Hearthstone is a free-to-play online digital collectible card game based on the Warcraft IP, playable on PC and mobile devices. I joined the team late in production of the new “Mercenaries” mode, helping to build the launch content and provide feedback on game systems and then leading it through live service. I later moved to the “Battlegrounds” mode as well as providing design support on other internal projects. Key responsibilities included:▪ Analyzing, pitching, prototyping, balancing, and developing core systems and gameplay.▪ Being a champion of feel, feedback, and intuitive systems for all aspects of the game.▪ Partnering with design leadership in forming and evangelizing design visions to the rest of the team.▪ Collaborating with multiple disciplines, ensuring the correct partners are involved and informed throughout the development process.▪ Gathering and providing effective and constructive feedback to the creative staff, including suggestions and solutions for improvement when applicable.▪ Ensuring consistency, authenticity, and harmony across features, systems, and development efforts.▪ Remaining current on industry trends including: new game genres, new game design methods and techniques, and free to play experiences and systems.

Working on an unreleased co-operative rogue-like mobile game developed for a new IP. I joined a small team during the concept phase, building both the design team and product from the ground up alongside the rest of the development and leadership team. Key responsibilities included:▪ Working in partnership with the Creative Director on defining and communicating the project vision through all aspects of concept, prototype, and development.▪ Helped develop the brand identity of a new IP in collaboration with the Creative Director, Art Director, and Marketing team.▪ Communicating with studio leaders regarding progress and quality of features.▪ Developing a fail fast design culture during the early concept phases and carrying it though later phases of development.▪ Working as part of the studio leadership team to promote a culture of open internal project feedback and data analysis.▪ Collaborating closely with other discipline leaders to solve creative and development challenges while ensuring deadlines are met.

Working on an unreleased competitive strategy mobile game set in the well known IP. I joined late in production as part of a new leadership team. Key responsibilities included:▪ Creative leadership for a new vision which incorporated lessons learned during theprevious development with changes in the market.▪ Advocating for the creative vision to a multi-site development team, license holder,senior studio leadership and above.▪ Working as part of the studio leadership team to promote a culture of open internalproject feedback and data analysis.▪ Partnering directly with central UX and Product specialists to verify design decisions andevaluate the game’s meta experience.▪ Championing creativity and driving design forward through regular triage of the creativevision and game build against market analysis.▪ Developing and supporting senior designers to lead multidisciplinary development podsthrough the concept and production of systems, features, and content.▪ Collaborating closely with other discipline leaders to solve creative and developmentchallenges while ensuring deadlines are met.▪ Accountability for the design team through regular staffing assessments, careermanagement, and development oversight.▪ Managing the needs of the Star Wars IP while supporting and meeting the businessneeds of the project.▪ Maintaining a deep and broad awareness of the game market to brief, inform, anddiscuss with team members as necessary.

The Simpsons: Tapped Out is a long running collection city builder mobile title based on thelong running animated TV show, The Simpsons. Initially joining as a Senior Designer as part of a remote team to release major event updates, I later returned to lead the design team and be part of transitioning the project from the original team in Canada to its current home in the USA. Key responsibilities included:▪ Driving creativity and game design forward by regularly triaging the game state to find opportunities for improvements.▪ Leading the creative development process from the initial content roadmap through concept, documentation, and development of all new content.▪ Promoting a culture of data driven design using live service metrics.▪ Working closely as part of the project leadership team to shape the development schedule and driving production processes and procedures to ensure deadlines are met.▪ Recruiting a local design team and supporting them through first line mentoring, career management, and development oversight.▪ Advocating for the needs of The Simpsons IP while supporting and meeting the business needs of the project.▪ Communicating directly with writers for the show, and key stakeholders, to ensure a smooth approvals process.▪ Maintaining a deep and broad awareness of the game market to brief, inform and discuss with team members as necessary.

Leading the design team from initial concept, through prototyping, greenlight, and onwards, myresponsibilities included:▪ Working in partnership with the Creative Director on defining and communicating theproject vision through all aspects of concept, prototype, and development.▪ Communicating with studio leaders regarding progress and quality of the projects.▪ Team leadership and accountability for the overall quality, balance, and polish of thevarious project gate builds, and integrating the resulting feedback.▪ Developing a fail fast team culture during the early concept phases through todevelopment.▪ Working with Marketing to define the public message and provide content for focustesting.▪ Ensuring narrative and gameplay aligned with the product IP, whether first- or thirdparty.▪ Close coordination with the Product Manager to ensure mobile best practices and pushnew innovations.▪ Overseeing other designers and their ownership of key features.▪ Planning, prioritizing, and scheduling feature development.▪ Supporting open ideation while ensuring project goals were met.

