Shared values, purpose, and trust are required to create an environment that cultivates creativity and innovation
Strong teams that learn and evolve over time are more valuable than individual products or ideas
The global community of gamers can be a force for good
Reimagine the studio model by empowering studios to establish independent identities, voices, and cultures
Create vibrant worlds that reflect our values
Take the chances that most big publishers won't and many smaller studios aren't always able to
Provide a safe place where developers, creators, and players can connect in meaningful ways
Create games that we would be proud to share with our families and the world
Dreamhaven empowers agile studios to focus on their craft and bring their ideas to life, providing support and resources over the long term. Our teams have the freedom and flexibility to express their individuality through their games in their own unique voices. Take a closer look at our first two studios...
We are a group of friends with a passion for games. Together, we have launched numerous large scale games and projects. We have felt our hearts lifted by the communities that have formed around our games, and have also huddled to come up with solutions when things went wrong. And together, we have come to understand it is about the journey and not the destination.
This is just the beginning. We believe the strongest teams not only have aligned values and trust, but also have diverse backgrounds and experiences. We are seeking more friends and colleagues who have seen the world through different lenses and will bring additional perspectives. Our company and the games we make will be better for it.
Alan's passion for technology and games led to a 25 year career at Blizzard Entertainment where he helped develop several critically acclaimed titles such as Warcraft III, StarCraft II, and Heroes of the Storm. His journey has included both technical and game direction, and he's had the honor of leading teams both small and large. He's incredibly excited to start this new chapter with some pretty awesome people.
I guess if I had saved all the quarters I pumped into Street Fighter II at the arcade, I'd have a lot more money today. But then I wouldn't be as good with Blanka, so I think it was worth it.
In 2008, months before the financial crisis, Aleks had the choice of taking a software engineering role at a fintech company or to begin a career in Business Intelligence. His wife chose wisely, and after 3 years in the retail sector, serendipitously he landed a dream job at Blizzard Entertainment. At Blizzard, Aleks worked with giants of the industry, standing up analytics products for Hearthstone, Overwatch, Diablo 4, and other really cool stuff.
Aleks will not keep talking about the fact he was one of the 40 people to kill Ragnaros the Firelord for the first time in the world. What he omits to mention is that despite 25 years of pc gaming experience, he can no longer beat his 10-year-old son in Super Smash Bros. He also often forgets to mention his dogged but fruitless pursuit of the Gladiator title. But despite his often competitive nature, he most enjoys "wasting" his time on silly games with even sillier friends.
Alex started his career building interactive advertisements and distributed systems that powered user acquisition for some of the biggest apps of the time. He felt a calling to work on creative projects and joined Wizards of the Coast where he helped build the platform that powers accounts and commerce for Magic: The Gathering Arena and Magic Spellslingers. His gaming industry journey continues with adventures at Singularity 6, ProbablyMonsters, and now Dreamhaven.
Games: Diablo II, Children of Morta, Hades, Harvest Moon, Overwatch, Apex Legends
Movies: The Princess Bride, Tombstone, Star Wars, Onward
Books: The Hobbit, The Wheel of Time, Most of Sanderson's work.
Hobbies: Beer league hockey, homebrewing (my wife is a great brewmaster), hiking the PNW
Favorite Quote: "You mean you'll put down your rock and I'll put down my sword, and we'll try and kill each other like civilized people?"
After immigrating to the USA, Ali began working as a Functional QA Tester at Activision Publishing. As long-time fan of the Call of Duty series, working on the franchise was a dream come true. In the years since, he has led QA testing efforts across several AAA titles in Minnesota and Texas, winning multiple company awards along the way by championing and empowering his colleagues, and innovating new processes. Ali believes in building an inclusive work environment and is excited to collaborate with the talented team at Dreamhaven.
Things I enjoy: Collecting vinyl and weird pop art, following combat sports, playing fighting games
Record: Bengal Sound - Culture Clash
Favorite label: Juan Forte. Great selection and fun artwork
Fighting game of choice: Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, I love the chaos and pretty colors
Goals: Finishing books I purchase, learning more about automation and building helpful tools, learning Spanish, figuring out coffee
Born and raised in Uganda, East Africa. Alvin's obsession with storytelling and entertainment led him to immigrate into the United States in pursuit of one day joining the entertainment industry. Alvin has worked as Art Lead, Animation Director, Cinematic Director and Animator at companies such as Meta, Blizzard, Vicarious Visions, Fox and 2K games. Alvin believes that if you surround yourself with great and humble people, and submit yourself fully and openly to trust and collaborate, there is nothing that you cannot achieve together!!
Favorite Quote: ”..Your favorite food is something that you once tried for the first time..”
Favorite Game: Metal Gear Solid
Favorite Books: What Every Body Is Saying by Joe Navarro and Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmul
Favorite Outdoor Activity: Soccer!!! But really I call it football.
During her two-decade career in gaming, Amy has held leadership roles on StarCraft II, Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft in China, and Blizzard’s Global Esports teams. She is passionate about building & fostering communities. And believes that gaming brings together an exceptional community of creators, competitors and players that connect across geographies, languages, and beliefs, to accomplish amazing feats and be a part of something much larger.
Favorite game of all time: StarCraft II
First completed game: Legend of Zelda
Hobbies: Board games, playing pretend, cooking/baking
Also loves: Any time spent with family and friends, travel adventures, dinner parties
Andy's 20-year trajectory at Blizzard started as a QA intern on Diablo II. He joined full time as a founding member of the Battle.net team before shifting to gameplay for Warcraft III and StarCraft II. He led gameplay engineering for Heroes of the Storm and directed all engineering for Warcraft Arcade Rumble. He's happiest when learning new things, solving interesting problems, and empowering colleagues to make games more easily.
Favorite Ships: Colonial Viper Mk II, B-Wing, USS Defiant, Sulaco, Normandy SR-2
Favorite Authors: John Scalzi, V.E. Schwab, Alastair Reynolds
Favorite Star Wars Movies: The Last Jedi, Rogue One, Return of the Jedi
Favorite Lego Sets: Voltron, Helicarrier, Tantive IV, A-Wing
When baby Ann received an NES, her life changed forever. After countless hours of Super Mario 3, Bust a Groove, and Final Fantasy VIII, she transformed her passion into a career. Over the next 20 years, she contributed to category-defining brands including Blizzard, Riot Games, and Rivian Automotive (with a brief side-quest at Southern California Edison). She uses the power of storytelling to build authentic, mission-focused cultures—where teams aren’t just making fun; they’re //having fun// too.
Niche Interest: Searching for the perfect egg cream soda
Will Argue About: The Virginia opossum’s rightful place on the Cute Animal HierarchyTM
Useless Superpower: Spotting celebrity doppelgängers
Anne-Sophie originally started her career as a Web Designer. After a couple of years, she decided to change her career path and became a Software Engineer. She has spent the last 16 years in the video game industry working on Starcraft II, Diablo III and IV at Blizzard Entertainment. Her passion for programming led her to work on user interface, server development, tools and game play.
