MIKE SUAREZ

I've stuffed quarters into coin-op machines at the bowling alley, swapped floppy disks on C64's and early PC's, pressed cartridges into Nintendo and Sega consoles, and popped CD's into Playstations and Xboxes. Today I spend virtual coins on Facebook and devour more iPhone apps than I care to admit.

I'm a twenty-three year veteran of the videogame industry--I can produce and design games but I can also manage the store. I have ten years experience in product development and marketing for major US publishers, eight years in business development negotiating IP licensing deals and product acquisitions, and I've spent the last few years in the casual space for both web and mobile.

I have long-standing relationships in the development and publishing communities in the U.S, Japan, Europe, South America, Russia, and Israel.

I am currently producing and designing social and mobile games for select clients. I love talking about games and meeting new people. Feel free to contact me with questions and comments.

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EA 1987: This company invented the game publishing model, innovating moment to moment. Trip Hawkins, Bing Gordon, and Don Traeger were inspiring. I saw the Earl Weaver, Chuck Yeager, Madden, and Jordan v. Bird titles come together. Met some amazing people and long-term friends, like Stan Roach and Kelly Flock.   Activision 1990: A warm, fun place to work, pre-Kotick, with lots of laughter in the office and socializing outside of work. Lunchtime hoops went way over an hour. The Manhole was our big hit. The corporate culture was full of characters and did not discriminate: Lucy Bradshaw and several other talented women in the industry got their start here. I had a great crew led by Michael Latham and Wayne Townsend.  Inspired by working with Jeff Tunnell at Dynamix, I eventually left to become a developer. Pacific Gameworks 1992: Started my own company with Bret Hamilton. Working with Greg Zumwalt and Mark Waterman to create our stunning (at the time) 3D hoops tech was thrilling. Don Traeger and Stewart Bonn at EA gave us our first big contract: Jordan In-Flight. Being an indy developer was empowering but really tough. BMG Interactive 1995: The huge conglomerate got in and out of the biz quickly, but I reunited with my old mentor Don Traeger, met Sam Houser, and attended the Grammys. I loved working with external developers like Mark Long at Zombie and Ramy Weitz at Pixel. Segasoft Networks 1998: Heat.net was a pioneering social game network. I confess to once playing Sin multi-player with an invisibility cheat. Heat had a visionary business model but Sega ran out of patience. I worked with superstar marketer Sarah Anderson. Rockstar Games 1998/2003: All the intensity and excitement of early EA but more fun. Geronimo Barrera, Kris Severson, and I started the SF office.   Working with Sam and Dan Houser, Terry Donovan, Jamie King, and Gary Foreman in New York was challenging, often hilarious, and ALWAYS inspiring. I’m extremely grateful to all of them. Mumbo Jumbo 2006: Burned out from hardcore games, the casual space was a fresh start for me. At MJ I learned about the female audience, digital distribution, and mobile. Mark Cottam, Ron Dimant and Jay Dinucci were really fun to work with. Matt Lichtenwalter, and George Bray were intensely passionate about games.  In 2009, I left to pursue entrepreneurial goals once again.

EA 1987: This company invented the game publishing model, innovating moment to moment. Trip Hawkins, Bing Gordon, and Don Traeger were inspiring. I saw the Earl Weaver, Chuck Yeager, Madden, and Jordan v. Bird titles come together. Met some amazing people and long-term friends, like Stan Roach and Kelly Flock.  

Activision 1990: A warm, fun place to work, pre-Kotick, with lots of laughter in the office and socializing outside of work. Lunchtime hoops went way over an hour. The Manhole was our big hit. The corporate culture was full of characters and did not discriminate: Lucy Bradshaw and several other talented women in the industry got their start here. I had a great crew led by Michael Latham and Wayne Townsend.  Inspired by working with Jeff Tunnell at Dynamix, I eventually left to become a developer.

Pacific Gameworks 1992: Started my own company with Bret Hamilton. Working with Greg Zumwalt and Mark Waterman to create our stunning (at the time) 3D hoops tech was thrilling. Don Traeger and Stewart Bonn at EA gave us our first big contract: Jordan In-Flight. Being an indy developer was empowering but really tough.

BMG Interactive 1995: The huge conglomerate got in and out of the biz quickly, but I reunited with my old mentor Don Traeger, met Sam Houser, and attended the Grammys. I loved working with external developers like Mark Long at Zombie and Ramy Weitz at Pixel.

Segasoft Networks 1998: Heat.net was a pioneering social game network. I confess to once playing Sin multi-player with an invisibility cheat. Heat had a visionary business model but Sega ran out of patience. I worked with superstar marketer Sarah Anderson.

Rockstar Games 1998/2003: All the intensity and excitement of early EA but more fun. Geronimo Barrera, Kris Severson, and I started the SF office.   Working with Sam and Dan Houser, Terry Donovan, Jamie King, and Gary Foreman in New York was challenging, often hilarious, and ALWAYS inspiring. I’m extremely grateful to all of them.

Mumbo Jumbo 2006: Burned out from hardcore games, the casual space was a fresh start for me. At MJ I learned about the female audience, digital distribution, and mobile. Mark Cottam, Ron Dimant and Jay Dinucci were really fun to work with. Matt Lichtenwalter, and George Bray were intensely passionate about games.  In 2009, I left to pursue entrepreneurial goals once again.

Notes

  1. gomikesuarez posted this

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