A combat city builder mobile title based on the studio’s previously released title, Dungeon Keeper, using a different IP. Leading the project from initial concept, through prototyping, greenlight, and onwards, my responsibilities included:▪ Working in partnership with the Creative Director on all aspects of the concept and prototype.▪ Communicating with studio leaders regarding progress and quality of the title.▪ Accountability for the overall quality, balance and polish of the various project gate builds, and integrating the resulting feedback.▪ Working with Marketing to define the public message and provide content for focus testing.▪ Close coordination with the Product Manager to ensure mobile best practices and push new innovations.▪ Overseeing another designer and their ownership of key features.▪ Planning, prioritizing, and scheduling feature development

An unreleased action shooter prototype based on an old IP and developed for mobile using Unity3D. I lead the design from an early prototype through to a green light candidate. Responsibilities included:▪ Leading a small team of engineers and another designer.▪ Working closely with the Creative Director.▪ Ensuring a fail fast team culture.▪ Supporting open ideation while ensuring project goals were met.▪ Communicating with studio leaders regarding progress and quality of the title.

Using my previous experience of running live services I lead the Ultima Forever design team through its soft launch. Responsibilities included:▪ Working with EA’s central telemetry services to monitor key metrics.▪ Developing content update plans based on telemetry and user feedback.▪ Communicating with select user advocates.

As the needs of the studio changed I returned to work on Ultima Forever, bringing with me the monetization learnings from Wrath of Heroes. The project was just beginning to transition from PC light platform into a mobile title which introduced a number of additional responsibilities:▪ Work closely with the recently created Product Manager group within EA.▪ Access best practices in the mobile market and their differences from PC.▪ Scale existing content to best fit for a mobile audience.▪ Plan post-launch content release cadence.▪ Liaise with third part store front providers.▪ Working with engineers to develop and test the monetization store pipeline.

Promoted to lead the design of Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes, an arena combat game, from day one, I remained with the project through to its beta launch with responsibilities including:▪ Leading the overall design team in authoring, creating and executing all areas of the game, from individual characters to the core user experience.▪ Communicating with studio leaders regarding progress and quality of the title.▪ Accountability for the overall quality, balance and polish of the game and as part of this, planning focus-group and Beta sessions for the game and integrating the resulting feedback.▪ Working with Marketing and PR teams to define messaging to the public.▪ Attending conferences to present the game to both Press and Public internationally, including undertaking promotional interviews with the media.▪ Building and maintaining relationships with the UK based IP owner, Games Workshop.

Hired to work on Ultima Forever, I supported the lead designer by leading a small team within the design department in creating core gameplay systems such as character progression, character types and gameplay modes. Responsibilities included:▪ Acting as expert for the studio on MMORPG light platform development and in-game micro-transactions.▪ Leading rapid prototyping and agile development.▪ Advising on and developing a monetization model for the game.▪ Training & mentoring junior designers.▪ Working with engineers to develop the game engine appropriately.▪ Liaising with art department to ensure appropriate artwork and timelines are adhered to.

I worked closely with the Producer and Associate Producer to help to shape the overall vision for the game. I was then responsible for ensuring the content produced by the rest of the Content Development team adhered to this vision and the principles it encompassed. Responsibilities included:Driving creativity and game design forward by regular SWOT analyses of the game, looking towards fresh, new content and tackling evolving challenges.Leading the creative development process by involvement in concept, design brief and planning of new content.Maintaining overall control and maintenance of storyline consistency across the four species and overarching plot arcs. Assisting the Associate Producer in shaping the development schedule and driving production processes and procedures to ensure deadlines are met.Conducting post mortems of development projects to identify best practice and maintain/improve quality standards.Supporting team members by providing first line mentoring to new and current team members alike.Maintaining a deep and broad awareness of the game market in order to brief, inform and discuss with team members as necessary.Working closely with Lead and Senior members of the Graphics, Audio and Technology teams to ensure support and awareness of projects across departments.Liaise with PR and Marketing teams to help promote the product and plan launch strategies.

Working as part of a new development team, key duties included:Giving game design and technical support and guidance to the team.Providing feedback and support to colleagues throughout the development cycle.Writing, maintaining and balancing core game systems.Creating original content and associated documentation.Acting as a key contact for liaison with other internal departments.

Writing, maintaining and balancing the combat system.Providing guidance and feedback to colleagues on technical issues throughout the development cycle.Creating original content.

Game concept and design for RuneScapeScripting and development with in-house language and tools

QA for RuneScape

Customer Support for RuneScape