Visual Arts, majoring in New Media Art in 2003.[4][6]

Career

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2005-2010: People's Republic of Animation

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In 2005, Ari Gibson joined The People's Republic of Animation (PRA), an animation studio based in Adelaide.[4] At the studio, he collaborated with its co-founder Eddie White on numerous projects. Gibson's first credit is for Carnivore Reflux, a 2006 Tropfest finalist, as a production designer and art director.[7][8][9] Also in 2006, he worked on the first two episodes of Dust Echoes—an educational twelve-part animation series published by ABC News Australia[10]—"Whirlpool" and "Mermaid Story".[4][10] He was an art director for the former and a character designer for the latter.[4][10]

Later that year, he began working on Sweet and Sour as an art director,[7][11] which was a collaboration between the PRA and the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. The PRA worked on its 3D Animation.[12][13] It was the first time Gibson worked with Jason Pamment, whom he went to university with.[11] The animation released in 2007 and won awards.[14][15] His next project was I was a Teenage Butterfly (2007), a short comedy animation. He was a co-director alongside White, and the animation won a Nickelodeon Australia "short animation competition".[16] Gibson continued as a co-director alongside White with The Cat Piano (2009), a short film narrated by Nick Cave.[17][18][19][20] It received many awards,[21][22] and was shortlisted for an Oscar.[19][23] The PRA had also done work in the field of video games, specifically assisting in their cinematic cutscenes.[24] With the PRA, Gibson worked on games such as De Blob (2008) and Megamind: Mega Team Unite (2010); his first work on video games.[25]

2010-2014: Mechanical Apple and music videos

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In 2010, after leaving the PRA, Gibson began working independently, forming Mechanical Apple, an animation studio, with Pamment.[11][26][27] Their first production was a music video for The Audreys' 2010 album Sometimes the Stars's title track. They began working on it when its producer contacted Gibson and Pamment after seeing their work on The Cat Piano.[11][20][28] Near the end of its production, they were contacted by singer-songwriter Gotye about the opportunity to make a music video for an "upbeat song". They turned down the offer due to the song's theming not "fitting their style", but a later song by him, Bronte, from Making Mirrors, did fit in their opinion, leading them to develop and release a music video animation for it that year.[29][30] In 2012, following both music videos, Mechanical Apple released their first full short animation, Winter Fox.[31][32] In 2014, they released Motorbike;[33] it was notably featured on the official Disney channel as a "favorite".[34] It was the studio's final released animation, likely since Gibson soon began focusing on game development full-time.[35] Throughout its activity, Mechanical Apple also did commercial work and produced animation content for video games, advertisements, and television.[36][37] In an interview after the release of Hollow Knight, Gibson described the studio as being "quite successful", and stated that it helped fund his game development.[38]

2013-present: Team Cherry and game design

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In 2013, Gibson, reconnecting with his longtime friend William Pellen, who at the time was making small platformers as a hobby, suggested that they enter the 27th Ludum Dare. Its theme was 10 seconds, leading them to develop Hungry Knight under the team name "Team Cherry". It was badly received by the public.[39][40] Later in 2013, they released the small game Tomb Cat.[36][41] In 2014, a game jam with the theme of "Beneath the Surface" began, with Gibson and Pellen planning to use some ideas from Hungry Knight, alongside new ones, for a game developed for the jam; they missed the deadline.[40][42] Despite this, they were invested in the idea, resulting in the development of a full game, Hollow Knight, starting. They legally founded Team Cherry that year, and started a Kickstarter project for Hollow Knight; it was a success. The game was released in February 2017 to critical acclaim. Gibson worked on the game's art, animation, and writing, while also co-directing its development.[40][43]

Prior to the release of Hollow Knight, Gibson and Pellen began early work on a piece of downloadable content starring Hornet as the protagonist, which eventually evolved into a sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong.[44][45] The game's development took over seven years, though Gibson described the process as enjoyable.[46] Silksong released in September 2025, also to critical acclaim.[47] Both titles' large success has given Gibson substantial wealth, with Hollow Knight having sold roughly 15 million copies by August 2025, and Silksong having sold over 7 million as of December 2025.[46][48]

In a 2020 interview with Edge, Gibson confirmed that he and Pellen were in the very early stages of developing a non-Hollow Knight game, one then only existing through ideas shared in a Google Doc, which he described as being "expanded as each new idea comes in".[44] In a 2025 Bloomberg interview, Gibson implied that his and Pellen's next game would not be a Hollow Knight one.[43]

Philanthropy

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In 2021, Gibson co-founded The Trustee for Team Cherry Foundation alongside Pellen and Edward Bernard; they serve as directors, and the foundation consistently reports A$1,000,000 in "donations and bequests" annually, alongside occasionally investment revenue. The foundation is self-described as "providing funds to underprivileged and vulnerable South Australians through other charities".[49]

