Mark James

Mark James Email and Phone Number

CEO and Founder @ Bottled Lightning Studios
Livermore, CA, US
Mark James's Location
Livermore, California, United States, United States
About Mark James

With over 30 years of experience in the video games industry, I am a technology executive who has successfully built and led teams and delivered products across multiple platforms and genres.As the former Chief Technology Officer at Striking Distance Studios, I oversaw the long-term direction and operations of technology development for the studio, supporting the needs of game and product teams at a technical level and implementing standards to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness. I also facilitated introductions to potential strategic partners, investors, and customers as an advisor at AccelByte Inc, a cloud-based platform for game development and live operations. My mission is to drive excellence in software products that fulfill both the creative vision and the business requirements, and to empower and mentor highly engaged teams that deliver with passion and pride.

Mark James's Current Company Details
Bottled Lightning Studios

Bottled Lightning Studios

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CEO and Founder
Livermore, CA, US
Website:
bl-studios.com
Employees:
4
Mark James Work Experience Details
  • Bottled Lightning Studios
    Ceo And Founder
    Bottled Lightning Studios
    Livermore, Ca, Us
  • Endava Games
    Chief Technology Officer
    Endava Games Sep 2024 - Present
    Reno, Nv, Us
    • Develop and maintain Endava Games' technology roadmap, vision, and strategy • Drive organizational strategy for technology, such as the split between game business unit teams, shared technology, and commercialization into licensable products• Build, maintain, and evolve Endava Games inspiring technology vision.
  • Bottled Lightning Studios
    Ceo / Founder
    Bottled Lightning Studios Jun 2014 - Present
    Little River, California, Us
    Consultancy, advice, sanity-checking, business & commercial development for the video-games industry.
  • Magnetik Gameworks
    Advisor
    Magnetik Gameworks Feb 2024 - Present
    Pleasant Hill, Ca, Us
    Leadership and strategy to drive product vision and manage teams.Deep technical knowledge paired with a customer-focused mindset.Experience with developer platforms and understanding of the software development lifecycle.Strategic thinking to connect customer use cases to technology solutions.Problem-solving skills to tackle technical and strategic challenges.
  • Midwest Games
    Technology Advisor
    Midwest Games Aug 2023 - Present
    Green Bay, Wisconsin, Us
    Providing professional expertise, advocacy and industry insider support for the business.
  • Accelbyte Inc
    Advisor
    Accelbyte Inc Aug 2019 - Present
    Bellevue, Wa, Us
    ● Providing strategic advice regarding the Company’s business and operations;● Facilitating introductions to potential strategic partners, investors, and clients/customers;● Mentoring executive team● Participating in hiring key personnel
  • Striking Distance Studios
    Chief Technology Officer
    Striking Distance Studios Sep 2019 - Jun 2023
    San Ramon, Ca, Us
    - Overseeing the long-term direction regarding technology development and operations for the studio- Implementing standards to improve technical team’s costs and operations as effectively as possible.- Owning the future vision, current engineering processes and technical standards for the studio across multiple technology domains including platform, game technology, data, and infrastructure. - Supporting the needs of game and product teams at a technical level, and translating those needs into capabilities and practices that empower efficient and cost-effective delivery and operations of products for players.
  • 2K
    Vice President , Technology
    2K Mar 2016 - Aug 2019
    Novato, California, Us
    Partnered directly with leadership teams across publishing and studios , helping them define and implement technology strategies required to deliver top quality games. In this period this resulted in 26 products on 8 platforms across 12 studios contributing to over $1.7B in sales. - Identified the tools and processes required across multiple projects and studios delivering a workbench of products and pipelines used across multiple million dollar franchises - Improved the analysis of technical design through milestone procedures influencing and approving overall technology investment. - Identified advances in technology and proposed new innovations that will benefit 2k Products now and in the future, including new platform technology and other emerging software development innovations.- Drove 2K technology and middleware contracts resulting in million dollar savings across the label.- Built a core technology team to create evolving infrastructure to be used across games and platforms resulting in a successful D2C platform and a backend service supporting multiple client platforms
  • 2K
    Director Of Technology
    2K Dec 2014 - Mar 2016
    Novato, California, Us
    Restructured the Core Technology department to improve product quality across the 2k portfolio by building a team of high quality individual contributors that advised and directed 2K studios technical investment. In this period 2k products delivered average 80+ metacritic across multiple franchises and platforms. Defined the technical milestone deliverables for 2k products providing consistent deliverables across internal and external studios. This included creating the technical due diligence template used to sign new studios to the label. Work with studios throughout the product lifecycle to ensure effective progress on all technical aspects of development- Direct a team of senior technology specialists- Manage scheduling and production on Core Tech software development projects.- Plan tactical responses to shifts in the technical landscape- Perform technical due diligence for tactical business opportunities- Coordinate the technical aspects of relationships with partners such as console first parties, hardware & software vendors
  • Doubleme, Inc.
    Interim Cco (Chief Content Officer)
    Doubleme, Inc. Sep 2014 - Dec 2014
    Seoul, Kr
    Providing creative direction, production validation, and games industry insights.
  • Zynga
    Apple Partner Director
    Zynga Jun 2013 - Jan 2014
    San Francisco, California, Us
