ROCKET SCIENCE GAMES ON NEW TRAJECTORY WITH STRONG STUDIO TEAM
SAN FRANCISCO — Feb. 13, 1996 — Rocket Science Games Inc.'s President, CEO and Co-Founder Steve Blank Tuesday announced a major step in Rocket Science's studio restructuring campaign with the hiring of a new creative team: Bill Davis, vice president of product development and Will Harvey, vice president of engineering.
"Rocket Science Games is moving forward with a simple, clear and vital philosophy, that great games begin with great game play, first and foremost, supported by leading edge technology," said Blank. "Bill and Will both have proven track records in the games business, with a high success quotient. In a relatively young industry, they have a rare level of experience."
Davis, who reports to COO Jim Wickett, leads game design and production for the Rocket Science studio and is also Rocket Science's spearhead for pursuing outside licensing relationships and forging creative partnerships for the company.
Before joining Rocket Science, Davis was vice president of creative development at Sierra On-Line. Joining Sierra in 1989 as their first art director, Davis' art and visual arts experience was critical to the development of such hit titles as Sierra's first CD-ROM game, "Mixed Up Mother Goose," and the SPA award-winning "King's Quest V." In 1992, six more of Davis' Sierra On-Line games were nominated for SPA awards.
Prior to his experience in the interactive entertainment industry, Davis honed his technical/art skills in television and film. During this period he designed and directed more than 150 animated television commercials, created numerous illustrations for a variety of television shows, and won an Emmy Award for his work on the piece "NBC, The First Fifty Years: A Closer Look."
Harvey, who also reports to Wickett, is responsible for managing the engineering and programming of games and building the technical teams. Prior to beginning his tenure at Rocket Science, Harvey headed his own company, Sandcastle, whose titles include "The Immortal." Rocket Science absorbed Sandcastle in 1995, with Will joining the Rocket Science team. Harvey's game developing experience began at the age of 15, when he developed "Music Construction Set" for Electronic Arts, which went on to sell more than 400,000 units.
Rocket Science Games has hired more than 20 experienced game designers, producers and engineers this past year, among them James "Purple" Hampton, game designer and producer on "Alien vs. Predator" for Atari Jaguar; Parker Davis, award-winning designer for Disney's "Jungle Book" for Super NES, design developer for "RoboCop vs. The Terminator" and "Ectosphere" for Virgin; Darren Atherton, Electronic Arts' "Bump in the Night" producer for PlayStation and associate producer and assistant producer for half a dozen Learning Company titles; and J. Patton, former director of licensees and contracts at Atari, who helped bring "Brett Hull NHL Hockey," "Breakout 2000," and the "Interactive Rocky Horror Show" out for Jaguar.
Rocket Science Games publishes and markets next-generation gaming and interactive entertainment software for PCs, the Internet and video game consoles. Rocket Science products and merchandise can be ordered on-line at http://www.rocketsci.com or by phone: (800) 98 ROCKET.