If there's one thing our Melbourne crew is collectively addicted to, it's Mario Kart. It all started back in 2017 when Brendan Seals (VFX Supervisor) thought he would challenge the studio to a Mario Kart Tournament with unabashed confidence that he'd win. It led to the biggest upset we’ve seen go down—with Michael Yates, or Yatesy, taking the win. It also created our most competitive tradition at our studio—every year when the Tourney rolls around, tensions rise, trash-talking ensues, and our crew mentally and physically prepare for the showdown.

Through the years, we’ve given out some big prizes, roped our LA crew in for cross-studio challenges, and witnessed one too many Rainbow Road defeats. 

So when Saturday, April 30th rolled around, Luma's Annual Mario Kart Tourney was a go. Racers, partners, friends and fur babies filed into the studio decked out in Mario Kart paraphernalia ready to compete.

24 competitors joined this year’s Tourney, broken up into four rounds with eight races in the first round. The top two racers would move on from each round until we reached the final race where the final four contestants battled it out in a grand prix race.

There were a few ooooohs and aaahhs throughout the races along with a lot of close calls, but not as close as the grand finale. It's no surprise that Yates and Matt Bacon (previous title holders) made it to the finale. But these racing veterans were also joined by Matt Pickering and Athena Maltezos.

Athena swerved and drifted and dodged her way past the other contestants to win the whole Championship by two seconds. She's returning to South Australia with the most coveted title at Luma—the 2022 Mario Kart Champion—along with a brand new Nintendo Switch and shameless bragging rights for a full year.