Hobbies: Spending time with my son, playing board games, being outside, enjoying nature, hiking and eating good food.
Fun fact: I learned how to sew and was making my own cloths before my son was born.
Mission: Still searching for the best French pastries in California.
Favorite food: Crepes (sweet or salted)
Audrey has been entrenched in gaming of all kinds growing up and decided to attend college studying game design. She's led game clubs, participated in collegiate esports, competed in games semi-professionally, started a career as an esports broadcaster, and helped grow diverse representation in those areas. Now, freshly out of graduate school, Audrey is excited that her first step into the game dev industry is with Secret Door.
Interests: Esports, hiking/kayaking, reading fantasy or dystopian novels, breakfast food, cats, and collecting board games
Favorite Games: PUBG, Don't Starve Together, D&D, and Betrayal at the House on the Hill
D&D Class: Monk
Ben has been developing software for over 10 years and always knew he wanted to work in video games. After joining Riot Games, he collaborated with teams across the company ranging from Player Support, Infrastructure, and Finance. He specializes in data engineering, with a passion for empowering analysts to foster positive experiences for players. He sees video games as a force for good, and feels a responsibility to protect the virtual worlds that connect people.
Hobbies: record hunting, traveling and eating delicious food, live music events (IRL and VR), getting outdoors for hiking, biking, paddleboarding, and camping
Video Games: Bemani Rhythm Games (DDR, Sound Voltex), League of Legends, RuneScape
Board Games: Dominion, Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne
Freshly imported from Canada like a sack of Yukon Gold Potatoes, Betty has over 8 years of experience in both the game and animation industry. Her passion for games was initially sparked by her obsession for Runescape. From Runescape to Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid to Deadspace, Dead Space to you get the point, Betty has never stopped loving games. She specializes in character and prop design, and dabbles with illustration on the side.
Hobbies: Mycology, betta fish mutations, her bunnies, Tim Hortons, and falling asleep half way through any movies
Favourite Games: Deadspace, Metal Gear Solid 1-3, Darkest Dungeon, Patapon
Pets: Two Bunnies, Bun and Chancho. One day hope to adopt the ugliest Chihuahua you can ever imagine and name them Bubbles
Brandon has been creating experiences for different platforms for 10 years - whether it's a phone, a console, or even public spaces. Getting his start working on events and platform in Philadelphia, he's made his way across the US to work with people of all different disciplines. He values technical polish, game feel, and growing teams to realize their true potential.
Hobbies: hiking, biking, music, board games
Like: Philadelphia sports
Dislikes: Philadelphia sports
With over 10 years in the industry, Bree started her career at Obsidian Entertainment as an artist on projects such as Dungeon Siege III and South Park: The Stick of Truth. At Blizzard, Bree led efforts across internal and external art development on Hearthstone as their outsource manager. It is Bree's belief that at the heart of every great game is an even greater team, and she is absolutely delighted to be at Moonshot.
Loves: Coffee, cooking, gaming, traveling & planning travel for others, camping, reading, pottery, making fancy cocktails, spoiling my pups and husband, and 50+ house plants
Favorite local restaurants: 242 Sushi, Heritage BBQ, Vaca, and Centro
Longest hours spent on any game: Star Wars Galaxies, Counter Strike 1.6 & Source
Role queue: Damage, support(ish)
Brian's deep fascination with games began while touring the mines of Narshe, but didn't really solidify until his university years spent abroad in Norrath. He knew at this point that online games were his future. Since joining the industry, he has helped launch and service 7 MMORPGs and 3 online competitive games. Brian’s passion for online games focuses on ensuring a truly amazing player experience both inside and outside of the game.
Knoxxer
Purveyor of Infinite Hobbies: from overlanding to BBQ to lifting to golf to travel, he is never one to turn down an adventure that lets him gear up
Consumer of All Media: regardless of format - for the engaging characters, worlds, and communities that are uncovered
Arcana: StrengthRank 6: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Calex is a passionate gamer, having explored game development since he was young. He spent his time in university as an officer of the campus game development club (GDA), competing on the collegiate Overwatch team, interning at Meta developing VR tools, and working on a variety of indie games. Having recently graduated from university, Calex is excited use his unique perspective and experience to grow and work alongside the team on Moonshot's first game.
^ First gift my girlfriend gave me. What a chonker!
Fun Facts: I don't know how to cook (I just guess all the recipes).
Hobbies: cooking, gaming (of course), reading, taking walks, collecting plush animals, 3D printing cool stuff
Favorite Games: Overwatch (support and tank), Warframe (8k hours and counting!), Minecraft, Pikmin, Risk of Rain 2, Duck Game
Calia kick-started her video game career when she tackled the project management of the technology and infrastructure expansion to support the launch of Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls. She then joined the World of Warcraft team and honed her passion for delivering particularly complicated projects on-time and within budget. While Calia still considers herself to be somewhat of a casual player, her Overcooked scores would put anyone to shame!
Favorite games of all time: A tie between Theme Hospital and The Dig
Career highlight (so far): Being the primary Game Producer for WoW Classic
Hobbies: Reading, cooking, embroidering, gaming, gardening, and woodworking
Other loves: My family. Sleeping. Food. ALL animals, but especially beagles.
Cat began her career working at the Bureau of Labor Statistics before realizing that statistical analysis is much more interesting when the data source is a video game. She has spent the past decade in analytics, data science, game economics, and product at a myriad of gaming companies including S2 Games, Carbine, Epic, and Blizzard. She is excited to help the great people at Dreamhaven make great games, so that she can play those too!
Too many interests, too little time! Hiking with the pup, gardening, reading, writing, and cooking are just some of the things that fill Cat's time outside of work and gaming. She is going to be building a ceramics studio at her new house in the near future, so that she can return to her one true love—making mugs with icons from her favorite video games on them.
Making software has been a passion of Chad's for over a decade. A game developer generalist, Chad has worked on everything from web servers to graphics engines. In that time he has helped creatives bring their visions to life on games like Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, and more. He believes that teams that value transparency, respect, and diversity create the best games.
First Game Created: PvP tank simulator on the TI-84 calculator
D&D Class: Wizard, and sometimes Cleric
Favorite Beer: Ballast Point's Grapefruit Sculpin IPA
Hobbies: Writing D&D adventures, playing drums (poorly), and playing shooty shooty pew pew video games
Chaïna has worked as an engineer in the data world for the past decade and helped build data tools and products at companies like Apple, Facebook, and Netflix. Her passion for the entertainment world ignited when she joined Netflix and she is now excited to enter the dynamic gaming world, where analytics meet entertainment. Games, to her, encompass the dimensions of social bonds, crafted entertainment, and immersive device experiences, the three key dimensions she’s worked in. She looks forward to contributing to game creation!
She lives a simple life outside of work. She enjoys outdoor adventures with family and friends such as mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, camping, skiing, and exploring new places. Learning keeps her life interesting and she likes to expand her horizons through reading, crafting, or simply discovering different perspectives on life. Oh, and she is also addicted to good quality dark chocolate!
