Starr Long is a thirty year video game and technology industry veteran. Seen here at Pixar during his time at Disney

 

Starr Long is a thirty year video game and technology industry veteran with deep roots in online gaming including the seminal Ultima Online (the longest running MMO of all time)

  • Development history includes: PC / Mac / Linux Online, Enterprise Platform, Web Browser (Flash), iOS, Facebook and Android Product Development
  • Twenty-five+ year career of making games
  • Began career at legendary studio, Origin Systems.
  • Director of Ultima Online, the longest running MMO in history. UO is often credited with creating the Massively Online Game industry and currently holds 8 Guinness World Records. In 2010, UO was inducted into the Online Game Developers Conference Hall of Fame, the first MMO to be so honored.
  • In 2000 co-founded Destination Games and later that year it was acquired by NCsoft.
  • In 2008 named one of the Top 20 Most Influential People in the Massively Multiplayer Online Industry by Beckett Massive Online Gamer Magazine.
  • In 2009 joined The Walt Disney Company as an Executive Producer, expanding experience to Disney Parent App on Facebook, mini-games in Club Penguin, Club Penguin mobile, iOS apps (ranked in Top 5 Educational Games), and the Disney Connected Learning Platform. 
  • In 2013 joined Portalarium and led Shroud of the Avatar to be second highest crowdfunded video game to ever ship.
  • In 2018 began working at The Acceleration Agency
  • LinkedIn Profile                        

Executive Producer, The Acceleration Agency, Austin, TX (Aug 2018 – Present)

  • Global User Experience and Technical Consulting
  • Carnival Corporation Global Experience & Innovation
  • Secret Cinema
  • Universal Studios
  • INVI Mindhealth

Strategic Advisor, Catnip Games, Austin, TX (2020 – Present)

Strategic Advisor, Evolved Games (2020 – 2022)

Executive Producer, Portalarium, Austin, TX (2013 – 2019)

  • Management and Creative Direction of Shroud of the Avatar

Advisor / Lecturer, Denius-Sams Gaming Academy, Austin, TX (2014 – 2017)

  • Advisory Board that helps determine curriculum
  • Guest Lecturer on various subjects including budgeting, company culture, and product vision

Consultant, Stellar Effect, Austin, TX (2013 – Present)

  • Video game consultation
  • Clients have included Mattel and Disney

Consultant, Guidepoint Global (2010 – Present)

  • Video game consultation

Executive Producer, The Walt Disney Company, Los Angeles, CA (2009 – 2013)

  • Management and Design oversight for:
    • Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Pixie Hollow, and Toontown
    • Club Penguin Mobile
    • Disney Connected Learning Platform
    • Disney Parent App on Facebook
    • 5 Educational Games for iOS (All in Top 10 Educational Games simultaneously)
    • Cinderella: Shapes & Patterns (Top 5 Educational Game including #1 on iPad)
    • Cars: Numbers & Counting (Top 5 Educational Game including #2 on iPad)
    • Ariel: Numbers & Counting (Top 5 Educational Game including #2 on iPhone)
    • Toy Story: Letters & Sounds (Top 5 Educational Game including #1 on iPhone)
    • Fairies: Art (Top 10 Educational Game)
    • 2 unannounced virtual worlds
    • 8 Disney Connected Learning mini-games in Club Penguin: Pufflescape (#2 Most Popular Game in CP), Bits & Bolts, Jelly Bean Counters, and EPF Field Ops
  • Responsible for 300 local staff (Art, Design, Engineering, Production)
  • Coordination of 8 remote studios simultaneously in Austin, San Diego, Redmond, San Francisco, Quebec City, Kelowna (British Columbia), London, Prague
  • Led conversion of entire Disney Online Studios (800+ staff) to Agile Methodology with synched sprints
  • Served on Product Council that reviewed all Disney Interactive Projects

Consultant, Ridgetop Research (2009 – present)

  • Consulting with investment clients on videogame industry topics

Producer, NCsoft Corporation / Destination Games, Austin, TX (2000 – 2008)

  • Co-founder of Destination Games
  • Created original Destination Games business plan and budget
  • Facilitated and coordinated initial meetings with NCsoft Corporation for the purchase of Destination Games
  • Supervising all areas of production for Tabula Rasa, including Art, Programming, Design, and QA
  • Responsible for schedules, budget, headcount, recruiting, and media relations for Tabula Rasa
  • Consulted with production teams for Lineage 1 & 2 (North America), City of Heroes, and Guild Wars
  • Shipped Tabula Rasa in 2007

 Consultant, Society of Industry Leaders (2005 – present)

  • Consulting with investment clients on videogame industry topics

 Board of Advisors Member, Ageia, Santa Clara, CA, (2003 – 2008)

  • Member of Board of Advisors for Ageia Corporation, which manufactured physics hardware for the PC.  Ageia was acquired by NVIDIA corporation in 2008

 Contributor, Game Development Essentials (2003 – present)

  • Ongoing contributor to and reviewer of the book series about game design, audio, localization, and project management.

