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sleepygiantblog · 12 years ago

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We’re excited to announce that we’re joining forces with the good folks at Free Lunch Design on Comic ConQuest, a tactical RPG set in a comic con gone wrong. We’ve also brought on the amazing Jeff Matsuda (yes, THAT Jeff Matsuda) to produce and lead the art direction for the game. Details can be found in the press release below.

TL;DR: We’re working on an awesome game with awesome peeps. Sign up here for an early access key and a free set of (in-game) steak knives: comicconquest.net.

Game On, Comic Con

Sleepy Giant Teams Up with Emmy Award-Winner Jeff Matsuda and Free Lunch Design for “Comic ConQuest”

Sleepy Giant Entertainment is partnering with Free Lunch Design (creators of the Icy Tower franchise) on Comic ConQuest, a free-to-play tactical RPG adventure set in a giant comic and sci-fi convention in which costumed fans have been transformed into the characters they portray. The homemade costumes and plastic weapons become real, and the show floor becomes a battleground as the attendees-turned-heroes use their newfound powers to fight their way to faction supremacy.

Comic ConQuest will feature the talents of Emmy award-winning producer and renowned comic book artist Jeff Matsuda. Matsuda’s career spans 18 years in TV, film, comics and videogames. He is best known for producing The Batman and Jackie Chan Adventures, and for his work on fan favorite comic book titles such as X-Men, Batman, Wolverine, The Avengers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

“I’ve always loved going to Comic Con and seeing Klingons walking around talking to Harry Potter and Batman. And I’d think, how awesome would it be if they had actual powers and fought to see who could rule the con? So when Sleepy Giant came to me with the idea for this game, I dove in headfirst,” said Jeff Matsuda, Executive Producer. “We’ve got a super nerdy dream team over here with backgrounds in art, comics and gaming, and we’re passionate about making Comic ConQuest a fun, die-hard nerd experience.”

Comic ConQuest is slated to launch across web, mobile, and tablet platforms in Q4 2013. Players who register by August 31, 2013 will receive free exclusive early access (to the web version) along with a set of virtual steak knives (in-game). Sign up and learn more at comicconquest.net.

Become a fan: Comic ConQuest Facebook | @Comic_ConQuest | @SleepyGiant | Sleepy Giant Facebook

#ccq #comicconquest #sdcc #mobile #unity

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sleepygiantblog · 12 years ago

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Sleepy Giant Backed by TPG’s $100M New Venture

Hey guys, Matt here with some exciting news. Now as you know we like to keep it all fun and games around the office, but there comes a time when every growing company needs to put on a (bow)tie and get some funding. So I’m happy to announce that Sleepy Giant was recently selected to be one of the first of three companies to receive investment from a newly formed joint venture between TPG Capital and Evolution Media Capital LLC (dubbed, appropriately, the “Evolution Media Growth Partners” fund).

Bloomberg reports:

TPG Capital, the private-equity firm run by David Bonderman and James Coulter, formed a joint venture with Evolution Media Capital LLC to invest at least $100 million in young media and entertainment companies as buyout firms broaden their deal making. TPG will commit the money from its growth-equity business, which oversees $3.7 billion of assets, according to William McGlashan, the group’s managing partner. The venture, Evolution Media Growth Partners, has made three investments, taking stakes in online-gaming company Sleepy Giant Entertainment Inc., travel news provider Matador Network and Base79, the Peter Chernin- backed online-video network.

We’re proud to be part of Evolution Media Growth Partners exclusive new entertainment arm. The funding will help us continue building out entertainment publishing platforms for forward-thinking IP owners. Could that be you? If your company needs help designing, launching, operating and/or growing a digital media empire, then yes.

#sleepygiant

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sleepygiantblog · 12 years ago

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Meet Mitch Yarchin – Project Manager and Web Producer Extraordinaire

Title: Project Manager / Web Producer Education: BA in Philosophy from UCI Years at Sleepy Giant: About 2 ½ years Hobbies/Interests: Video games, snowboarding, reading fantasy, exercising

What were you doing before you became a Giant? I was handling post-production and video editing for a televised police training program at Golden West College. After some budget cuts to their program I moved on to do technical support for online courses and operated the Help Desk for the college admissions office.

Why did you decide to join Sleepy Giant? A good friend of mine Chris Bielinski recommended me for a customer service job here at Sleepy Giant. I guess the interview went really well: I managed to impress Bob Tsai with some SAT words and it landed me a job as Web Producer. Nice!

On a serious note: at the time of my interview I was signed on with FEMA and scheduled to be deployed the very next week. I was actually surprised when Sleepy sent me an offer; I had to cancel my plans with the U.S government and they’ve been after me ever since.

What are you currently working on? Since 2010, my role has expanded to technical project manager and I’ve participated in the launch and development of most of Sleepy’s big-name projects.

Currently I’m working with our partners over at Industrial Toys on a FPS for mobile devices. The game is called Morning Star and it’s one of the first mobile apps that’s geared towards serious gamers (like myself). Keep an eye out for this one… we hope to release it later this year.