A veteran of the video game industry, Chris has overseen the development of several award-winning video games including Warcraft III, StarCraft II, Heroes of the Storm, and Hearthstone. Chris’s goal is to link arms with passionate developers to craft game experiences that bring players together and create positivity in the world.
Receiving the Wookie life pledge was the highlight of a recent trip to Disneyland. The original Star Wars movies probably had the most influence on turning Chris into the fantasy, science fiction, and D&D nerd that he is.
Since watching the gameplay reveal of Destiny, Clay has dreamed of recreating that magical feeling. He joined EA as a marketing intern in the Summer of 2018 and has never looked back. Throughout his career working on a wide variety of games and IP, he’s established a solution oriented mindset with a knack for developing and refining processes. He hopes to build a passionate, respectful, and collaborative team that continues to push the industry forward.
Clay’s a born-and-raised Texan, now California transplant. When he’s not yelling at the TV about Oklahoma Sooner football, he invests in his growing candle collection with the goal of curating the most cozy ambiance possible. He’s also a solo world traveler, a burger enthusiast, an amateur graphic designer, a Transistor evangelist, a newfound fan of anime, and an aspiring Schnauzer owner.
Although Colton is a recent addition to the gaming industry, Colton has lived and breathed video games ever since he could remember. Coming from a background in a handful of tech startups in Canada, Colton previously worked on creating Marvel and Disney games and is now more excited than ever to be on the Secret Door team and to build great games with great people.
Pet: Cleo (Frenchie)
Games: RuneScape, Hearts of Iron IV, League of Legends
Authors: Brandon Sanderson, Isaac Asimov
Movies: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Avengers: Infinity War
D&D Class: Warlock (+Artificer multiclass)
Since 2016, Daniel has supported AAA and indy releases across a variety of platforms, crafting audio experiences for games such as Smite, Brawlhalla, Samurai Jack, and Star Wars The Old Republic. His passion for gaming is second only to his desire to engage listeners in a unique world of sound. From demolishing objects in the foley room, to making the tiniest of knob adjustments, Daniel loves the process of shaping an audio palette from concept, to iteration, to in-game.
Likes: Choral music, karaoke, cats, board games, lunch with my wife, discussing movies, tv and politics ad nauseam, classic pearl milk tea (0% sugar, no ice)
Dislikes: Motion sickness, wobbly chairs, uneven surfaces, cilantro
Games: Streetfighter, CvS2, MvC2, Destiny 2, Puzzles and Dragons, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Persona, Diablo
Beginning their career in event production for comic cons and more, Dany transitioned into the gaming industry on the agency side before joining Riot Games to work on campaigns for League, VALORANT, TFT and Riot Forge. Their passion for storytelling and inclusivity in game marketing is only matched by their love of a crisp spreadsheet.
I have a goofy, floofy cat, Captain Bonnet, who knows how to fetch. I shoot photography, do aerial & strength training, love theater and live entertainment, listen primarily to death metal and go out dancing whenever I can. I know an embarrassing amount of Dragon Age lore and own 3 different versions of the original FF7. I also cosplay sometimes!
With a 30-year career art directing, most notably on the Red Dead Redemption franchise, Daren recently spent five years working in the mixed reality medium at Magic Leap where he saw a glimpse into the future of technology. He has also contributed traditional illustrations to Hearthstone, Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, and Pathfinder, among others. Daren now finds himself in the enviable position of working with an extremely talented and passionate group of game developers at Dreamhaven.
Fun facts: I have a massive art book collection. My first concert was Rush for the Moving Pictures tour. I went to Kenya in 2019 and I haven't been the same since. I can't wait to get back!
Pointless facts: My resting face is a scowl. I am barefoot 95% of the time. Food is my weakness. Especially sushi. And desserts. Even cereal. And vegetables.
Dave's career has always centered around sound as a musician, studio engineer, and teacher, but as a lifelong gamer, a transition to interactive was inevitable. In 2014, he joined tech startup Magic Leap as their first "Sonic Artist," helping design the future of mixed reality and launch their groundbreaking device. Most recently, he’s been working on the magical battle royale "Spellbreak," and is thrilled to join such Moonshot to help bring the world of their new game to life through sound.
Hobbies: Free time mostly ends up in dad-mode with our two sets of twins (yup!), but I love playing with new and old technology (guitar pedals, synthesizers, cameras, etc), eating delicious BBQ and tex-mex with my wife, and supporting our new hometown club Austin FC!
Favorite Music: Radiohead, The Beatles, Radiohead, Rush, Radiohead...
Favorite Games: SNES-era Square RPGs, the Uncharted series, Destiny 2, The Division 2, Outer Wilds
Ever since David held an NES controller as a kid, he's had a passion for video games. He started his video game career at BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment where he was a part of either QA or Release Management for dozens of amazing titles. From there, he shifted to Riot Forge where he was the Release Manager for all six games while getting the opportunity to work with incredible development teams.
Favorite Video Games: Diablo II, GTA IV, Elden Ring
Favorite Hobby Game: Robo Rally
Favorite Place I've Visited: Japan (Tokyo & Kyoto)
Favorite Pet: Rocky (Chihuahua-Terrier). OK, he’s my only pet, but that still counts.
Other Interests: Hiking, painting, ceramics.
With over 15 years designing and implementing user interfaces, Derek has helped shape the UX for World of Warcraft and Hearthstone. He believes UI can bridge art, design, engineering, and the player to help make a fun experience. He's humbled by the passion, dedication, and positive energy of gamers from around the world. In addition to UI design, he's passionate about promoting a positive and joyful team culture.
Strengths: Dad jokes, jack of all trades, doing things without thinking, Pokemon puzzle league
Weaknesses: Dancing, pastries
Favorite Restaurants: Alinea, Shibucho, Panda Express
Favorite Bakeries: Porto’s, Cream Pan, Paderia
Drew grew up playing every game console on the market and quickly found his passion for PC gaming with Counter Strike and Starcraft. He moved from Ohio to California to pursue his dreams of working in gaming and technology at Blizzard Entertainment and Riot Games. Drew brings well over a decade of backend platform experience and cannot wait to help build the next great thing at Dreamhaven.
Huge dog lover. My cardigan corgi Reggie has been in my family over 10 years. I love outdoor hiking and lounging at the beach. My favorite food is pizza that does not have pineapple on it.
With twenty-five years' experience, Dustin has contributed to design and game direction on a variety of cool games, including StarCraft II, Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings, Command & Conquer, and Mechwarrior 2. Dustin believes great teams make great games and people should be creatively empowered and encouraged to try new things. Experiment and thrill in the joy of creation. Everyone is a game maker.
Hobbies: Baking, Dungeon Master. I am not really getting better at either and I have given up trying to improve, but I love them both.
Secret Shame: I have seen the movie Starship Troopers several hundred times. Whether you think Starship Troopers is a fine example of artistic cinema or not, you must admit, that is too many times.
Eddie is an avid gamer and a storyteller at heart. His first leap into the industry was at Riot Games where he worked on marketing campaigns and trailers for League of Legends and VALORANT. Since then he lived the agency life where he had the great opportunity to bring campaigns for various AAA titles to life. He believes that the best marketing creates both a cohesive and fun experience for players.
