PROJECTS
From my early days as a Community Manager to the later roles as a Producer, I've been fortunate to work on some great titles both created externally and internally. Here's a collection of just a few of them
Latest Projects
GUITAR HERO LIVE: Running a 24/7 GHTV service
I joined Freestyle Games to help build out a solid live operations team and process to manage an innovative new feature to the Guitar Hero franchise, GHTV. This always on, content on demand, streaming media service was a first for the brand and allowed the team to produce & release new content for customers on a weekly basis. With a solid toolset behind this, a roadmap of content and releases to produce, plus a set of processes to follow once live, a full service platform was developed in collaboration with other studios, and released on time and to budget. Business needs were catered too from CRM, CS and analytics teams, as well as development needs supported so designers could iterate and test balance, play with new features and tweak for release, plus content creators could push new content through a solid test process system with automated testing and verification processes.
SEGA Games as a Service: Building centralised services for studios
I joined the Sega Europe team to help drive a program of central game services that helped individual game studios with key services that supported their own game development needs. Working with a small team of developers, my job was to ensure we tracked the needs of our customers and kept that in line with our own development trajectory as the central platform grew.
ASSASSIN'S CREED MULTIPLAYER: Supporting the new generation of live service
Joining Ubisoft in 2013, I was brought into the multiplayer studio to help build out and grow a live service mentality for Assassin's Creed and potentially to other brands with the transition to the new generation of console. Bringing experience and learnings from PC MMOs, there was a drive to add more engagement to titles, as well as provide a solid game service to the playerbase. I built a live team in Annecy that supported the AC multiplayer and created a solid roadmap of content to deliver and meet key goals. Within this remit, the team investigated other opportunities to further drive engagement, build on monetisation strategies and prototyped ideas.
In addition, I managed external teams that were building supporting solutions to the AC multiplayer, including a team in Quebec developing the mobile companion app and a team in Kiev that were working on the PC build and features
LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE: One of the many MMOs that came under my remit within the Online Studio
As one of the founders of the Codemasters Online Studio, this uniique and new business unit was set up to cater to the new influx of online titles, building its infrastructure on MMO technology that was later to be shared with consoles and mobile titles.
Titles that I worked on include RF Online, Archlord, Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online. These MMOs were brought to europe and the west by the team at Codemasters Online with a full publishing, game services and operations all handled in house. Working directly with the development teams, the studio offered continous game localisation, QA and territory specific game direction as part of the games' evolution. In addition, full post launch support was offered with game server support, regular game updates, 24/7 network operations monitoring, security as well as an ongoing service platform growth that allowed for full account managment, CRM support and business analytics.
During this period, I worked on other MMO developments and handheld casual titles, as well as developing the Unity driven F1 Online browser and mobile title.
Prior to this I also worked on Codemasters other titles including Operation Flashpoint, IGI 2, Colin McRae Rally, TOCA, LMA Manager, Perimeter, Soldiers, Second Sight, Overlord amongst others
Testimonials
"I worked with Michael on AC4 multiplayer for about 18 months. He was able to assemble and manage a full Live Team from scratch with a true service mentality. As a Live Producer, his problem-solving abilities as well as his result-oriented mindset proved to be very helpful – he managed to distribute information efficiently & collaborate with various teams and studios while always keeping the project’s interests in mind. As a manager, Michael’s ability to motivate, as well as his open-mindedness make him a great person to work with.
I’d recommended him for any Production position in the video games industry."
Etienne Michon, Lifecycle & Analytics Manager - Assassin's Creed Brand at Ubisoft
“Mike is a solid Producer who I have relied on in times of crisis to keep a level head and know where to find answers. He's successfully facilitated communications and maintained schedules between the game teams and service providers, ensuring the project ran as smoothly as possible. He treats all areas he's involved in with professionalism and dedication.
Mike remains positive in times of change and uncertainty and has been the social centerpiece for the team. I highly recommend Mike and would welcome the opportunity to work with him again.”
Rob Elser, Executive Producer - Codemasters