CAREER
MOMENTS
MOMENTS OF PRIDE
It’s always tough to look back without feeling a sense of frustration or regret with what could have been, what I’d do differently, or how close we might have been to realizing a dream. But after 18 years of game making there have been many bright sparks on the journey that I am deeply proud of.
CHRONICLE: RUNESCAPE LEGENDSA battle to exist - Chronicle is a story of passion, drive, and willful ignorance to bring a game into existence at all costs, while loving every moment. READ MORE
MARVEL: CONTEST OF CHAMPIONSSteering a ship - A massive game with big shoes to fill, that needed freshness and a new approach to game design. READ MORE
F1 CLASHCreating ambition - F1 brought me to my sporting love. Giving me the opportunity to drive it to new highs, with new thinking, gameplay & relationships. READ MORE
FOREVER FABLEDThe one that got away - Roguelites have been a genre I’ve wanted to tackle for some time, getting to do that with my vision was a special moment. READ MORE
CHRONICLE
A BATTLE TO EXIST
A LEGEND'S ADMIRATIONHaving TotalBiscuit play, review and admire what we were doing with Chronicle was a real pleasure. Seeing critical figures find genuine surprise and intrigue at the mechanics, devotion to trying something fresh and interesting was incredibly rewarding when product performance wasn’t where we wanted it to be.
RIP TotalBiscuit.
FROM PAPER TO PCIt is very rare to have the opportunity to conceive, paper prototype, pitch, produce and launch an original title - let alone one with such an illustrious IP. The pleasure of doing this with a small, incredibly talented team is impactful to me as a designer to this day.
Having a say or fully directing everything from core gameplay through to art, animation, and even crafting trailers by hand was one of the most creatively rewarding periods of my life.
Despite its commercial failures, a huge amount of design lessons were learned from Chronicle that influence me today.
KNOWING WHEN TO STOPAfter Chronicle’s failure, despite relentless challenges in studio leadership, marketing cuts, and a myriad of other challenges, I was still able to reflect upon what really led to it’s failure.
The design.
Originality and novelty are as powerful as they are dangerous. Ingredients that must be used in the right measurements to ensure accessibility, understanding and empowerment. We got that balance wrong and had the pleasure/pain of explaining that in detail as I provided a deep an reflective retrospective within the studio to help guide future teams.
MARVEL
STEERING A SHIP
COVID 19
Sometimes its less about the game and more about the team, time, and tribulations. In 2020 I was 6 months into my role leading Contest of Champions, a thirty person design team, billion dollar product, and the biggest IP in the world. March 2nd my daughter was born. March 7th the studio closed and Vancouver locked down.
A new dad, no family, supporting my daughter and partner while having to lead a team through a life changing moment was one of the most challenging experiences I’ve ever faced. I’m proud to have led the team and grown us through it while facing many of my own demons.
NEW GAMEPLAY
Marvel was into its middle life and needed a fresh injection of gameplay, something that in a skill-based, stat-backed experience is incredibly challenging. Uplifting and celebrating a concept from a long-time designer in the form of Relics - led to one of the boldest shifts and bold new source of value within MCoC. Working with him to pitch, development, and launch it not only helped his confidence by grew the game into it’s 7th year of life.
NEW COMPETITION
Akin to the gameplay challenge, social competition was growing stagnant and we sought to craft a new way to pit players against each other, creating new social opportunities, driving content creator buzz, and uplifting engagement when the MCU had started to falter after the highs of Endgame.
Battlegrounds was born. A major effort involving every corner of the development team, user research, community testing, and brand new systems. All culminating in a completely fresh, but deeply MCoC competitive experience that tested skill, strategy and power in one package.
FOREVER FABLED
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
SHAPING THE FUTUREAfter almost three years on MCoC we had a well oiled machine that enabled me to begin influencing wider Kabam studio strategy and design direction. Helping to craft the new product development pipeline and how to pitch into it. In doing this I created model documentation for anyone in the studio to pick up and engage with.
To help define what good looked like, I pitched several concepts that blended genres to create something new. One of these, Forever Fabled, I sought deeper investment in, securing it and driving it through to preproduction with a group of passionate creative developers.
LIVING THE DREAMForever Fabled was a dream genre and creative direction for me. Every moment of development was a joy. Working to craft unique new characters, that engaged in a fresh gameplay environment, alongside building all new technical infrastructure to support it was a challenging but thoroughly rewarding experience.
Working closely with every craft, from art to engineering, production to QA, in deep, hands on development enabled me even more respect and admiration for my fellow developers. None more so than the incredible concept talent we managed to secure to bring FF to life.
BREAKING UP THE BANDTo deliver Forever Fabled I worked hand in hand with my EP to develop external contracting relationships, build business ties, and run a multi-studio operation. Creatively managing a variety of different vendors and teams was also a fresh challenge to enjoy. Unfortunately some dream don’t come true and Chronicle met its fate in restructuring.