Aside from clicking heads in FPS games or out T-spinning his opponents in Tetris, you’ll most likely spot him rock climbing or gorging himself with spicy food and/or fried chicken.
Ever since her early days raid leading in World of Warcraft, Erin has been passionate about supporting and guiding teams towards their goals. From leading esports initiatives at Blizzard Entertainment, to launching Sony PlayStation's streaming technology, to working on AAA titles at Insomniac Games, she’s seen many sides of the game industry across her project management career. She thrives on solving tough problems and building collaborative spaces that enable everyone to bring their very best.
Pets: 3 fluffy cats, Aloy, Laszlo, and Nyx
Passions and Hobbies: Public speaking and early career mentorship, Dungeons & Dragons, theme parks, dance music, pinball, tattoos, multiplayer gaming, and her kitties
Favorite Games: Final Fantasy VII, Crash Bandicoot, World of Warcraft, Phasmophobia, Dead by Daylight, Overwatch, and most recently, the Disney Lorcana TCG
Erin has been an HR leader for more than a decade and believes people are the heart of any company. She works hard to build trust with her colleagues and geeks out on organizational behavior, psychology, and analytics. She built out multiple teams across different disciplines while at Blizzard Entertainment and Surefoot and loves onboarding new colleagues, coaching high performing teams, and cultivating an inclusive culture.
Pets: Willie (pug), Charlie (boxer)
Favorite pastime: Singing Adele at the top of my lungs
Favorite restaurants: Cafe Gazelle and Christakis
Favorite emoji:
Erin decided to set her sights on a career in video games when incorrectly concluding that making games is probably like Dungeon Mastering. She fell in love with production while leading a team of fellow students to publish their first game, Hollowed. Her experience spans from small, scrappy teams to huge AAA endeavors including Madden and League of Legends: Wild Rift. No matter the team size, she believes in promoting a flexible mindset and inclusive culture.
Personality Trait: I was not born with a whole lot of natural talent…but I work hard, and I never give up.
Ideal: Aspiration. To become Hokage is my dream!
Bond: Those who break the rules are scum…but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.
Flaw: I Like ramen. I hate the three-minute wait while the water boils.
As a lover of music, art, and technology, Fiona is passionate about bringing these together in video games. She's worked as an intern at several companies, ranging from front end work at Apple to writing shaders at Valve. Most recently, Fiona worked as a gameplay engineering intern at Blizzard and is excited to continue making meaningful games and explore different fields of engineering at Secret Door.
Fun Facts: I’ve played violin for over 12 years and love playing both classical and jazz electric violin. I also love video game music—I have 3000+ hours of game OSTs on my computer
Hobbies: Asian food, watching pretty sunsets, drawing, music, and binge-watching anime
Favorite Games: Hollow Knight, Ori, Hades, and a bunch of Nintendo games
Fuzzy has been interested in game development since he was a kid getting his NES on his 5th birthday. He quickly discovered he had a knack for tinkering and diving deep into software and electronics. This blossomed in a life and career focusing on game development tooling and product quality. Fuzzy has worked at PopCap Games and spent a large part of his career working on the Lumberyard & O3DE game engines.
Fuzzy loves both nature and technology. In his free time, he balances his time as a Starfighter pilot in Star Wars Squadrons, riding bicycles up mountains for 100+ miles to eat pie, tinkering with Arduino, DIY home improvements, making his wife laugh, and being the best dog dad he can be to his dogs Barry Allen and Frankie.
Since childhood, Geoff has loved playing video games where he could craft meaningful experiences with his friends. Now, this love has translated into a desire to give back by helping create fun games that bring people together. After graduating from UC Irvine, Geoff spent his 7-year career at Blizzard developing game systems on various teams such as Heroes, Diablo IV, and the Unannounced Survival Game.
I'm an adventure-seeker through and through. I like long scenic hikes, climbing rocks, surfing, camping...pretty much anything out into nature.
This selfie was taken on top of the tallest peak in Norway, Galdhøpiggen.
My D&D group has been adventuring every week consistently for 6+ years
Fun fact: I've been a vegetarian my whole life!
Fifteen years ago, Gina dreamed about one day working in the gaming industry. Her career journey has taken her to multiple entertainment companies, including Disney, NBC-Universal, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. Eventually, her dream was realized as she supported talent acquisition for AAA studios such as Netherrealm, Monolith, Disney Interactive, and Blizzard Entertainment.
Gina’s been obsessed with video games since childhood. Her parents would hide her SNES system, but Gina and her sister would find it every time to sneak in a few rounds of Mario Kart before their parents came home. She also enjoyed PC gaming at a young age and loved playing the King’s Quest and Space Quest series from Sierra games. Today, you can find her playing Final Fantasy XIV (MMO), Fortnite, and Overwatch.
Grant has been writing code since he was 6 years old and has been developing video games his entire adult life. He has made everything from action games to racing games and has lived on three different continents. Grant believes that teams with a shared purpose and complementary skills create the best experiences for both players and developers.
Happiest when playing Ultimate four or more days a week.
Reads at least 30 science fiction and fantasy books a year.
Only likes to cook if it's BBQ and there's beer in the fridge.
Hadidjah's 10-year career in games has seen them in Technical Art, Environment Art, and finally VFX. In that time they've worked on everything from indie games to MMOs to building and leading Hearthstone's VFX team. They believe strongly in the ability of games to make the world a happier and more connected place, and are thrilled to be pursuing that with Moonshot.
Interests: drawing (poorly), reading (slowly), game dev (but outside of work this time), rating fishing minigames, dice-making, crafting, animation, tabletop games, insta-locking Support, accidentally saying hi to people's dogs first, good food, great drinks, making bold claims about VFX color palettes, taking naps in different countries, baking, animals, ethology, bookbindin-
Hasiba has been in the gaming industry for several years at both small and large studios including Blizzard and EA. She has worked on Hearthstone and has shipped 3 other mobile game titles. She is passionate as a UX designer about crafting cohesive experiences that feel effortless and enjoyable for players. She is excited to be working with a highly creative and empathetic team.
Likes: Board games, K-pop, hot drinks in the summer
Unhealthy Obsessions: Baby Yoda, BB-8… yeah I'm their target audience
Video Games: RPGs, MMOs, card games
Fatal Flaw: Takes an entire 2 hours to write up a bio 😅
With a gaming journey that began with Cookie Monster Crunch on the Atari, Holly found her niche in the industry through Riot Games. Over the course of nearly 12 years, she seamlessly navigated every facet of Player Support, later transitioning to Singularity 6 to spearhead the Player Support team. Driven by a passion for aiding others, Holly consistently gravitates toward service-oriented roles, shaping a career devoted to elevating the player experience in the gaming realm.
Hobbies: Painting miniatures, crocheting plushies, streaming, conquering escape rooms, gaming, playing with her pups, traveling...wow this is too many hobbies someone please help.
Pets: Appa and Korra (Corgis), Pancake (Ragdoll/Siamese)
Biggest weakness: Obsessed with the color teal.