Art style

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For Hollow Knight, Gibson scanned his hand-drawn art directly into the game's engine. This was done to "create [a] vivid sense of place."[40] PC Gamer writer Tom Marks described Gibson's art in Hollow Knight as using "a mostly monotone dark color palette." He characterized the character designs as "relatively clean and simple", but noted that Gibson's animation "fills them with personality". He also described Gibson's background art as quite complex, contrasting the rest of Hollow Knight's art.[50] Rock Paper Shotgun's Philippa Warr called it "elegiac", noting the large amount of "bluey greys".[42] Writing for GamingBolt, Shubhankar Parijat described it as "clean", "crisp", and "simple", also noting the lack of "an explosion of colour".[51] Alana Hagues of Nintendo Life described Gibson's art in Silksong as being "a rainbow compared to the muted tones of [Hollow Knight's] Hallownest", while also still being "sombre"; stating that it used a "beautiful colour palette".[52]

Personal life

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Gibson with Makoto Koji, 2024

Gibson is married to Japanese animator Makoto Koji; they began their relationship in 2007.[53] Koji also voices the Hollow Knight character Hornet, alongside other characters in the Hollow Knight series, and shares an office with Gibson and the rest of Team Cherry.[54] Gibson met Pellen through mutuals in the early 2000s.[39][40]

Despite the immense financial success of Team Cherry's games, Gibson lives in a "very basic two-bedroom apartment", and spends most of his time at the Team Cherry office, finding working on games to be most enjoyable. In an August 2025 interview, he said that "sometimes I think, 'You know what would be better, is a one-bedroom apartment.' Because then there's even less to maintain." He also noted that the COVID-19 pandemic did not have a dramatic effect on him and his lifestyle.[46]

Known Works

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Year Title Medium
2006 Carnivore Reflux Animation
Dust Echoes: Whirlpool
Dust Echoes: Mermaid Story
2007 Sweet & Sour
I Was a Teenage Butterfly
2008 De Blob Video game
Hellboy: The Science of Evil[24][25]
2009 The Cat Piano Animation
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen[24][25] Video game
2010 The Last Airbender[24][25]
Megamind: Mega Team Unite
2011 Sometimes the Stars (music video) Animation
De Blob 2[24][25] Video game
Bronte (music video) Animation
2013 Winter Fox
Tomb Cat Video game
Hungry Knight
2014 Motorbike Animation
2017 Hollow Knight Video game
2025 Hollow Knight: Silksong
TBA Untitled non-Hollow Knight game