    Brought my experience in partner relations to improve Zynga's failing relationship with their primary platform partner. This newly formed publishing role was multifaceted covering operational as well as strategic management of the account. In this period I was responsible for planning the release of all Zynga’s games on iOS and Mac App stores I championed Apple key initiatives at Zynga including game controller support , cross platform play and toys to life with great success measured by multiple high level app store features and accolades.- Responsible for the overall partner relationship, including: strategic planning, revenue growth targets and all operations necessary to profitably retain, grow and service the customer.- Managed all product launches and updates for the company on Apple Platforms.- Improved communication of Apple opportunities and needs across Production, Operations and Marketing teams.- Achieved 9 App Store Featured titles driving the highest install rate on iOS and Mac in Zynga's history. - Delivered on the first app store best of year on both Mac and iPhone in the same week.
  • Lucasarts
    Platform Technology Director
    Lucasarts Sep 2011 - Jun 2013
    San Francisco, Ca, Us
    Directed the investment in new games platform technology across Lucasarts and Lucasfilm from provisioning early development hardware to building frameworks for the creation of products. Created an online services technology plan for adoption in all future Lucasarts products that shared progress across multiple titles. This system also powered websites such as starwars.com and lucasarts.com with a shared identity and profile.- Develop and champion technical strategy for platform usage across multiple teams and titles- Communicate and report on industry trends, including creating an industry roadmap- Primary technical contact for first party, vendors, and partners - Responsible for strategic technology investment in platforms, copy protection, anti-piracy measures, digital distribution and middleware licensing.- Built consistent procedures and a common decision making strategy in product development at a corporate level. - Built proposals for new business opportunities, product designs, and development relationships.
  • Lucasarts
    External Technical Director
    Lucasarts Feb 2008 - Sep 2011
    San Francisco, Ca, Us
    Utilized my extensive product knowledge to direct all of Lucasarts externally developed titles . Brought a deep technical knowledge across all game development platforms and the ability to work well with different external teams to deliver quality results. Expert consultant for Lucasfilm in areas such as cloud computing, online community integration and multi-platform services. Provided developer assessment across multiple products for acquisition. • Advise the company as a whole on issues concerning general project status and strategy for technology investment• Provide hands-on programming expertise for the purposes of profiling code performance, reviewing code at the developer, building and approving project archives, etc.• Assess areas of technical risk affecting product quality and timeliness.• Provide insight into the feasibility of engineering team schedules and provide workable solutions, as appropriate
  • Vivendi
    Technical Director
    Vivendi Sep 2006 - Jan 2008
    Paris, Fr
    Managed all technical direction for both internal and external development for the Sierra label in Europe, including 2 internal studios and 8 external products. Developed a relationship with all 1st Parties and middleware providers including a position on the PS3 Advisory panel to further improve developer support from Sony.• Positively influence the quality of developed product, by providing technical oversight to projects in development• Evaluate developer capabilities and competency, project proposals and development plans, milestone schedules and technical specifications. • Assist in building proposals for new business opportunities, product proposals, and development relationships
  • Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
    European Account Manager
    Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Sep 2002 - Aug 2006
    San Mateo, California, Us
    Handled publishing accounts with European internal development studios such as Sega, Eidos, Codemasters, THQ and Rockstar. Managed over 200 independent developers and middleware companies across all Sony platforms giving me a vast insight into different game production processes across all studios.Presented at IDGA chapters and local business development meetings to encourage Playstation development in new regions. Awarded special recognition by the president of SCE in a ceremony in Tokyo for my work in bringing independent developers to the PS3 platform.• Focused on delivering external development on PlayStation platforms.• Product evangelism of PlayStation family as the development platform of choice..• Contribute to change management of Third Party Relations in line with changing business strategies. Align software product development to meet these goals.• Advisory role to VP, Publisher and Developer Relations to meet demands in the community.
  • Silicon Dreams
    Lead Programmer
    Silicon Dreams Oct 1999 - Sep 2002
    - Organized deliverables for a large programming team and managed tasks across multiple platforms- Provided technical guidance in product status meetings- Influenced direction of libraries and general programming standards.
  • Binary Asylum
    Software Engineer
    Binary Asylum Sep 1996 - Sep 1999
    - Designed and implemented a Resource Management System, game mission compiler and in-game model compilation tools be used across all products.- Responsible for all artificial intelligence programming on the project "Star Trek : New Worlds"
  • Microprose
    Lead Programmer
    Microprose Mar 1992 - Jul 1997
    Paterson , Nsw, Au
    - Contributed to defining departmental budget requirements and the role of software engineering within the development process.- Conducted approval and technical guidance for external project teams.- Lead Engineer and Lead Producer role on the game "Citizens"- Ported PC titles to Amiga ( Gunship 2000 and F117A Stealth Fighter) using a newly created library for porting PC titles from Microprose USA.- Completed Research and development new 3D engine and PC libraryTitles Shipped in this period - Gunship 2000 (Amiga), F117A (Amiga), Citizens (PC)
  • Gec Avionics
    Software Engineer
    Gec Avionics May 1991 - Feb 1992
    - Completed firmware for 68000 based interface card to test systems on the Eurofighter- Engineering support roles on Orion Bus tester software- Windows front end for European fighter aircraft bus tester in ‘C’ and PASCAL
  • Gec Avionics
    Trainee Software Engineer
    Gec Avionics Oct 1989 - May 1991
    Worked on mission planning system using ‘C’ on a Sun Sparc station to produce weather display modules and 3D representation of 2D data
  • Gec Avionics
    Apprentice Electronics Technician
    Gec Avionics Sep 1985 - Oct 1989
    - Training in product testing, test engineering and quality assurance- Specialized in applications software engineering and wrote test programs using automatic test equipment application languages

