Ari Gibson
Birth date14 May 1983 (age 43)
Birth placeAdelaide, South Australia, Australia
Alma materUniversity of South Australia
Occupation
Years active2005–present
TitleCo-founder and co-director of Team Cherry (2014–present)
SpouseMakoto Koji (m. 2007)
Notable worksThe Cat Piano · Hollow Knight · Hollow Knight: Silksong

Ari Nicholas Gibson (born 14 May 1983) is an Australian artist, animator, and video game designer, best known for his work on Hollow Knight (2017) and its sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong (2025). He is also the co-founder and co-director of the games' development studio, Team Cherry.

Early life and education

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

He graduated from the University of South Australia with a Bachelor of Visual Arts, majoring in New Media Art.[4]

Career

Further information: Hollow Knight#Development and Hollow Knight: Silksong#Development

Gibson formerly worked with The People's Republic of Animation starting in 2005, where he collaborated with Eddie White on many projects, most notably The Cat Piano (2009),[5][6][7] which received many awards.[8][9] He also ran Mechanical Apple, a boutique animation studio,[10] alongside Jason Pamment.[11] The studio produced animations such as the music video for Gotye's "Bronte" (2011).[12] Other praised animations include the music video for the title track from the album Sometimes the Stars (2010) by The Audreys,[13] Winter Fox (2014),[11] and Motorbike (2014).[14]

In 2014, Gibson co-founded the video game studio Team Cherry with William Pellen, whom he had previously worked with on flash games, including ones made for game jams. They started a Kickstarter project for their then-upcoming game Hollow Knight, which was a success; the game released in 2017 to critical acclaim. Gibson worked on the game's art and animation, while also co-directing its development.[15]

He later worked on a piece of Hollow Knight downloadable content that eventually evolved into a sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong.[16] The game's development took over seven years, though Gibson described the process as enjoyable.[17] Silksong released on 4 September 2025, also to critical acclaim.[18]

Art style

For Hollow Knight, and presumably its sequel, Gibson scanned his hand-drawn art directly into the game's engine. This was done to "create [a] vivid sense of place."[15]

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 Knights art.[19] Alana Hagues of Nintendo Life described Gibson's art in Silksong as being "a rainbow compared to the muted tones of [Hollow Knights] Hallownest", while also still being "sombre"; describing it as using a "beautiful colour palette".[20]

Personal life

Gibson married Japanese animator Makoto Koji in 2007;[21] Koji also voices the Hollow Knight character Hornet.[22]

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.[17]

Works

YearTitleMedium
2006Dust Echoes: Whirlpool[4]Animation
Dust Echoes: Mermaid Story[4]
Carnivore Reflux[4]
2007Sweet & Sour[13]
I Was a Teenage Butterfly[23]
2008De Blob[24][25]Video game
Hellboy: The Science of Evil[24][25]
2009The Cat Piano[5][6][7]Animation
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen[24][25]Video game
2010The Last Airbender[24][25]
Megamind: Mega Team Unite[24][25]
Sometimes the Stars[13][26]Animation
2011De Blob 2[24][25]Video game
Bronte[12]Animation
2013Winter Fox[11][27]
Tomb Cat[28]Video game
Hungry Knight[15]
2014Motorbike[14]Animation
2017Hollow Knight[15]Video game
2025Hollow Knight: Silksong[16]

References

  1. ^ "Search ASIC Registers". ASIC Connect. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  2. ^ Thorsland, Dan (2019-03-28). "How Adelaide developers are taking on the gaming world". Adelaide Review. Archived 2025-04-29 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  3. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (May 1, 2025). "Hollow Knight: Silksong will be playable in September 2025 — at an Australian museum". IGN. Archived 1 May 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  4. ^ "About". The Cat Piano. 2 September 2009. Archived 23 April 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  5. ^ Wignall, James (23 September 2009). "The Cat Piano". Motionographer. Archived 16 June 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  6. ^ Beck, Jerry (2009-09-04). ""The Cat Piano" by Eddie White and Ari Gibson". Cartoon Brew. Archived 2025-09-01 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  7. ^ "The Cat Piano". National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. 14 October 2025. Archived 9 February 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  8. ^ "Annecy Official Selection". 12 September 2009. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009.
  9. ^ "The Cat Piano Australian Film Festival Awards". Archived from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
  10. ^ "Straight from the Source: Ari Gibson & William Pellen (Team Cherry)". Source Gaming. 2025-04-09. Archived 3 June 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  11. ^ Tsuka (2012-06-21). "Winter Fox & Mechanical Apple (Ari Gibson + Jason Pamment)" (in French). Catsuka. Archived 2016-05-01 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
  12. ^ Darmono, Lilian (2011-09-01). "Bronte: by Ari and Jason for Gotye". Motionographer. Archived 2019-06-25 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  13. ^ Darmono, Lilian (2011-03-10). "Sometimes The Stars: Ari Gibson & Jason Pamment". Motionographer. Archived 2018-11-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  14. ^ Tsuka (6 May 2014). "Motorbike, court d'Ari Gibson et Jason Pamment" (in French). Catsuka. Archived 26 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  15. ^ Milner, David. "The Making Of Hollow Knight". Game Informer. Archived 6 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-07-20.
  16. ^ Sirani, Jordan (14 February 2024). "Hollow Knight: Silksong – Everything We Know About the 2D Metroidvania Sequel". IGN. Archived 24 February 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  17. ^ Schreier, Jason (August 21, 2025). "Why 'Silksong' Took Seven Years to Make". Bloomberg. Archived August 21, 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  18. ^ Pritchard, Marie (1 September 2025). "Hollow Knight Silksong release date". Eurogamer. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  19. ^ Marks, Tom (March 7, 2017). "Hollow Knight's charming art sets the bar for hand drawn games". PC Gamer. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  20. ^ Alana Hagues (16 September 2025). "Review: Hollow Knight: Silksong - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ Peters, Jay (28 September 2025). "How the voice of Silksong's Hornet brought her to life through gibberish". The Verge. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  23. ^ "Little Big Shots 2008 Program". Sydney Opera House. 2015-07-12. Archived 2025-08-31 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
  24. ^ Arrant, Chris (2011-07-13). "Australian Games Studio Halfbrick Buys Into Studio The People's Republic of Animation". Cartoon Brew. Archived 2012-10-06 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
  25. ^ "Pixels Rising Interview with Team Cherry — creators of Hollow Knight". Radio Adelaide. April 2016. Archived 2 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  26. ^ Beck, Jerry (2011-03-11). ""Sometimes In The Stars" by Ari Gibson & Jason Pamment". Cartoon Brew. Archived 2025-05-22 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
  27. ^ Tabarsi, Anahita (6 December 2017). "Winter Fox (Staffpick)". Brown Bag Films. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  28. ^ Ofner, Claudia Susanne (2021). Play Me a Story: Storytelling in the Metroidvania Game Hollow Knight (Master's thesis). Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz. Retrieved 2025-08-31.