MAGIC Speaker Series-Blizzard
**Generalists and Collaboration Stories from the Trenches**
Hayley and Leo are excited to share their experiences as game developers in various projects, with an emphasis on being Generalist Designers (a variety of roles). They will also share their passion and stories on what Collaboration means to them.
Bios
Hayley Williams is a game designer who specializes in world design and level design. Before working at Vicarious Visions and Blizzard on the world design team, Hayley worked primarily as a level designer on a variety of projects but mainly at Hi-Rez Studios on the games Paladins: Champions of the Realm, SMITE and Realm Royale. Hayley has a BFA in Game Development and Design from The Savannah College of Art and Design. When not working, Hayley spends time as a dungeon master (D&D 5e and Pf2e), playing games as well as pursuing digital art.
Leo has been in the industry for 23 years, with 20 of those at Blizzard Albany (aka Vicarious Visions) in Upstate NY, he recently joined Velan Studios in Troy NY. He started his career in Activision QA and quickly shifted to Level Design at VV in 2002 for the Tony Hawk handhelds titles. Over 25 titles shipped, with the majority of them in a creative leadership role. Across franchises like Tony Hawk, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Skylanders, Crash Bandicoot, Destiny and Diablo. Leo is passionate about creative leadership, solving tough challenges with people, fostering a good team atmosphere and promoting an always improving mindset. He always seeks to carve time out of his main leadership responsibilities to take on hands-on dev work, doesn’t want to get too far from the trenches. He was recently the Lead Designer for the highly acclaimed, multi-award winning title Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. He holds a patent for his contributions on the Skylanders Franchise.
Event Snapshot
When and Where
Who
Open to the Public
Interpreter Requested?
No