Our Team

During his nearly 30 years of experience in the game industry, Jeff has helped create and influence some of the biggest online games to date. While working as a programmer on StarCraft and Diablo, Jeff created the StarCraft campaign editor. He headed up initial development on World of Warcraft and would later serve as Lead Programmer and Team Lead. Next, Jeff cofounded ArenaNet, where he worked as a programmer and the Executive Producer on the Guild Wars franchise. After NCsoft acquired ArenaNet, Strain would go on to become President of Product Development for the company’s North American and European operations. Returning to his development roots, Jeff established Undead Labs to create the definitive zombie survival-fantasy game. State of Decay launched to critical and popular acclaim, and was followed by State of Decay 2, which has been played by more than ten million people around the world.

Brandon has worked previously at ArenaNet, as a Programmer on Guild Wars and team lead prototyping new MMO technologies and game concepts. As Technical Director at Double Fine Productions, Brandon worked on Grim Fandango Remastered, as well as Hack ‘n’ Slash and others. Most recently, Brandon worked as Product Management Director for Oculus VR, where he led a team responsible for core software development and strategy across all VR products. Brandon brings technical expertise for building digital infrastructure and a passion for immersive player experiences to the team.

Austin’s background is a unique blend of gaming journalism and criticism, academia, and creative work. He holds a Masters in Aesthetics and Politics from CalArts and has bylines at Paste, Gamespot, Giant Bomb, and others. Most recently, Austin served as Editor-In-Chief of Waypoint and host of Waypoint Radio. His interests and work often examine the intersection of labor politics and the game industry. Since 2014, Austin has hosted the popular tabletop roleplaying podcast Friends at the Table, featuring a unique and potent blend of collaborative storytelling and critical worldbuilding.

Aaron worked as Chief Technology Officer at Fable Labs, doing narrative system development and tooling. He worked previously as Tech Director at Niantic and Seismic Games, where he worked on Magic Spellslingers, a Magic: The Gathering mobile game. Aaron has also worked as Director of the Gaming Business Unit at Asvathaa Inc and Lead Game Designer and Tech at Meteor Games, doing MMO development. Aaron’s skillset and background include code architecture, systems design, game mechanics, large scale online networks, market research and business.

Mike worked previously at Electronic Arts, as a Software Engineer modernizing the way EA hosts game servers and platform services, and working with partner studios to launch Battlefield 5, Need for Speed, and the Star Wars Battlefront games, among others. As a Software Engineer at Microsoft, Mike worked on the Xbox Live team, developing methodology for managing servers, games, and player information, and assisting in launch for titles like Titanfall, Halo, Forza, and Call of Duty. At ArenaNet, he helped prototype new MMO technologies and game concepts. Most recently, Mike worked at Axon as Senior Staff Software Engineer, developing real-time interactive mission critical services for Computer Aided Dispatch.

Brian has over 25 years of experience in the game industry. His passion is around the implementation of digital tools and optimizing iteration speeds to create dynamic and accessible story-making tools for players. As Lead Technical Designer for Magic Leap, Brian worked on the augmented reality game Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders. Previously he worked as a designer on SimCity for Maxis, multiple instalments in the SOCOM series for Zipper Interactive, and on Evil Dead: Regeneration at Cranky Pants Games. As a designer, Brian worked at Neversoft on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, 4, Underground and Spider-man. At Activision he worked as a designer on Interstate ‘76/’82, MechWarrior II, and Zork: Nemesis, among others.

Charles worked as Lead Gameplay Programmer on Watch Dogs: Legion for Ubisoft Toronto and Below for Capybara Games. As a Senior Gameplay Programmer for Ubisoft, Charles did combat programming and design for Assassin’s Creed and Assassin’s Creed II, and worked on movement systems design and player control for Splinter Cell: Blacklist. At BioWare, he did programming on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, among others. Charles brings a focus on effective team-building and development practices, as well as experience creating game systems and tools from scratch.

