There is a place for you in video games.
A keynote for everyone who has dreamed of making games: computer science students, software engineers, and business and humanities professionals. It blends technology, business and ambition, and shows each person a path that starts with the skills they already have.
Make Games. Make a Living.
How does a game really get built? The engine, the code, the 3D and the graphics, the production and the money behind it. I explain the deep technical parts with apples and pears, so a room of engineers, business people and humanities graduates follows every minute and leaves speaking the same language.
Technology
What a game engine is, why the industry runs on C++, how 3D and graphics reach the screen. Real low-level ideas, made clear for everyone.
Business
Production, investment and sustainability. Building a game is the start; building something that lasts is a craft of its own. Told with real examples from Dark Rally, Gamedu and a book in the making.
Your path
Programmers, artists, producers, analysts, marketers, writers. The industry needs the skills you already have. I show where each one fits.
First delivered to business and humanities students at Universidad del Pacífico, Lima, in October 2026.
Game technology, explained by someone who builds it.
Mariojulio Zaldivar has spent about 20 years in software: a decade with Silicon Valley companies, a master's in computing in the US, then Magic Leap, Amazon Games and Unreal Engine internals at Epic Games.
He is head of technology at Plop! Studio in Lima, the team behind the racing game Dark Rally, founder of the online game-programming academy Gamedu, lecturer at DigiPen Institute of Technology, president of the ACM SIGGRAPH Lima chapter, and author of Mastering C++ Game Engine Programming (Packt, 2027).
His talks turn deep game technology into ideas a mixed room can follow. Peruvian, based in the Seattle area, he speaks in English and Spanish.
- Silicon ValleyAbout 10 years of software engineering
- Magic LeapMixed reality
- Amazon GamesGame technology
- Epic GamesUnreal Engine internals
- DigiPenLecturer
- Plop! StudioHead of technology, Dark Rally
- PacktAuthor, 2027
One talk, many rooms.
The keynote is built for mixed audiences, which makes it easy to place.
Conferences and tech festivals
A main-stage talk that works for engineers and non-engineers in the same seat row.
Companies
Innovation days, employee events, and outreach to students and young professionals.
Business schools and universities
Game technology and the game business, explained for business and humanities programs.
Creative-industry and investment events
What separates a game that ships from a studio that survives.
Fees on request, plus travel.
Inside the engine.
Know how a game engine works on the inside, so your team can push the one you use further, or build your own when your needs call for it. Two days of architecture and performance in modern C++, hands-on with your engineers.
For game and simulation studios that are growing, from indie toward AA and AAA. On site or remote, English or Spanish.
- 01Decoupled systems, clean interfaces
- 02Fixed and variable timestep loops
- 03A rendering layer over graphics APIs
- 04From inheritance to components
- 05Arena and pool allocators
- 06Collision and numerical integration
- 07Behavior trees for AI
- 08Profiling frame time
Mastering C++ Game Engine Programming
Design and implement a functional 2D engine with scalable architecture and performance-aware systems. Every advanced C++ technique arrives the moment a design problem demands it.
Pre-order on PacktRecent stages.
- 2026-10-13Lima · Dark Rally launch, head of technology, Plop! Studio
- 2026-10-14Lima · Universidad del Pacífico, industry talk
- 2026-10-15Lima · Desarrolla Videojuegos AAA, host
- OngoingPresident, ACM SIGGRAPH Lima chapter
[Organizer testimonial, collected after Perú Tech Week]
[Organizer or client testimonial]
Invite me to speak.
Tell me about your event and your audience. On site or remote, English or Spanish. Fees on request, plus travel. I reply within two business days.
speak@mariojulio.com · LinkedIn
Request received. Thank you. I will reply within two business days.
Your request did not go through. Check your name and email and try again, or write to speak@mariojulio.com.