References

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  1. ↑ "Search ASIC Registers". ASIC Connect. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  2. ↑ Thorsland, Dan (28 March 2019). "How Adelaide developers are taking on the gaming world". Adelaide Review. Archived from the original on 29 April 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  3. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (1 May 2025). "Hollow Knight: Silksong will be playable in September 2025 — at an Australian museum". IGN. Archived from the original on 1 May 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "About". The Cat Piano. 2 September 2009. Archived from the original on 23 April 2025. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  5. ↑ "About". Team Cherry. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  6. ↑ Gibson, Ari. "Ari Gibson". LinkedIn. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Ari Gibson List of Movies and TV Shows". TV Guide. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  8. ↑ Sheridan, Sarah (9 February 2006). "Tropfest 2006". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  9. ↑ IF Magazine Staff (24 October 2007). "Sony Tropfest filmmakers take on the ad world". IF Magazine. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 "Dust Echoes". ABC News Australia. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Darmono, Lilian (10 March 2011). "Sometimes The Stars: Ari Gibson & Jason Pamment". Motionographer. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  12. ↑ Tsuka (7 May 2007). "[Animation] Sweet & Sour". Catsuka (in French). Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  13. ↑ Zampetakis, Helene (10 May 2008). "Young blades in cutthroat world". Financial Review. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  14. ↑ "Sweet and Sour". TV Guide. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  15. ↑ de Bruyn, Simon (7 April 2008). "Full Speed ahead for Nick Cave short". IF Magazine. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  16. ↑ "Little Big Shots 2008 Program". Sydney Opera House. 12 July 2015. Archived from the original on 31 August 2025. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  17. ↑ Beck, Jerry (4 September 2009). ""The Cat Piano" by Eddie White and Ari Gibson". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on 1 September 2025. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  18. ↑ "The Cat Piano". National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. 14 October 2025. Archived from the original on 9 February 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  19. 1 2 Windsor, Harry (10 February 2017). "Animation whiz Eddie White makes live-action debut with Odessa Young". IF Magazine. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  20. 1 2 PC Gamer UK 2018, p. 57.
  21. ↑ "Annecy Official Selection". 12 September 2009. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009.
  22. ↑ "The Cat Piano Australian Film Festival Awards". Archived from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
  23. ↑ Kilday, Gregg (20 November 2009). "Pixar's 'Partly' in Oscar animated shorts race". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 Arrant, Chris (13 July 2011). "Australian Games Studio Halfbrick Buys Into Studio The People's Republic of Animation". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pixels Rising Interview with Team Cherry — creators of Hollow Knight". Radio Adelaide. April 2016. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2025. Alt URL
  26. ↑ Torres 2025, p. 212.
  27. ↑ The Audreys (2 March 2011). "Making "Sometimes The Stars"". YouTube. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  28. ↑ Beck, Jerry (11 March 2011). ""Sometimes In The Stars" by Ari Gibson & Jason Pamment". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on 22 May 2025. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  29. ↑ Darmono, Lilian (1 September 2011). "Bronte: by Ari and Jason for Gotye". Motionographer. Archived from the original on 25 June 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  30. ↑ "Show and tell". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 August 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2026. Mechanical Apple's Ari Gibson, approached Bronte [...]
  31. ↑ Tsuka (21 June 2012). "Winter Fox & Mechanical Apple (Ari Gibson + Jason Pamment)". Catsuka (in French). Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  32. ↑ Tabarsi, Anahita (6 December 2017). "Winter Fox (Staffpick)". Brown Bag Films. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  33. ↑ Tsuka (6 May 2014). "Motorbike, court d'Ari Gibson et Jason Pamment". Catsuka (in French). Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  34. ↑ DisneyShorts (29 November 2014). "Motorbike" by Mechanical Apple | Disney Favorite. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014 – via YouTube.
  35. ↑ McFerran, Damien (13 July 2017). "Hand-drawn adventure Hollow Knight comes to Switch". Red Bull. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  36. 1 2 BaerTaffy (22 July 2017). "Roundtable Live! - 7/21/2017 (Ep. 95 feat. Team Cherry)". YouTube. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  37. ↑ Pencil Kings (30 July 2014). "PK 016: Mechanical Apple on Why People Will Always Love Traditional 2D Animation". Pencil Kings. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  38. ↑ "Straight from the Source: Ari Gibson & William Pellen (Team Cherry)". Source Gaming. 9 April 2025. Archived from the original on 3 June 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  39. 1 2 Wiltshire, Alex (1 August 2018). "Hollow Knight and the art of consistency". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  40. 1 2 3 4 5 Milner, David. "The Making Of Hollow Knight". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  41. ↑ Ofner, Claudia Susanne (2021). Play Me a Story: Storytelling in the Metroidvania Game Hollow Knight (PDF) (Master's thesis). Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  42. 1 2 Warr, Philippa (30 September 2015). "State of the Art: The Elegiac Beauty of Hollow Knight". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  43. 1 2 Schreier, Jason (28 November 2025). "The Makers of 'Silksong' Aren't Done Just Yet". Bloomberg. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  44. 1 2 Simpkins 2021, p. 62.
  45. ↑ Sirani, Jordan (14 February 2024). "Hollow Knight: Silksong – Everything We Know About the 2D Metroidvania Sequel". IGN. Archived from the original on 24 February 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  46. 1 2 3 Schreier, Jason (21 August 2025). "Why 'Silksong' Took Seven Years to Make". Bloomberg. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  47. ↑ Pritchard, Marie (1 September 2025). "Hollow Knight Silksong release date". Eurogamer. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  48. ↑ Cardy, Simon (16 December 2025). "Hollow Knight: Silksong - Sea of Sorrow Expansion Revealed, Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Original Hollow Knight Also in Development". IGN. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  49. ↑ "The Trustee for Team Cherry Foundation". ACNC. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  50. ↑ Marks, Tom (7 March 2017). "Hollow Knight's charming art sets the bar for hand drawn games". PC Gamer. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  51. ↑ Parijat, Shubhankar (31 December 2017). "10 Games With Best Art Style of 2017". GamingBolt. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  52. ↑ Alana Hagues (16 September 2025). "Review: Hollow Knight: Silksong - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  53. ↑ Koji, Makoto (3 August 2017). "We don't usually do anniversaries but this one was kinda big. Last week I celebrated 10 years with this guy ☝🏻️@arigibson ☺️🎉💕 He's my inspiration, No. 1 fan & harshest critic all in one. His joy & hard work in all he does is infectious, believes in my silliest ideas & let's me be me. (No, he's not a figment of my imagination) So grateful to have you in my life & look forward to more cray fun times to come 😁💛✨xx". Instagram. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
  54. ↑ Peters, Jay (28 September 2025). "How the voice of Silksong's Hornet brought her to life through gibberish". The Verge. Retrieved 8 December 2025.

Bibliography

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