Katie is the inaugural participant of our developer mentorship program. She is a graduate of the Texas A&M Maritime Academy and a former baker. Katie runs regular tabletop role-playing games for young people in their community.

Erica worked as a UI engineer on the MMO Defiance for Trion Worlds, and on Battlefield: Hardline for EA. At Oculus, Erica worked as a software engineer on the cutting edge of emerging XR technologies. Most recently, she was a gameplay engineer for Sledgehammer Games, where she worked on the forthcoming Call of Duty: Vanguard.

Matt has worked as an environmental artist on a wide range of different types of games, from AAA titles, to VR, mobile and indie games. They worked most recently at Insomniac Games, on Rachet & Clank: Rift Apart and Spider-Man 2. At Method EXP, they worked on Curse of the Lost Pearl: A Magic Projector Adventure and Robin Hood VR. Matt has also spent time as an instructor, teaching intro and advanced level game art classes at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.

Greg worked as a Character Technical Artist on The Elder Scrolls Online for ZeniMax Online Studios and a Senior Technical Animator at Camouflaj, where he worked on Iron Man VR. He has also worked as a Technical Artist on mobile games for Zynga. As an experienced technical animator, Greg excels at creating high quality character rigs and has developed asset management systems and pipeline technical direction for AAA games.

Shaylyn worked as an Environment Artist on Borderlands 2 for Gearbox Software, creating high poly models and character customizations. She worked at ArenaNet as a Mobile Artist on an unreleased project. As a freelance artist, Shaylyn has worked on character art and illustrations for Valve Corporation’s Dota 2, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and Team Fortress 2, and has worked with independent studios like Ivy Road, Little Grim Entertainment, and Strange Scaffold.

Alexander worked most recently as a Senior Progression, Economy, and Investment Designer at Hidden Path Entertainment on an unannounced title taking place in the Dungeons and Dragons franchise. They started their career in the industry as a QA tester at Microsoft, before receiving an internship at ArenaNet. Eventually Alexander was promoted to a full-time position on the Guild Wars 2 team, where he worked on rewards and economy design, guilds, and social systems, and helped ship expansions and live updates.

Alyssa worked previously as a software engineer at Google, doing backend Java server development within Search. Previously, she worked at a small engineering firm, writing code for retrofitting vehicles to make them autonomous. Alyssa holds a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Delaware.

Esther worked previously at BioWare, as Lead Creature Animator on the forthcoming Dragon Age game, and on Anthem as a Gameplay Animator. At Hi Rez Studios, she was Animation Lead on Paladins: Champions of the Realm and Gameplay Animator on Smite. She also worked on animations for NBA Live at Electronic Arts Tiburon. Esther's focuses include cross-disciplinary solutions for gameplay pipeline friction points and cultivating a safe, warm workspace for teammates. In addition to her skills as an animator and leader, Esther is an expert at ruining karaoke nights with the most depressing ballad you can imagine.

Norman worked most recently as Senior UX Designer on the forthcoming Dragon Age game. At Second Story, Norman provided UX work for interactive installations at museums, universities, and more, focusing on the intersection of digital and physical spaces to tell stories. He holds a Masters in Interaction Design from Carnegie Mellon as well as a computer engineering degree.

Miguel brings a decade of industry experience to the team. He began his career at Disney, working as a 3D Artist on Temple Run: Oz. As a Senior 3D Artist, Miguel created models, rigging, and animation for projects such as Inside Out Thought Bubbles and the AR project Jedi Challenges. Miguel modeled environments and characters for Disney Frozen Adventures at Jam City. Most recently, at Warner Brothers Games, he prototyped early game concepts for greenlighting and handoff.

Hans worked most recently at R/GA, an international creative and ad agency. As a Senior Producer and Software Engineer, he worked with clients such as Nike and Verizon. Prior to that he was at Razorfish. Hans is experienced coordinating teams comprised of various specialties, improving efficiency and communication among their projects. Hans has a creative background, getting their start as a graphic and Flash designer.