Our Team

Richard brings over 20 years of experience in the game industry. He began his career at Atari and Pacific Coast Power & Light before joining Sony Santa Monica, where he worked as a combat designer on God of War. At Zipper Interactive, Richard was Lead Multiplayer Designer for SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo series. Richard joined ArenaNet, where he worked as a Lead Designer and on Guild Wars. Most recently he worked at Undead Labs as Design Director on the State of Decay series, and at ProbablyMonsters as Player Design Lead.

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.

Ted began his video game career at Square, translating JRPG classics including Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI and Super Mario RPG from the original Japanese. He served as Director of Business Development at RealNetworks, where he sourced digital game content to distribute on RealArcade, an online gaming platform. At Microsoft, as Senior Director of First Party Publishing, Ted helped launch the Xbox Live Arcade publishing business. He would later work in conjunction with Undead Labs to publish State of Decay, eventually joining Undead as its General Manager.

Leah began her career at Microsoft, before moving to ArenaNet, where she worked as a content designer for Guild Wars 2. She worked at Undead Labs as a Principal Content Designer on the State of Decay series. Leah brings a swath of skills and experience, from immersive and compelling narrative design implementation, to innovative storytelling, world-crafting and more.

Terra is a professional writer and editor. She has worked on and published a wide range of writing, from technical and copywriting, to political and creative writing. She holds an MFA from the University of Notre Dame.

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.

Christopher is a game developer, researcher, and educator. He holds a PhD in Game AI from McGill University. He has worked at Ubisoft Toronto, as an AI Programmer on Watch Dogs 2, where he built the group behavior system. For Watch Dogs: Legion, Christopher worked as lead game systems programmer, and later as Senior Lead Programmer, AI, UI, and Systems. He has presented at two GDC events (2016 and 2021) on the novel AI and game systems he’s helped develop.

Melissa worked as a Senior Environment Artist at Midwinter Entertainment, on the game Scavengers. As a Senior Environment Artist at ArenaNet, Melissa worked on look development and pre-production for several projects in incubation. A self-taught artist, her skills range from level and prop design, to work with materials, shaders, and foliage systems.

Ben previously worked as a freelance concept artist with Dlala Studios on a forthcoming game. He has also worked as a Background Designer for Titmouse, on AMC’s show Pantheon. Specializing in concept art and worldbuilding, Ben has worked as an illustrator, artist, and background designer on a number of indie games, music videos, and private commissions. Ben studied graphic design at Portland State University and entertainment design at Laguna College of Art and Design.

Lulu worked previously at Google as a producer and program manager in AR, VR, and hardware design. She has worked in the game and tech industries for over two decades, starting at Looking Glass, where she worked on Thief and System Shock 2. They also worked at Crystal Dynamics as a producer on games including Tomb Raider: Legend and an unreleased new IP. At 2K Games, she worked on games like Borderlands and Spec Ops: The Line.

Russell worked as the Lead Rewards Designer on World of Warcraft for the Shadowlands, Battle for Azeroth, and Legion expansions and content updates. As co-lead of the systems design team, he helped construct compelling endgame progression systems, created thousands of items and augmented the story of the world, and helped to build long-lived data structures for more effective and streamlined development. He has worked as a designer on MMOs for 14 years, and brings an empathetic, player-focused approach to project and team management and long-term execution.

Ben began his career as a QA Tester on the original Halo, and since then has worked as a Developer, Release Manager, Program Manager, and almost everything else in tech. He ultimately found his niche in DevOps, bridging the gaps and focusing on overall product delivery. As Senior Director of DevOps at The Pokémon Company International, he helped ship the first internally developed Pokémon game, Pokémon Trading Card Game Live (TCGL) as well as improvements to the company’s auth platform that is utilized by games & platforms like TCGL, Pokemon.com, and Pokémon Go. At Expedia, Ben was Director of DevOps, supporting internal development teams and platforms with continuous delivery services, and working on developer enablement tools and product testing. Beyond DevOps, Ben specializes in team building and takes pride in helping people and coworkers develop toward their full potential.

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.

With more than two decades in the video game industry under his belt, Destin brings a wealth of experience to the team. Destin worked at Riot Games as a Senior Producer on League of Legends, with a player-focused approach towards onboarding and the new player experience. As an establishing member of Riot Forge he leveraged the LoL IP for games outside of the MOBA. He also spent time on the Legends of Runeterra team, preparing the title for global release. As Studio Director of Development at Paragon Studios, Destin led development for the MMO City of Heroes. At Mythic Entertainment, Destin worked as a Producer and Design Director on Warhammer Online and Dark Age of Camelot. He has also worked for Sony Playstation Studios as Studio Director of Production for Bend Studio, while simultaneously partnering with Naughty Dog on a forthcoming title.

Olivia worked as a writer, editor and narrative designer at Failbetter Games for almost seven years, contributing to Fallen London, Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies. More recently, she was Narrative Lead at Star Stable Entertainment, helping to lay the groundwork for a new, unannounced project. She has written for and consulted on a variety of games and interactive projects, including AR, VR and more traditional platforms, on both new and existing IPs. Much of her past work involves character-driven stories that marry human relationships to fantastical environments and explore uncomfortable choices that mirror those of real life.

Spencer worked most recently as Tech Lead and Senior Game Engineer at Monami Park on Slime Rancher and Slime Rancher 2. They previously worked on mobile development at GoFundMe and Google. In their spare time, Spencer researches procedural generation and experimental engineering strategies within the roguelite community.

Dave worked most recently at Epic Games, as QA Manager on Fortnite Battle Royale. At Electronic Arts, Dave was QA Project Manager for Star Wars: Squadrons and QA Project Lead on Star Wars: Battlefront II. Prior to that Dave worked at BioWare, where he was a QA Analyst and Project Lead on games such as Mass Effect: Andromeda, Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age II, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. He holds a degree in film studies.

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.

Sarah worked at Fullbright, initially as Operations Manager focusing on bookkeeping, product development, and marketing. She would later take on the studio’s first producer role, eventually becoming Associate Producer on Open Roads. Sarah worked previously at Dark Horse Comics, as a Sales Associate and eventual Director of Sales. She has also done voice acting work on games such as Gone Home and Dragon Age: Inquisition, among others, as well as work for Adidas and Nike.

Jennifer brings over two decades of game industry experience to the team. She began her career working at Westwood Studios/ElectronicArts in community and design for MMOs, serving as a Lead Designer on Ultima Online and eventually moving into production as a Lead Producer on The Sims 3. At Zynga, Jennifer worked as a lead producer on FarmVille 2. At Glu Mobile, she was Product Owner/Director of Production on Britney Spears: American Dream and Nicki Minaj: The Empire. Most recently, Jennifer worked at Turn 10 Studios as Design Director for the Forza franchise, and as Co-Lead for Women in Gaming at Xbox. Jennifer brings a passion for player-first experiences and inclusivity in games and the industry.

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.