 Project Director/Producer, Origin Systems / Electronic Arts, Austin, TX, (1995 – 2000)                                                                          

  • Responsible for all areas of production including Art, Programming, and Design for Ultima Online, including schedules, budget, headcount, recruiting, and media relations
  • Projects included Ultima IX: Ascension, Ultima Online, Ultima Online Live, Ultima Online 2

 Quality Assurance Lead, Origin Systems / Electronic Arts, Austin, TX, (1992 – 1995)

  • Responsible for all aspects of testing for products, including test plans and sign-off procedures
  • Projects included Ultima VII: Part 2 Serpent Isle, Wing Commander III, Bioforge, System Shock, Ultima Underworld 2, Ultima VIII: Pagan, Wing Commander Armada, Privateer, Strike Commander, Ultima Runes of Virtue 2 (Gameboy), and Shadowcaster  

  Skills and Attributes

  • Managing/Scheduling/Budgeting multi-million dollar projects with 300+ local staff
  • Outsourcing of content: Art, Sound Effects, Engineering, Design, Development with up to 4 remote locations
  • SCRUM and Agile project methodology (8+ years)
  • Game Design (especially Massively Multi-Player Online) including writing and editing
  • PC Online, Enterprise Platform, Database, Web Browser (Flash), iOS, Facebook, and Android Product Development
  • Strategic Partnership Management (Apple, Google, Amazon, NVIDIA, Dell)
  • Quality Assurance
  • Media Relations and Public Speaking/Presenting
  • Microsoft SharePoint, Project, and Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint)
  • Keynote
  • Live Theatre Stage Management and Set/Sound/Lighting design/implementation
  • Live Music Lighting design and implementation

Education

  • Louisiana State University, B.A. in Theatre

Projects

  • Medallion Class Cruise Experience – Carnival Corporation
  • Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues (Exec Producer) – Portalarium (PC, OSX, Linux)
  • Cinderella: Shapes & Patterns (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (iOS)
  • Cars: Numbers & Counting (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (iOS)
  • Ariel: Numbers & Counting (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (iOS)
  • Toy Story: Letters (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (iOS)
  • Fairies: Art (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (iOS)
  • Fairies Fashion Boutique (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (iOS)
  • Toontown (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (PC Online)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean Online (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (PC Online)
  • Pixie Hollow (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (Browser)
  • Disney Parent App (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (Facebook)
  • Club Penguin Learning Games (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (Browser)
    • Pufflescape
    • Bits & Bolts
    • Jelly Bean Counters
    • 5 EPF Field Ops
  • Virtual World 2 (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (Browser, iOS, Android)
  • Virtual World 1 (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (Browser)
  • Disney Connected Learning Platform (Exec Producer) – Disney Corporate / DIMG (All platforms)
  • Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa (Producer) – NCsoft (PC Online)
  • Guild Wars (Consultant) – NCsoft (PC Online)
  • City of Heroes (Consultant) – NCsoft (PC Online)
  • Lineage 2 (Consultant for North America) – NCsoft (PC Online)
  • Lineage (Consultant for North America) – NCsoft (PC Online)
  • Ultima Online: The Second Age (Consultant) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC Online)
  • Ultima Online (Director) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC Online)
  • Ultima IX: Ascension (Associate Producer) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
  • Bioforge (Quality Assurance Lead / Associate Producer) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
  • Ultima VIII: Pagan (Quality Assurance Lead: French Version) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
  • Metal Morph (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (SNES)
  • Ultima Runes of Virtue II (QA Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (Game Boy/SNES)
  • Wing Commander Armada (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
  • Ultima Underworld 2 (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
  • Ultima VII, Part Two: The Silver Seed (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
  • Ultima VII, Part Two: Serpent Isle (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
  • Pacific Strike (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
  • Wing Commander Academy (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
  • Wing Commander: Privateer (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
  • Strike Commander (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)

Awards

  • Game Developers Choice Online Awards Hall of Fame: Ultima Online 2010
  • Top 20 Most Influential People in the Massively Multiplayer Online Industry 2008
  • Manager of the Year 1999, ORIGIN Systems
  • Most Valuable Player of the Year 1997, ORIGIN Systems
  • Fireman of the Year 1994, ORIGIN Systems

Trade Shows and Affiliations 

  • International Game Developer’s Association
  • Ridgetop Research
  • Guidepoint Global
  • Society of Industry Leaders
  • Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences: Founding member, serving on panels for game design and online games for the annual AIAS awards since its founding
  • Game Developers Conference: Given presentations on project management at 5 conferences.
  • Game Developers Conference Europe: Featured speaker on project management
  • Electronic Entertainment Exposition: Served on panels about online games at 4 expos
  • Digital Hollywood: Served on panel about online games
  • Consumer Electronics Show: Served on panel about online gaming
  • Austin Game Developers Conference (now GDC Online): Featured speaker on project management
  • South by Southwest Interactive: Served on panels about online gaming at two conferences
  • Games Conference (Leipzig): Featured speaker on project management
  • Produced By Conference: Served on panel about movies and videogame production
  • Captivate Conference
  • NAAEE
  • Association of Professional Futurists
  • Producers Guild

Favorite Games

  • Diablo 2
  • Rock Band 1 & 2
  • Grand Theft Auto 3: Vice City
  • Starcraft 1 & 2
  • Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
  • World of Warcraft
  • Fallout 1, 3, and New Vegas
  • Civilization Revolutions
  • FTL
  • Borderlands 1 & 2
  • Hearthstone