Ian started his career in the entertainment industry over a decade ago helping build Nintendo's first online account platform. Eventually he found is way to Blizzard and helped deliver online features used by most of Blizzard's catalog, and some other super cool stuff. Recent years have been spent with Riot Games working to make it easier for engineers to build online platforms quickly and reliably, and even more super cool stuff.
Loves being active outdoors playing Ultimate, rocking climbing, cycling, hiking and camping.
Enjoys playing video games with friends and his kids, but relishes getting lost in a single player game most of all.
Fiddles around on the guitar frequently, but doesn't have much to show for it ;-).
Izzy has always been interested in a broad range of creative and technical pursuits, including singing, writing, acting, teaching, computer science, and math. After realizing that video games could be an avenue to fulfill many of these passions, it became his goal to make games that inspire others to create. Above all else, he loves to experiment, teach, and support the work of others.
Niche Skills: I know a frankly ridiculous amount of Scooby-Doo, I can click my tongue without the roof of my mouth, I can click 8 times per second, an I'm pretty solid at improv.
Favorite Games: Terraria, Cave Story, Slay the Spire, Shadow of the Colossus
Dream: To teach game development and make weird, fun, toy-like games on the side with friends and peers.
Jaclyn loves bringing games to players as much as she loves playing them. Across her 20 year career, she wore plenty of hats that supercharged her prowess in launching games. She proudly built and led teams in Blizzard and Singularity 6 across multiple disciplines. A consummate problem solver, she thrives in fire and revels in the unexpected - always ready for what’s next!
AKA: JacziE or ziE
Favorite Drink: Kopi Kosong
Favorite Food: Pork Sinigang with Rice
Favorite Activities: making decks, DPSing as support, stress baking, collecting post-its, diving in open water
Being Better at: bouldering, weight training, trying to make running a hobby, calling my mom more often
Back in the day, Jason started his career as an artist for the Walt Disney Company. He learned from a bunch of talented folks while there and later had the chance to join Electronic Arts as an art lead and development director. He found joy there while working with small and scrappy teams and brought that passion with him to Blizzard where he helped build Hearthstone and some other really cool stuff.
The 1985 Tri-Logo Yak Face action figure. I love collecting as much as I love Star Wars, so it was a good day 35 years ago when I completed the full 92 figure set…right until the discovery of a 93rd figure! Never released in the US, Yak Face was impossibly hard to get for a kid in Texas before the internet. Through secret magics, he arrived as a surprise gift from my folks, and remains the best birthday present I have ever received.
Jason started his career as a web developer in Chicago before life took him back to his native New York. While in NY, he worked application support on Wall Street. A job with Expedia would move him across the country to the Seattle area. From there Jason has managed engineering teams in monitoring, application & infrastructure support, infosec, and IT. Most recently, Jason was a Senior Architect at Nintendo of America before coming to Dreamhaven.
Hobbies: running, strength training, pickleball, traveling, fine dining (been called a food snob), video games. But my primary hobby is Golf, playing around 100 rounds per year and living in the middle of a community with 6 golf courses that hosts a PGA tour event every year.
Best video game memory: Playing Faxanadu and The Legend of Zelda on the NES with my Dad.
Jeff built his first "computer" out of lawn chairs and garden hoses at a young age, eventually learned Logo in second grade, and began a journey of writing code in the sixth grade. He has worked in core networking, streaming media, electronic signature, and now games, applying that same childhood creativity to solving engineering problems for humans.
Interests: Electronics, programming, making sound with synths, field recording, travel
Favorite Sound: The wondrous and beautiful resonance of a self-oscillating filter
Role Queue: Support
Guideline: Hope is not a strategy
First Game Modded: gorillas.bas
Jenny’s greatest passion is people - their stories, interests, ideas, and dreams. She's from a small town in Pennsylvania where she worked as a white water rafting guide and mental health counselor for at-risk children. She packed up her car in 2015 and drove across country to pursue her dream of working in game dev and has worked at Ubisoft and The Walt Disney Company. Jenny finds Production to be the sweet spot that combines her passion for people and experiences with her knack for process and planning.
Words to live by: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Life ambition: Jenny wants to follow in her great-grandfather’s footsteps by opening a bicycle shop of her own one day. She plans to travel the world to meet diverse groups of cyclists, visit their local shops, and in time build the most innovative community bicycle shop she can dream up.
Jenny grew up loving video games and animated films, and also spent a lot of time drawing. She studied 3D art in college while also taking math and science classes to get a ‘real’ job. Once she realized there were careers that combined technology and art, she never looked back. Jenny started as a technical artist intern at Blizzard, where she learned a lot from really talented people and eventually worked on some cool projects including Overwatch. From there, she had the chance to join Apple and work on AR/VR applications.
Random Facts: I used to compete in figure skating, and my first job in high school was as a figure skating instructor. Before getting into the gaming industry, I considered a career in biological research. I spent a lot of time growing cell cultures, running DNA tests, and even studied wildlife in Costa Rica.
Favorite Games: Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Breath of the Wild, Diablo III
Jerrick is captivated by the endless whimsy of the human experience. He’s devoted to advancing the video game medium as he believes it the best way to encapsulate that wonder. On projects such as God of War, Grounded, and The Dragon Prince, he applied design and engineering principles to empower his peers to better craft experiences - and make those experiences more accessible for players. He’s excited to make awesome games and amazing memories here!
Skills:
Jo-Jo’s initial foray into talent acquisition was as the founder of a gaming specialist group that showcased new products at high-profile industry events. She brings years of AAA recruiting experience (Riot and Blizzard) to her current role, along with familiarity in growing diverse start-up teams. Mentorship, community outreach, and meaningful representation in games are causes that are close to her heart, and she is excited to make a positive impact along with her amazing teammates.
Jo-Jo lives on the Big Island of Hawaii with her husband and tiny dog loaf, Foxy. When she isn’t harvesting fruit, crafting, or collecting kawaii things, she makes costumes and can be found roaming the halls of comic conventions dressed as her favorite video game characters. She’s a lapsed musician, tries to do yoga, and is sort of okay at vegan baking. Her goal is to always be kind to people, animals, and the land.
Working as a software engineer for the last twenty years Jonny has helped build a catalogue of games including the Driver series, Grand Theft Auto V, StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm. Specializing as a tools engineer Jonny enjoys a diverse range of work with a consistent goal of making game development as frictionless as possible for the rest of his team.
World's Greatest Football Team: Newcastle United
Favorite Quote: "The meaning of life is that it ends"
Guitar Heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Frusciante, Dave Gilmour, Dimebag Darrell
Julia has over 5 years' industry experience in the Boston area, with Dreamhaven being her first West Coast adventure. From building mobile match-three RPGs at Demiurge to launching the cross-play battle royale Spellbreak at Proletariat, Julia navigates her career by wearing many hats and greeting each project with the unending desire to learn. As a UI Engineer, Julia is eager to make Moonshot's first game intuitive, immersive, and accessible to players of every kind.
