William Todd
Johns Creek,GA
Summary
With a proven track record at Global Worldwide Inc., I spearheaded the engineering team to launch Kingdom Maker, achieving significant improvements in user retention and crash rates. My expertise in system architecture and leadership in cross-functional teams have been pivotal in driving project success and operational efficiency, showcasing technical and managerial acumen.
Overview
34
34
years of professional experience
Work History
VP of Engineering
Global Worldwide Inc.
Atlanta, GA
06.2019 - Current
- Key role in the successful launch of Kingdom Maker. Responsible for all major engineering decisions and the support of all development software used by the entire team. Responsible for managing a worldwide remote team, including technical support for all systems and software across all disciplines.
- My role is the nexus of engineering, product, design, DevOps, and deployment. I work daily with the product team on improving KM's KPIs by monitoring key metrics, new user funnels, and implementing solutions for improvement. As a result, we have achieved target retention and conversion rates, with store ratings of 4.8 on Apple (US) and 4.5 on Google Play (across all countries).
- Collaborated with senior management to define project requirements and deliverables. I work directly with project management to coordinate resources, and remove obstacles. I also deploy all software updates to production for clients, services, and game data.
- Implemented agile methodology across multiple departments to improve workflow efficiencies. This also included oversight of a refactor of UI code to accommodate a larger team, so that file contention did not slow the team down.
- Developed engineering strategies and objectives to ensure successful product launches. Worked directly with the engineering team on a strategy to reduce memory fragmentation and garbage collection. This resulted in an 84% improvement in ANRs on Android devices, per session. Additionally, Android crash rates were significantly reduced by 94%. Kingdom Maker's 28-day moving average ANR rate and crash rate are 0.13% and 0.08%, respectively, far below platform thresholds.
- Ensure that game downtime is kept to an absolute minimum. This requires engineering solutions where new software and game data can be deployed without maintenance downtime. As a result, we have only experienced a few minutes of downtime in the last six months, and are typically within three nines for any given year.
- Oversaw the development of highly scalable backend microservices mesh written in TypeScript, running on AWS, and scaling with K8s.
- Oversaw the development of our data-driven design. Game objects are created in data, and deployed at run time, consumed by clients and services. With the exception of completely new functionality, this allows the game to continually improve and expand without requiring app submissions. Additionally, the game supports a feature toggle system, which allows us to remotely turn new features on and off at the touch of a button.
- Managed the recruitment, training, and development of a highly skilled engineering team, including our overseas Vietnam engineering team.
Technical Director
KIXEYE Inc
08.2012 - 06.2019
- Played a key role as an original founding team member in the development and launch of the 4x mobile game, Kingdom Maker.
- Responsible for recruiting and hiring the entire engineering team, overseeing in its entirety both client and server architecture and development, making key decisions regarding middleware, tools, processes, pipelines, and reviewing game designs, while providing LOE and delivery estimates. I also stepped in as the ad hoc project manager due to frequent PJM turnover. Also contributed hands-on coding as needed on the client, Voronoi-based automated world-building system, camera systems, etc.
- With a small team of about 15, we successfully launched the initial beta of Kingdom Maker in early 2019 on the Google Play Store to collect early key performance metrics, such as retention, engagement, ratings, and feedback. D1 retention exceeded targets of 25%, engagement crushed expectations with average playing times of over ten minutes, and ratings were above expectations at 4.6. The project was officially green-lit to form Global Worldwide.
Director of Development/Technical Director
THQ Inc
02.2010 - 07.2012
- Led efforts in the advanced technology group, removing obstacles that blocked or hindered the project, 'WWE All Stars,' from shipping.
- Responsibilities included correcting TCR/TRC compliance violations, implementing downloadable demos in all territories, debugging and fixing crashes, and assisting in the final submission on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms.
- Responsible for managing, scheduling, hiring, and driving the deliverables of the studio title UFC4.
- Responsibilities also included studio technical direction, and working directly with engineers on improvements to existing technology.
- Led online initiatives for UFC4, working directly with the internal development team on how to implement online features and systems such as user authentication, online store, cloud storage, game data database system, consumables, character editor, and DLC.
President/General Manager
THQ Inc / Incinerator Studios LLC
07.2005 - 02.2010
- Co-founder of a console software development studio.