What has been most rewarding about your experience at Sleepy Giant? Working at Sleepy Giant has taught me more than I could ever learn on my own about project management, web development, computers, people, process and start-up businesses. I owe a lot of thanks to great mentors such as Stuart Smith, Tim Mansfield, Bob Tsai and David Lee for my education as well as personal and professional development over the years.

Nice. A little brown-nosing couldn’t hurt for your next performance review. Amirite?

What’s the deal with the standup desk? It prevents back pain. Also, apparently even if you work out five times a week, sitting at a desk for most of the day will jeopardize your long term health. And instead of sitting around in a post-lunch daze after, it seems to keep me attentive during the afternoon hours. …I heard a rumor that the Sleepy Giant Newport office will have lots of standup desks at the new office, later this year

We can neither confirm nor deny that rumor.

Any funny stories from the times you’ve watched (David Lee’s dog) Cooper?

Cooper is a unique dog… taking him for a “walk” actually means going outside and standing around while he pees and sniffs everything. As my wife puts it, “he doesn’t walk, he waddles.”

Regardless I can’t help but have an affinity for the little guy; there’s something appealing about an animal that is so genuinely pleased with everyone and everything. Despite popular belief, he is in fact potty trained.

Haha!

How’s married life?

I recommend it.

Your wife is English, right? Let’s play England or ‘Merica…

Better weather? America has more diversity. I enjoy occasional dreary weather but England is just always dreary.

Better food? It’s a trade-off. America has better quality food in restaurants, but England supermarkets sell better produce.

Better surf? America has more beaches and better surf. I double-checked this fact with our resident pro surfer, Henri Duong. (Although, I gotta say, Ireland has some pretty beautiful beaches).

Better sightseeing? I’m not the most traveled person at Sleepy Giant… but from what I’ve seen America is larger and more culturally and geologically diverse than England. But England has an old, tangible western history that can be experienced just by walking around in the city. For instance, in America most buildings are younger than 300, but in England people still go to church in buildings from the 10th century.

Better TV shows? American television shows are better. Although, the commercials in this country are absolutely mind-numbing. I don’t watch TV for that very reason.

Thanks, Mitch!

#sleepygiant #webproducer #interview

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sleepygiantblog · 13 years ago

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Meet Bob Tsai, VP of Development

Education: BS Computer Science/Mathematics, University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign

Years at Sleepy Giant: 5

Interests: Relaxing with my wife and kids, fishing, golfing, reading, playing video games

What were you doing before you became a Giant?

I’d like to preface my response by saying that Dave Lee and I go quite a ways back; My fake ID in college had his name on it! How that came about is actually quite interesting, but I’ll forgo telling the story for brevity. Also, you’ll note from my answer above that I went to the same university as both Matt and Jen. I didn’t know Matt, but I was friends with Jen.

Often, Dave and I would have conversations that would end up with him trying to recruit me to come work with or for him. The last time we spoke was at a bachelor party in Vegas… it might’ve even been mine but I don’t remember (more stories!). In any case, he was telling me about this new upstart company he was joining that was into video games. That company was K2 Network. Needless to say, I was quite intrigued at the prospect of working in the gaming industry. At the time, I was working for a consulting firm on projects for large corporations and some universities building everything from web apps to large thick client desktop applications which, while actually quite challenging due to variances in process, documentation and breadth of technologies used, started to become a bit uninspiring.

One day, driving from work in the middle of a Chicago winter, I ended up slipping on a patch of ice on a hill not too far from my house. Fortunately, the road was empty so no one was injured, but it was then that I decided to finally take Dave up on his offer and move out to sunny Southern California. I gave him a call and about a month later I was in Irvine as a Senior Applications Engineer at K2 Network.

TL;DR – I was working at K2 Network with Dave and Matt

Why did you decide to join Sleepy Giant?

Approximately three months after starting at K2, Dave and I were talking and he tells me that he and Matt are both leaving to start up their own company. As you can imagine, I was a bit taken aback as I had just moved my family out so that I could work with him. In classic Dave style, he assuages me by saying, “Don’t worry, after Matt and I work out all the details and get things setup, you’re going to come join us… but you’ll have to take a pay cut”. How enticing!

While money is of course important, it isn’t my primary motivator. As such, the decision to leave K2 was actually quite an easy one to make. Don’t get me wrong, there were/are a bunch of bright folks there and I learned much about the industry. However, the opportunity to work on a system, from a completely blank slate, and attempt to solve many of the operational inefficiencies that clearly plagued the online gaming space was difficult to pass up. Further, Dave happens to be one of the hardest working people I know. I trusted him and, by extension, Matt… and still do! For those curious, my salary has since been adjusted and I’m no longer making less money than I was at K2.

TL;DR – Stop being lazy and just read it

You were Employee #3 at a nascent gaming start-up, what were those first couple of years like?