Freshly minted homeowner trying to fix the holes in the walls faster than we create them. Growing (and murdering) houseplants and vegetables in the meantime. My boyfriend and I share our home with my African Grey parrot Jammi, our lab-mix Miko, and my collection of 300 hats. You can find me hiking, camping, skiing, and listening to video game lo-fi. Still studying Japanese on my own for that trip we thought we'd take early 2020.
Kara has spent her life building skills in the areas of Playing Around and Making Up Stories. Starting at her grandmother's poker table, she developed a deep love for creating memories through gameplay. She's designed for board games like Descent: Legends of the Dark and Mansions of Madness Second Edition, she thrives on creating games that embrace emotional experiences and invite the players to tell their story.
My true hobby is collecting hobbies. Board games, video games, RPGs, needlepoint, papercrafting, gardening, reading, writing, baking, cake decorating, sculpting, with a dabbling in 3D printing, sewing, and interior design. I am in love with the many ways in which people have created ways to express themselves.
Kerry is an experienced character artist that has worked on a wide range of game projects, including Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons, Sunset Overdrive, Ratchet and Clank, and Spiderman. His blend of classic techniques and digital innovation captures the imagination. Kerry’s work not only defines the silhouette and form of the character, but he also colors them in, inspiring a new generation of artists. That's what he would tell his friends. If he had any.
1. Starcraft
2. Dota 2
3. Final Fantasy VII
4. World of Warcraft
5. Divinity: OS2
6. Hearthstone
7. Dawn of War
8. Counterstrike
Laura has been working in the video games industry since 2007. She has had the opportunity to work at both small start-ups and large companies including Blizzard and EA where she worked on Need for Speed and FIFA. She has a passion for backend services and cloud development and finds joy in building technology for awesome games and empowering other engineers to do the same.
Born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, Laura embraces her latin roots with her favorite foods and also loves to dance; you will find her on the dance floor at any party! She moved to Canada after high school and has embraced becoming Canadian as well. When not traveling abroad or visiting family, Laura and her husband spend time on hikes with their rescued dog Shadow whom they love to bits.
Laurel has worked as an artist in the games industry for over a decade. Her first job of note was character design for Splash Damage's 2011 game, Brink. After which, she spent years at Blizzard Entertainment, where she painted many a concept, key art and 2.5D cinematic. She makes a lot of different sorts of artwork, from illustration to concept design to physical sculpture.
From the wilds of northern Canada, I learned how to evade large predators (mostly bears). Now in Southern California, there are fewer bears, but way more rattlesnakes. My training has left me woefully unprepared.
All Time Favorite Animal: Allosaurus
Favorite Living Animal: The Ossifrage
Least Favorite Animal: Elephant seals (Pinnipeds! What is their deal?)
Before phones had colors, Laurent got introduced to video game development with long lost technologies. During the MMO golden age, he dove into platform development at scale. Thanks to the great teams he worked with, he had the chance to contribute to some iconic games, such as Diablo III. He found a new home in Dreamhaven with a lot of familiar faces.
Super Power: Eating melting cheese by the pound
Weakness: Losing track of time while playing video games
Hobby: Taekwondo
Dream: Sword fighting in chain mail while riding a horse
Lucas has over a decade of experience as an environment artist in games primarily working on competitive multiplayer FPS games. He is very much an art generalist who takes pride in making beautiful environments that run performantly and enhance gameplay.
Hobbies include: painting miniatures, refinishing hardwood floors, hanging out with cats, purchasing games on steam that will totally get played one day when there's time, spending time in isolated cabins in the woods, and aggressive relaxation.
Luke started making games in the 4th grade, first with pen & paper, then on an Apple IIc. Following his dream, he entered the industry soon after earning his computer engineering degree in Vancouver, BC. Over the past 16+ years, he has worked at EA, Slant Six, Sucker Punch, and Blizzard making sports, shooter, and action-adventure games. Luke likes making good games with good people.
Hobbies: Anything to do with the ocean - surfing, snorkeling, and scuba diving
Fitness: Martial arts, weights and kettlebells
Pets: Doggy, husky/lab mix named Mocha
On a typical weekend: BBQ and board games with wife and friends
At anearly age Markus knew he wanted to make games. His parents had a crisis meeting when he was a child about his dreams to be a game developer (rather than a fire fighter or super hero). He quickly fell in love with animation and how it affects the feel of gameplay. Since 2007, Markus has worked on many different games in both the single player and multiplayer space at studios such as People Can Fly, Starbreeze, MachineGames, Bioware and Blizzard.
Favorite Games: Starcraft 2, Warcraft 3, Diablo II, Elden Ring
Favorite Bands: Vildhjarta, Moonsorrow, Behemoth, Mechina
Jobs before game development: Commercial Newspaper delivery boy, candy cane baker, game store clerk
Favorite Quote: "I'm So Embarrassed. I Wish Everybody Else Was Dead." - Bender
Michael has worked as a software engineer for 15 years in a variety of jobs, including observatories on the Big Island of Hawaii, detector readout firmware for JWST, and as a tools engineer on several video games including Telltale’s A Wolf Among Us and Blizzard's World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. He enjoys saving everyone’s most precious resource time, and expresses that through making great tools for his awesome coworkers.
Hobbies: Lifting heavy things, homebrewing beer, reading, baking, visiting national parks
Useless Talent: According to my wife, I always choose a tastier dish than hers at restaurants
Role Queue: Flex
Hopes: you’re doing well, and thanks for reading!
Michael's childhood was filled with wonder and awe via Star Wars in the theater in 1977, and then in the 80's, an Intellivision game system and this "satanic" little board game called Dungeons and Dragons. Fast forward to 1994, when he answered an ad in the classifieds: "Fantasy artist wanted to make video games. No experience neccessary." He left my job in advertising and never looked back!
I love video games. Objectively speaking, perhaps a bit too much, but it is what it is. My greatest nerd moment was, after spending an entire summer in my local arcade dumping my hard-earned paperboy into the local Dragon's Lair machine (50 cents at a time), I finally beat it. I had a small group of nerds cheering for me and it was THE BEST.
Mike wrote his first line of code on his Bally Professional Arcade gaming console when he was in sixth grade. He loved it. A decade later he was writing code as one of the cofounders of Blizzard Entertainment. He eventually became the company's CEO, overseeing all creative and operational aspects, and during that time helped launch more than twenty consecutive #1 hits. Mike's values-driven leadership and passion for bringing people together in positive ways remain stronger than ever.
Music: Rush, The Beatles, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Julie and the Phantoms
Books: Lord of the Rings, Hyperion, The Three Body Problem, On Intelligence
Hobbies: Piano, guitar, Texas Hold 'Em, bass player for Elite Tauren Chieftain
Best of Times: Time spent with my wife and daughter
Nicole has been in the industry for over ten years. I’ve worked on everything from Skylanders to Destiny to Tony Hawk and Diablo 4. I’ve worked as a level designer, activity designer, generalist and now PvE designer. My inspiration for making games is the stories they can tell, the challenges they can present and the enriching experiences they can offer players unlike any other media can create.
I enjoy cooking, baking, hiking, painting, gardening, and making my own gin.