Mark James Skills

Game Development Video Games Game Design Console Computer Games Mobile Games Gameplay Technology Cross Platform Development Monetization Developer Relations Software Development Business Development Product Management Business Strategy C++ Game Programming Quality Assurance Technical Leadership Multiplayer Technical Documentation User Experience Due Diligence Management Creative Strategy Strategic Planning Ps3 Xbox 360 Wii Online Gaming Mmo Casual Games Process Scheduler Social Games Platforms Perforce Scrum Psp Mobile Applications Platform Technology Leadership Localization Ios Iphone Xbox Gaming Relationship Management Game Mechanics Unity3d Software As A Service

Mark James Education Details

  • Open University
    Open University
    Software Project Management
  • Mid-Kent College Of Higher And Further Education
    Mid-Kent College Of Higher And Further Education
    Electronic Engineering
  • Chatham South Secondary School
    Chatham South Secondary School

Frequently Asked Questions about Mark James

What company does Mark James work for?

Mark James works for Bottled Lightning Studios

What is Mark James's role at the current company?

Mark James's current role is CEO and Founder.

What is Mark James's email address?

Mark James's email address is ji****@****ail.com

What is Mark James's direct phone number?

Mark James's direct phone number is +141056*****

What schools did Mark James attend?

Mark James attended Open University, Mid-Kent College Of Higher And Further Education, Chatham South Secondary School.

What are some of Mark James's interests?

Mark James has interest in New Technology, Environment, Education, Science And Technology, Mashups, Human Rights, Video Game Design.

What skills is Mark James known for?

Mark James has skills like Game Development, Video Games, Game Design, Console, Computer Games, Mobile Games, Gameplay, Technology, Cross Platform Development, Monetization, Developer Relations, Software Development.

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