Extremely difficult. I had worked at startups before, so late hours, having to wear many hats, financial concerns, etc… were not really that new to me. However, it felt like all of that was ratcheted up a notch (or 10) since I joined so early in the company’s lifecycle. We’re talking sleeping at the office several nights out of the week, having to crank out several side projects like game patchers and launchers (in C++ and C#), while at the same time trying to ship the first iteration of the platform in a language and framework I had never used before (Ruby/Rails).

Any funny stories from that time?

Haha, of course! I think it might’ve been our one year anniversary and we went to 333. That happens to be a bar that is commonly frequented by what I believe in today’s nomenclature is known as a “cougar”. In any case, Dave was being Dave and he brought back a couple of older females that he’d just told we’re the founders of Facebook. While it was already quite popular back then, it didn’t have anywhere near the ubiquity that it has today. They TOTALLY bought it! It was actually pretty hilarious. There’s actually quite a bit more to the story, the details of which I cannot disclose. As an aside, I will say that that was the night I officially joined the “I Hate Cooper” club.

Is it true that you used to fish out of the old Newport Harbor office?

Yes, it’s absolutely true. In fact, Dave and I have been a stone’s throw from a good fishing location at all of our previous offices. Obviously, that’s no longer true, but the copious amount of space, adequate air conditioning, and fast internet (I’m not on wireless) more than make up for it.

Of course, the interesting part of all of this is that at the Newport Harbor office (office #2) we were literally right on the water. We also happened to be three stories up. At the back of the building, there was a staircase that, on occasion, we would fish from while at the office very late at night. While the sight of it was comical enough, even more hilarious was when Dave ended up catching a stingray and had to reel it up the three stories. To top it off, he ended up getting stung by said stingray. In my fit of laughter, while he’s complaining about the “pain”, I suggested to him that he stop being such a baby (I used other words). After a few more minutes of his whimpering, we check out his hand in the light (of the office) and it’s swollen akin to those cartoons where the character smashes a hammer down on their thumb. Needless to say, my laughter increased exponentially. It was such a surreal moment, thought I might’ve been having a flashback from my college days!

What are you currently working on?

Up until very recently, I have been very heads down working on TERA. I think it’s fair to say I pretty much spear headed that entire project from planning to project management and, of course, the programming. Along the way, people such as Bill and Robin were brought up to speed and have since taken the reins. Since its commercial launch, I’ve been trying to focus more on the next iterations of the platform (Catapult / Slingshot). That said, we’re still in the planning phase for Catapult and, due to getting side tracked by some other projects, haven’t been able to help Chris Bielinski, who is leading the Slingshot effort, as much as I’d like to. In about two weeks from now, Catapult will be my primary focus with Slingshot work filling in the gaps.

If you had asked me this question about a year and a half ago, the answer would’ve been drastically different as I was more involved in all aspects of operations from production, project management, and was even fielding some very late night infrastructure issues; the Kiev folks from Vogster had my Skype and would use it often late at night since they would see me online. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how thankful I am for the efforts of Tim Mansfield, our Director of Engineering, which have been instrumental in smoothing out many of the kinks in the development group, the result of which is a significant reason why my answer is different today.

What has been most rewarding about your experience at Sleepy Giant?

As I mentioned above in the question about the early days at SGE, it was REALLY difficult. There were many times I very much wanted to quit. I’m so glad I didn’t because the experience literally changed me. I’ve always been an extremely hard worker; 60 hour weeks were not uncommon. However, like I said, those early days took it to a whole new level. Needless to say, things slowly got better (and continue to do so). After a couple of years, I looked around and realized how rapidly the landscape of the company was changing for the better and was extremely proud because I had a part in it, but more importantly, that I didn’t quit. It made me realize that it’s true, you can do anything if you are willing to do whatever it takes; previously, I suppose I just underestimated what “whatever it takes” meant. Today, I feel extremely confident that I’m up to any challenge life throws my way, work-related and otherwise (I have two kids after all).

What do you do when you’re not at the office or working from home?

I have two kids, seven and three, which takes up a majority of my time when I’m not working. Lately, we’ve been going fishing quite a bit on the weekends. We also have season passes to Disneyland so we try to make it out there on occasion. Dave and I are trying to get out and golf more, but that’s still limited due to my commitments with the wife and kids.

I also read a lot of books, watch a substantial amount of TV and am apparently one of the few people who still enjoys playing Diablo III.

Chicago or Newport Beach…

Better weather?

Do you seriously have to ask?

Better food?

Chicago, but only because the comparable restaurants that I would like here are all in LA and I avoid that area like the plague.

Better sports?

Chicago. Go Cubs, Bears, Bulls!

Better sightseeing?

Newport Beach / West Coast in general if you’re talking about nature. Same goes if you’re talking about sights one might see at the beach

Better fishing?

Chicago / Midwest in general. I’m more of a freshwater / bass fan.

Thanks, Bob!

#sleepygiant #interview

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