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  • Wes Plays
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  • Portfolio
  • Contact Me

Who Am I?

A VP of Marketing and Creative working on Cybersecurity Training Games.

As a VP of Marketing and Creative working in the gaming industry for the past 11 years, I offer a proven ability to kickstart large scale projects, lead cross discipline teams, and establishing strong artistic directions. I quickly adapt to new processes and pipelines, and have a reputation of being a problem solver.

Publications

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Today : 
Currently I manage cross discipline Marketing and Creative teams working on different Products, Marketing and Sales Materials, and Promotional videos for a company called Circadence. At Circadence we specialize in gaming software targeted to help Cybersecurity professionals retrain skills or acquire new ones. 

NexAgent

At Circadence, I had the pleasure of kickstarting NexAgent. NexAgent is an immersive network exploration game. It combines education objectives with first-person video game design to make learning cyber FUN as players progress from a cyber enthusiast to an adept novice ready for in-depth training. NexAgent engages players through challenges that teach network security basics…where they can “select their scenario” and subject matter—to teach and test foundational skills in an emulated workplace environment.

In July of 2020, NexAgent won a Silver Award for K-12 Education Literacy and a Bronze award for Corporate Vocational Skills from the International Serious Play Awards. 
​A playable demo is still available on the Circadence website located here. ​
Project Ares
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Project Ares provides cybersecurity teams with the opportunity to practice skills and hone tactics in real-time via a next generation on-line gaming platform. The platform engages cybersecurity professionals in realistic, mission-specific virtual environments with operational tools, network activity and a large library of authentic threat scenarios. Artificial intelligence, combined with virtual machine orchestration, enables the platform to convert real-time threat intelligence rapidly into new missions, which keeps training fresh, relevant and challenging. Unlike the traditional static, instructor-led training model, Project Ares takes cybersecurity training out of the classroom and into an immersive, interactive real-world environment. ​

Role
  • As the VP of Marketing and Creative for Circadence, my responsibilities include :
    • Establishing the visual target, competitive analysis and brand research, and creating the technical pipeline to production.
    • Plan and implement marketing events, digital campaigns, and product go to market strategies. 
    • Coordination between creative, marketing, engineering, sales and channel partners, customer requirements, and executive team. 
    • Planning of sprints and milestones for my artists and future-scoping potential needs of the team.
    • Providing cross discipline team with feedback related both visual style and technical asset creation.
    • Helping design and implement new features, critiquing and improving upon player experience, and developing the branding strategy.
Resources
  • At this time I manage a Creative team that is up to 12 artists working remotely both within and outside the United States, as well as a Marketing team of 6 located in Boulder Colorado. Disciplines included UI, Unity Technical Artists, Video/Motion Design, Game Designer, 3D, Events Coordinator, Digital Marketing Manger, Product Marketing Director, and more...

Previously 

Kung Fu Panda : Battle of Destiny

About
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Battle of Destiny was a collectible card game set within the Kung Fu Panda universe. Players could play as one of eight different masters and battle their friends through truly epic card battles. Cards physically moved off of the board to perform kung fu attacks on your opponent. With over 700 unique cards to collect, players could truly make the deck that best suits their play style.

Role

I was Lead Artist on this project for roughly a year and a half, through the pre-production, production, and release phases of the game. My responsibilities included :
  • Establishing the visual target, competitive analysis and brand research, and creating the technical pipeline to production.
  • Coordination between internal artists, outsourced work, and Dreamworks to approve over 700 unique illustrations for the Kung Fu Panda universe.
  • Planning of sprints and milestones for my artists and presenting our project management strategies to editorial.
  • Providing cross discipline artists with feedback related both visual style and technical asset creation.


Resources

At peak we had 15 artists internally and 5 outsourced artists. Disciplines included UI, Motion Design, VFX, 3D, Animation, and Concept artists.

Jurassic World

About
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Return to Isla Nublar with the creators of the smash hit Jurassic Park™ Builder for your next adventure: Jurassic World™: The Game, the official mobile game based on this summer’s epic action-adventure. Bring to life more than 50 colossal dinosaurs from the new film and challenge your opponents in earth-shaking battles. Construct the theme park of tomorrow in this unrivaled build-and-battle dinosaur experience. ​
Role
​

I was brought in, post launch, onto the project as Lead Artist. With the product having been in content releases for nearly two years, there were a few problems with the game structurally,  and lacked a clear vision for asset needs in the future. My main responsibilities were:
  • ​Review features slated for 2017, and help formalize a plan for both pipeline and asset needs.
  • Review and come up with an optimization plan for current assets, and improve build performance.
  • Managing current art resources, give artistic feedback, and plan future sprints.

Resources

When I first joined the team was down to 6 artists, and we’re still finding ways of scaling down. These were UI, environment, and VFX Artists.

Buzzr Casino

About
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Ludia’s newest game, BUZZR Casino, is your destination for big wins, big brands and good times with amazing social slots and casino games. BUZZR Casino combines the best elements of some of the greatest game shows of all times: The Price Is Right, Family Feud, Let’s Make a Deal and many more!
Role

As a Lead Artist I joined this project late into development. At the time there were several problems with production, which is why I was brought in to help. My main roles and responsibilities were :
  • Addressing Pipeline/Production problems.
  • Improve Artist Team Moral and provide structure.
  • Develop outsourcing pipeline.
  • Provide Artistic Direction and help the product stay aligned with the general visual direction of the Buzzr TV Station. ​

Resources
​

At peak this team hosted 6 artists and 5 outsourced artists. Currently the team has been scaled down to 2. These artists were mainly Concept, Motion Design, VFX, and UI artists.

Mr. Peabody and Sherman

​​About
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Mr. Peabody and Sherman is a fast paced, multiple choice, question game, where players can follow the adventures of Mr. Peabody and Sherman! Using the Wabac players travel through time to 10 unique eras, learning as they go.​
Role

This was a rapid production piece that I worked on as Lead Artist for, as we had 6 months to develop a game to coincide with the launch of the movie. My responsibilities included :
  • Establishing and maintaining the visual target
  • Working with internal resources and Dreamworks to approve all artwork
  • Project management and planning of resources.

Resources
​

At peak I believe we had 6 artists working on this project. These included UI, 3D, VFX, and Motion Design.

Additional Notes...

  • I’ve been Lead Artists on projects older than these including Jurassic Park Builder, Who Want’s to be a Millionaire & Friends, Weakest Link & Friends, and Family Feud & Friends.
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  • I have been known to be temporarily called in to help projects that are in mid-development. This typically comes in the form of an analysis of a game’s optimization methods, and coming up with ways of improving performance. I’ve also been part of small teams that create small prototypes for larger projects, before they begin. ​
    • Projects I've aided in this capacity have included Dragons: Rise of Berk and Battlestar Galactica: Squadrons. 
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