Gearbox SoftwareGearbox Software

Aaron ThibaultAaron ThibaultVice President of Product DevelopmentVice President of Product Development

• 13 years in Game Development + Production• Audio, Animation, Cinematics, Tools, Production• Collaboration / R&D• Design Process and Feasibility/Risk Analysis • HR and Production Analytics • Team Building and Change Management

•Facilitating academic collaborations; • AI, learning, IS, online + game technology, efficacy studies

• Research Coordinator, The University of Texas at Austin• Deputy Director + Sr Lecturer, Southern Methodist U. / The Guildhall• R&D: US ARMY/ARL/TRADOC/America’s Army Project

Sean ReardonSean ReardonSenior Producer & Studio Technical DirectorSenior Producer & Studio Technical Director

• 12 years in Game Development•Programming•Architecting•Technical production•Hiring•Team building•Focus testing•Production

Plano, TX

Gearbox Organization•Owners•Partners•Business

•Legal•Licensing•Business Development•Marketing

•Operations•Finance•HKAT•Office Mgmt•IT

•Development•Executive Team•Project Teams•Dynamic Teams•Central

Full Time StaffOutsourcingContractors

Third Party Teams

ProductionCode

Design + Level DesignArt

AnimationAudio

QA + Support

~170 Internal Staff

Founded in 1999

#1 NEW GAME PROPERTY #1 NEW GAME PROPERTY 20092009

• 2010 US game sales ~$19B in2010 (HW+SW)• Gearbox is not limited by opportunity. • Passion for making games and being strategically

creative is a requirement at Gearbox.• Staying competitive requires exploring new

concepts and technologies to reach customers.• The industry needs talented, creative, and

technically savvy people and teams.

Education that will prepare new game developers for “AAA” production:

• Fixed Platforms– Constraints and Creative Possibilities– Architectures, Memory and Performance– Profiling and Optimization

• Design based problem solving and systems design• Tools development; creativity, efficiency and usability• Teamwork and large, complex software engineering• Market awareness, trends and game industry business

Online factors are huge for us.• Cooperative play and word of mouth• Competitive play and title longevity• Online marketplace / downloads• Push updates and pull analytics• Web interfaces and ‘casual’ games• Security and customer service

Idea Starters• Microsoft Kinect• PlayStation Home + playable environments• PlayStation Move + 3D TV• Data Mining and Analytics• Multiplayer game design for many cultures• Portable/handheld gaming