- Led successful growth from 5 to 55 employees, and transformed operations from a single project into a multiple project studio.
- Responsible for driving the timely completion of product feature sets within budget, financial and project planning, business development, hiring, managing costs, initiating collaboration with other studios, coding, and the final delivery of games.
- Led the successful commercial delivery of five retail console titles on all home console platforms.
- Studio maintained an overall 28% profit margin, generating $90-100 million in gross revenue.
- Consistently achieved profitability, at high productivity, with low attrition, and timely results.
- Was identified and asked by senior management to manage an additional 45-employee THQ studio after successful results, bringing the total size to over 100 employees.
Head of Software Engineering/Lead Programmer
Sony Computer Entertainment America
07.1996 - 07.2005
- Contributed directly as lead engineer to complete 'Twisted Metal 3' in less than 9 months, despite no previous code access. Sold over 1.2 million units.
- Direct coding contributor and producer on 'Twisted Metal 4.' Completed on time, and sold over 1.1 million units.
- Responsibilities included coding of game systems, graphics systems, scene management, tools, direct management of engineering leads, engineering schedules, code architecture and design, task allocation, memory management, optimizations, delivery of final code, establishing hiring standards, coding best practices, and structural team changes to improve results.
- Responsible for leading the team on 'Twisted Metal' PlayStation 1 titles, managing over 35 engineers to develop NFL and NCAA football titles on the PlayStation 2, and technical pre-planning for the PlayStation 3.
Lead Programmer
Eidetic/Sony Bend
02.1995 - 07.1996
- Lead programmer responsible for coding the game 'All Star Baseball,' a Windows 95 multimedia baseball game for the client Accolade. The game shipped on time and was well received, which was instrumental in landing future projects with Accolade.
Programmer
Mindscape/The Software Toolworks
05.1991 - 02.1995
- Programmer for DOS and Windows 3.1 CD-ROM-based, award-winning multimedia products. Contributor to the Miracle Piano Teaching System.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Computer Engineering
Boston University
06-1990
Skills
- System architecture
- Application Development
- Cross-functional team leadership
- Technical leadership
- Project management
- Continuous integration
Shipped Games
- Kingdom Maker, 06/19 iOS, Android, VP Engineering
- WWE All Stars, 03/11, X360, PS3, engineering consultant, THQ
- Cars: Race O’ Rama, 09/09, X360, PS3, Wii, PS2, President, Incinerator Studios LLC
- SpongeBob; Globs of Doom, 09/08, Wii, PS2, general manager, THQ
- MX vs ATV: Untamed, 12/07, Wii, PS2, general manager, THQ
- Cars: Mater-National, 10/07, Wii, PS3, general manager, THQ
- Cars, 10/06, Wii, general manager, THQ
- NFL Gameday 2004, 08/03, PS2, technical director, SCEA
- NCAA Gamebreaker 2004, 08/03, PS2, technical director, SCEA
- NFL Gameday 2003, 08/02, PS2, programmer, SCEA
- Twisted Metal 4, 10/99, PS1, producer/programmer, SCEA
- Twisted Metal 3, 10/98, PS1, lead programmer, SCEA
- CART World Series Racing, 10/97, PS1, lead programmer, SCEA
- All Star Baseball, 08/95, PC, lead programmer, Eidetic/SCEA
- How Multimedia Computer’s Work, 10/94, PC, programmer, Mindscape
- 20th Century Almanac, 10/93, PC, programmer, The Software Toolworks
- Newsweek Interactive, 10/92, PC, programmer, The Software Toolworks
- The Miracle Piano Teaching System, 11/91, PC, music scripter, The Software Toolworks
Timeline
VP of Engineering
Global Worldwide Inc.
06.2019 - Current
Technical Director
KIXEYE Inc
08.2012 - 06.2019
Director of Development/Technical Director
THQ Inc
02.2010 - 07.2012
President/General Manager
THQ Inc / Incinerator Studios LLC
07.2005 - 02.2010
Head of Software Engineering/Lead Programmer
Sony Computer Entertainment America
07.1996 - 07.2005
Lead Programmer
Eidetic/Sony Bend
02.1995 - 07.1996
Programmer
Mindscape/The Software Toolworks
05.1991 - 02.1995
Bachelor of Science - Computer Engineering
Boston University
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