Niles has over 15 years of games industry experience working on all types of games from sim city to overwatch. He still gets excited about finding creative solutions to difficult problems.
Niles lives in Washington state with his wife and 2 kids. He loves to be outside, and finds every opportunity to do so. When he gets the chance, you'll find him out mountain biking or kayak fishing. For lunch, on average 3 out of 5 days a week he eats a trader joes frozen burrito with some type of specialty hot sauce, and a la croix.
A consummate builder, Omar has always been fascinated by putting things together and making them work. Combined with a love of gaming, it’s no surprise he’d end up a game programmer. For over 15 years, he’s contributed to the technology that powers World of Warcraft. Omar now dedicates his efforts to taking the fantastical worlds that exist in the imaginations of artists and designers and materializing them for all to enjoy.
Loves: My wife and our pupper, Bubbles
Likes: Camping, swimming, beaches, scotch, steaks, Calvin & Hobbes, Legos, Iron Man, and napping
Dislikes: Wet socks, waking up early
Trivia: If he were any more laid back, his DNA would start to unwind
Patrik started his career in game development over two decades ago, working on titles such as Chronicles of Riddick and Brothers: A tale of Two Sons at Starbreeze and later on working on Dragonage Inquisition as senior character artist and Anthem at BioWare as craft director. Helping to ship a total of nine games so far.
Dad to two awesome kids Luna and Lucas.
Frequent IKEA visitor (being Swedish and all).
Enjoy gaming, photography, snowboarding and being on a boat(preferably in a nice body of water).
Paul is a lifelong gamer who is living his dream of working with amazing people to bring games to players around the world. As an experienced entrepreneur and industry leader in global game publishing, development, community development, and esports, he’s been fortunate enough to work on some of the most renowned franchises in gaming, including Diablo, League of Legends, StarCraft, and World of Warcraft.
When Paul is not playing games (which isn’t often), he’s skiing, bodysurfing, traveling, and hanging out with his wonderful family and friends. Paul cannot drive by a local comic book shop without stopping in and adding to what’s becoming a massive collection of trade paperbacks.
When he was a little over 10 years old, Philip started making maps for fun for games like Quake, Quake 2, and later on, Half-Life, joining various mod projects for these games. He has worked on a variety of single player and multiplayer games since joining the games industry in 2005. He thinks quick turnaround and plenty of iteration is key to making great games, while having fun making them.
Interests: Very fond of lizards and reptiles in general. Looking at buildings and bridges. Games are pretty fun too!
Weakness: Anything where you need to be handy.
Rachel has been a gamer since before they could use a mouse and keyboard, when they would tell their Dad where to send his units in Civilization 3. They started making games in Little Big Planet when they were 10 years old and haven’t been able to stop since. After bouncing around between programming and art for several years, they decided to pursue them both and become a technical artist.
Favorite Games: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Sayonara Wild Hearts, Minecraft, Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Hobbies: Reading fantasy novels, crocheting, baking, drinking coffee and other sugary beverages
Cats: Hocus Pocus (small) and Pepsi (big)
Role Queue: Tank or Support
Ray spent the last twenty years in the game industry, feeding his obsession with computers, video games, and the internet. That combination resulted in him specializing in providing reusable online platform technology to launch games. His journey ranges from studios like Turbine and Cryptic Studios, to big publishers like WB Games. Ray enjoys solving complex problems that involve people, process, and technology.
Ray’s an avid gamer. His favorite genres are RPG, MMO, and Survival. These days he can be found in Final Fantasy XIV and Minecraft. He’s a cosplayer, and taught himself how to sew and make props from YouTube. He also enjoys anime and baking. One day he’ll finish the fantasy novel that he’s been writing for 15 years.
Rick is Moonshot’s resident Math Artist, and he's a kaleidoscope of skills. His 17 year career spans 3D Modeling, Technical Art, and Tools Engineering. He is just as likely to be found creating props as he is spinning up servers. Rick helped make Tomb Raider, StarCraft II, and Heroes of the Storm. Now he’s excited to be with Moonshot weaving wonderous games.
Favorite Curve Function: Cubic Hermite Spline
Favorite API: Maya’s MPxCommand
Secret Super Power: Better than average at feeding fish
Career Highlights: Sold turnips at 473 Bells
Role Queue: Damage, Support
Rod began his career working in product development while attending law school. He landed his dream job at one of the preeminent video game companies and has now worked as an attorney in the game industry for over 20 years. We won't bore you with his legal specialties, but he's had the pleasure of working with some of the most creative and talented people in the industry. Despite his friendly demeanor, he is also sometimes fondly referred to as "The Hammer."
Interests: Ideas, design, architecture, art, craft beer, roadside attractions, and a good practical joke
Fun Facts: Operates a themed bed and breakfast and is working on opening an alien-themed boutique motel near Joshua Tree (shameless plug). Once surprised one of his co-workers when he was delivered to their office in a package.
Ryan has known since the 6th grade that he wanted to create video games and has spent his entire adult life doing that. Before Moonshot he spent 8 years on Overwatch working on servers, anti-cheat, gameplay and AI. He believes in the power of games bringing people together to create friendships and memories.
Most Memorable Gaming Moments:
Morrowind: Exploring the world
StarCraft: Getting introduced to the universe
Halo: Lan parties
World of Warcraft: First time entering Ironforge
Overwatch: Launch
Scott has always been passionate about creating art and bringing stories to life, working alongside talented people in both game and feature film studios like Digital Domain, Turtle Rock Studios, MPC, Framestore, Zoic, and EA. One of his favorite career moments was helping bring Thanos to life with lighting in Avengers: Infinity War. He's so happy to be part of this new adventure with such amazing people.
Hobbies: Nerding out about cinematography and lighting, collaborating on art projects, watching movies with my wife, playing soccer, video games, lifting weights, basketball, and hanging out with buddies
Weakness: Saying “dude” way too much
Best Moment (besides having my kids and marrying my wife of course): Meeting my childhood hero Arnold Schwarzenegger at a dumpling house in LA and talking to him about Predator
Sean set his sights on becoming a 2D animator from an early age, but when confronted with the reality of doing thousands of drawings of the same subject over and over, decided to pivot to concept art instead. Since then he has worked on a variety of projects in video games, film, animation, theme parks, and toy design. He grew up on LucasArts adventure games and consequently has a soft spot for games that are heavy on personality, heart, and storytelling.
Sean likes bad puns and knows way too much about Miami Vice. He loves his family, dinosaurs, film history, and making things. He is an undefeated 4th-grade-level competitive swimmer, and pretty good at writing novelty parody songs.
Shane swears he was a gamer in the womb, and anyone who knows him would agree. He’s committed his life to making games and supporting and cheering on game developers. Shane knows that it takes a village to make video games, and he’s had the opportunity to work with teams on amazing franchises like World of Warcraft and StarCraft. He feels the most rewarding work is helping others realize their dreams of making great games.
