Meet The Team: Mary Goncharova

July 4, 2025
Michael Whelan

In order to make the best possible Virtual Reality experience, you need a team full of experts. From artists, to game designers, to system developers – everyone comes together to create something truly unique and inspiring.

In this series we’re going to open the doors to Midow Studios and invite you to get to know some of the amazing creatives that are working on our currently unannounced VR project. This week we’re getting a little visual with our Game Artist, Mary Goncharova :

Hi, Mary! Tell us what you do here at Midow Studios.

Hi there! I’m Mary and I’m a game artist at Midow Studio, which means I get to do a bit of everything—from concept art for props and characters to 3D environments and all the other cool assets you’ll see in our game.

How long have you worked at Midow Studios, and what did you do before this?

I’ve been officially working at Midow for six months now, but I actually joined the team a few months earlier as a volunteer, starting in November 2024. Before that, I worked on various freelance projects, mostly creating visuals for children’s games. I graduated in summer 2024, so Midow Studios is my first official job—and I’m really excited to be here!

What most excites you about the game we’re working on?

I love having a real impact on the final product. Since we’re a small studio, we make all the decisions together, so you actually get to see your ideas come to life. Being able to shape the game’s visuals and create something that players will experience directly is incredibly exciting. What I especially enjoy about working on Discovery of Magic is the magical theme itself — it gives us so much creative freedom to design monsters, spells, and some really cool environments.

What are some of your favourite video games?

I really love video games as a medium, even though I wouldn’t call myself a hardcore gamer, haha. I don’t have a specific favourite genre, but lately I’ve been getting into Souls-like games — though they take me ages to finish! One of my recent favourites is Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. I’m also a big fan of the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series because of their strong narratives and striking visuals.

If you could cast a magical spell right now, what would it do?

The spell that would let me win ranked games in League, haha. But honestly, I think I’d go for something a bit silly — like a luck boost spell. Nothing too serious, just a little magic to make things go my way now and then without making life too boring!

Thanks so much for answering our questions, Mary, and I can’t wait to see all the gorgeous art you’re going to add to Disovery of Magic!

If you want to learn more about our upcoming VR game be sure to head over to the Discovery of Magic page. There you can see what we’re up to and sign up for email updates and our Discord Server!

We’ll see you on the next Meet The Team article, but until then — happy casting!