In this chat, we'll all have the chance to ask a prominent figure in the gaming industry questions about his experience, his methods, and anything else you could want to know. Please send us your questions in advance, or bring them to the event!
After a decade running Epic Games, Mike Capps now serves as a strategic advisor for a few interesting and quite varied companies such as Unity, Sphero, and Remedy Entertainment. He also takes on occasional lecturing engagements on topics ranging from leading creative teams to business productivity. He enjoys working with teams that help him learn, are made up of kind people, and have a mission that will make a positive impact upon society.
As always with our meetups, this is not a "sit back and listen" meeting, but a chance for us to bring together a cross disciplinary group of people to think about the relationship between UX and entertainment. Mostly though, we'll get to know one another, and have some fun.
Please RSVP!
Update
Discussion at the meetup addressed the connection between gaming and UX, the emerging technologies of VR and AR, and the risk-averse "Hollywood" mentality in today's gaming industry. Bringing a UX perspective into the gaming world is a fairly new concept, but dedicated in-studio UX teams are becoming common now. Mike conjectured that while great graphics capture an audience’s attention, superb UX is essential to keep users engaged. As to AR/VR, Mike expects VR, which creates an intense immersive experience, to be used in brief bursts for education, training and entertainment. AR on the other hand has the potential to transform each day of our lives. Finally, Mike bemoaned the blockbuster-focused nature of the gaming industry. Instead of making something that “doesn’t suck,” the industry should make something polarizing: if 70% love it and 30% hate it, that's the right mix!