Hobbies: From boardgames to video games - you name it, I'll play it
Hobbies Part 2: Okay just so I'm not one dimensional - fishing, astronomy, travel and... games
Things I Love: My wife, my niece, family, friends, and games
D&D Class: Cleric. Teamwork makes the dream work!
Determined to share her dirty support main energy with the world, Stephanie began her career as a Game Master for World of Warcraft almost 20 years ago. Since then, she's worn a lot of different hats across games publishing, supporting and growing fandoms for Diablo, Overwatch, and The Dragon Prince. She believes deeply in prioritizing long-term trust over short-term upvotes and providing communities with more than just products to consume, but a place to call home.
Undisputed champion of: Dishwasher Tetris
Hobbies I love being bad at: weightlifting, graphic design, baking
Talk to me about: nuclear disasters, delicious breakfast foods and beverages, any novel by Garth Nix, your next D&D campaign, why Tombstone is the most underrated Western of all time, cozy office décor
Stephen has worked in games since 2015, supporting art teams with tools and processes on projects including Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch. His proudest technical achievement is having decreased WoW dungeon export times by a factor of ~100, though "made little guys wiggle when attacked" comes in close second. Having been a part of game teams both large and small, he couldn't imagine being in any other industry.
Games: Kentucky Route Zero, Tribes 2
Music: Peter Broderick, Yes
Desserts: Tiramisu. Or sticky toffee pudding. Do I really have to choose?
MtG Auras: Sentinel's Eyes, Rancor
Rocks: Olivine, for sure
Steve is a 3D generalist who has worked in the game industry for over 12 years. He's created assets for a variety of games including Starcraft II, Heroes of the Storm, and Diablo IV. Steve believes that video games are an interactive form of Art, and he wants to contribute to that Art in every way he can.
Hobbies: Programming, martial arts, dancing, hacky sacking, but mostly parenting
Fears: Irrational numbers, Fermi Paradox, sharks
Favorite Stuntmen: Scott Adkins, Lateef Crowder, Tony Jaa, Damien Walters
Favorite Celestial Bodies: Earth, Titan, Europa
At just seven years old, Steve designed his inaugural "game," aptly named Space Dork 2000. Described via a single, sprawling sentence spanning an entire page, the story is now proudly displayed on his wall.
After many years consulting, Steve transitioned into the gaming space where he now applies his generalist engineering background towards the creation of services that empower colleagues to develop games as easily as possible!
Game Handle: "Hotdegs" – Hotdogs but pronounced with a wildly exaggerated Chicago accent.
Fun Facts: Ridiculously high consumer of bubble tea. One of the first OG WoW players to obtain Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker.
GOAT Games: Everquest, World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Final Fantasy 6, Final Fantasy 14, The Last of Us series, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, NBA Jam, TMNT: Turtles in Time (Arcade)
Stemming from drawing his first animation flipbook to writing his first function, Steven's love for games, art, and coding led him to a career in technical art in the game industry where he could pursue each of those passions. He has helped bring characters to life in the God of War series and Heroes of the Storm. Steven believes in the power of games as a medium to have a positive impact on players and the world.
Interests: Gaming, nature-y activities, learning about random stuff (currently excited about tilt-shift and night sky photography), pork belly
Pet: S'mores (Jackawawa)
Go-To Game Genres: RTS, action-adventure, platformer, battle royale
From a young age, Sully knew two things: He wanted to be a magician, and he wanted to make a video game. It was not for many years, and just as many attempts to learn to code and just ending up playing with particle systems, that he realized that VFX was a career that he could pursue while literally contributing to the magic of gaming.
Hobbies and Interests: Writing music, baking, tabletop, Buying the same hoodie 3 times, Getting good at pottery/ceramics (some early stuff shown!).
Favorite Games: Every Zelda Game, Viva Piñata, TFT, LoL, LoR, Overwatch.
Favorite Gaming Memory: Getting Play of The Game on Symmetra by placing sentries, and sitting in a corner somewhere.
My Weakness: Cheesecake.
After graduating from FullSail University for Game Art & Design, T jumped headfirst into the industry by joining the QA team at Activision. During her time in QA, she eventually found herself at Ubisoft where she led technically focused teams. While learning from the best, she found a distinct passion for all things QA. She just loves making games the best they can be.
Pets: Rosemary, Stella, Darcy and Simon
Hobbies and Things I enjoy outside of games: Any and all things costuming, art and music related! I play a lot of traditional Irish/Scottish tunes on my ridiculous collection of wooden flutes and other folk instruments. Additionally I love SHIPS! But, what I love the most is playing D&D with my friends!
After spending his early career getting to learn from titans of industry at Bain and rocket scientists at Boeing, Tom joined Blizzard's finance team in 2012 (and later Activision Blizzard's). He discovered that being a gamer didn't make him any good at forecasting games, but luckily didn't break anything along the way. He believes finance should be a tool, not a terror, to support the game development process.
Some Favorite Gaming Memories:
Pre-history: Repeatedly destroying my palms playing Activision Decathlon
Ancient: Pulling all-nighter to make it through the Stygian Abyss in Ultima IV
Classical: Downing Gruul
Modern: Making it to the end of Inside and feeling my brain turn to mush
After graduating from Kansas State University, Victoria worked as a Functional QA Tester at Activision Publishing. In the following years, they focused on managing QA teams working on Call of Duty. During their time with Activision, they were recognized for their leadership and passion for building empowered teams. They are incredibly excited to work with the talented teams at Moonshot and Dreamhaven.
Pets: Two cats, Serge and Leeloo, and one very large doggo named Vhagar
Hobbies and things I enjoy outside of games: Star Trek (Voyager is my favorite! Can't beat Janeway), reading, cooking and trying new restaurants, hiking with my dog and Holo Taco
Wes is a generalist game developer who dreams of building experiences that forge meaningful connections between people. His experience is diverse, having worked in different roles across the industry, from indie games to connected products and toys to triple-A mobile games. Wes is thrilled to return to his passion of creating social games that bring people together.
XP: Game development, wilderness survival, improv comedy
Hobbies: Wilderness backpacking, fitness & nutrition, writing music, gaming
Interests: Tabletop RPGs, Star Wars, being outside, learning new things
Will started his career as an esports pro but ended up trading the main stage for a desk job and never looked back. Over 10 years later, Will has worked in brand and product marketing roles across console, mobile and PC titles at Ubisoft, King and most recently Riot Games. He’s unbelievably excited to help bring new games to players across EMEA.
Fun fact: I have a twin brother, he’s the evil one.
Past experience: I was an esports pro on Halo 3, 4, Reach and Halo 5. European Champion, X Games Athlete and World Championship Qualifier.
Interests: Formula 1, sim-racing and all things technology
Xavier’s had a passion for games and storytelling from an early age. After majoring in Video Game Design and minoring in Creative Writing, he’s spent nearly a decade in the games industry working on many titles from the social casino space, 4x city builders, and his personal favorite, turn-based role playing games. He loves narrative and story in games and strives to make endearing experiences for all.
The King of Lycopolis can be often found plotting the next feats of his great city, writing dark fantasy novels, playing Fire Emblem, and laughing manically when he thinks no one else is looking.