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