Get ready to ROLL OUT and battle with Bumblebee plus your other favorite Transformers characters in a new adventure from the makers of Pokémon GO!
Working on Transformers: Heavy Metal was probably the biggest learning experience I've ever gone through. I came on as a contract game designer helping develop innovative AR features, as well as in-store activations at Walmart. I loved the studio, and was thrilled to be brought on as a full time game designer. Eventually I was promoted to lead game designer on the project, directly working with my counterparts at Niantic and Hasbro.
Heavy Metal had been in development for a long time when I joined, but key KPIs weren't hitting targets, and extensive iteration had left the project with many loose ends. As lead game designer, my goals were to refocus the design while navigating a complex codebase, and integrate existing high-end assets effectively. After a year of leadership, I improved Niantic and Hasbro's trust in our design team and helped restore confidence in the project's potential.
Unfortunately, due to restructuring at Niantic, Heavy Metal was cancelled in June 2022 along with several other announced and unnanounced titles—however Niantic continues to be an awesome parter with VVS, and after the cancellation of HM, they brought us on to design and develop core features for Pokémon GO.