Moving on from Playdom/Disney

As of today, I am an unemployed game developer!

It was in the summer of 2006 that I founded Metaplace in a spare bedroom. By 2007, we had built an amazing, deeply involved community, and a powerful platform. By 2009, we had failed to make money at it and were forced to shut it down. Since then I’ve been privileged to see several of the folks from that community go on to join the industry and do great work.

We switched to social games. In the space of six months, we launched three of them. I still get emails asking for the return of My Vineyard. We introduced some real innovations to Facebook gaming, and were quickly acquired.

Then came two and a half years with Playdom and Disney. So much learning! Amazing views into metrics and science and the mass market from Playdom. That incredible culture of creativity and deep commitment to values at Disney. I held a frame from Steamboat Willie in my hands. I watched everyday people who never thought of themselves as gamers wake up to the power of games. And above all, I worked with many wonderful people.

Now it feels like time to apply the things I learned.

So, I am off on my own!

What’s next?

No, I am not doing a Kickstarter. I get asked about it about once a week. I suspect that those of you who want this all want me to make a worldy MMO. I may yet make one of those in the future, but I don’t think that you can raise enough money on Kickstarter to do it justice.
I’m available for consulting, if you can afford my soon-to-be-exorbitant rates.
I suspect I will be able to do a bit more writing and speaking than I have been doing. I look forward to catching up with all the stuff going on in the academic scene…
I don’t have a next job lined up yet. I am, as they say, exploring opportunities. I’ve talked with a few folks, and now that this is public, expect to talk to more. But…

Most likely, I will simply start making games. Lots and lots of games. Fun ones. About all sorts of things. I want to get my hands dirty. I want to explore ideas. It is a crazy exciting time in the industry right now, and I came away from GDC inspired.

I’ll keep you posted. Expect the blog to get a bit more active.

PS, press folks, you should direct any questions about my Disney tenure and departure to Brian Nelson over in the PR dept.

Image is by the amazing Bud Coy, from the farewell card from the San Diego team. You guys rock.