Diablo 4
Vicarious Visions & Activision Publishing
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Boss Pod Team Lead
Boss Pod Team Lead
I was selected as half of an initial team of two highly skilled creators with exceptional professionalism and communication skills to begin the process of integrating Vicarious Visions with the Diablo 4 team. We were asked to investigate priorities and process initially which quickly became a request to bolster the World Bosses that would ship with Diablo 4.
I was responsible for holding the vision for Avarice, leading the cross discipline development team, being the point of contact for all discussions both from VV and Blizzard, and adhereing to our schedule.
The team grew as the request increased steadily over time. From initially just Avarice to also Wandering Death, an additional wildlife creature, multiple bosses, and The Butcher.
Each World Boss and The Butcher were Director level priorities that required alignment with leads of Design/Art and regular check-ins/reviews with all of the D4 Directors.
This role ended when the Diablo 4 Game Director asked me to apply to the open Encounter (Monster) Design Team Lead position and I was hired into Blizzard nearly 6 months ahead of the rest of VV.
September 2020 - August 2021
Avarice the Gold Cursed
Avarice the Gold Cursed
Blizzard provided initial design and concept that were pre-approved by their directors.
We took those and fleshed them out with a deeper mechanics and darker visualization. These departures and our external team nature led to difficult conversations that were ultimately necessary to proving the team's capabilities.
This was a massive onboarding experience for the VV team.
Wandering Death
Wandering Death
In just a few months of development it was clear that Avarice would be a major success and the VV Creative leads took the opportunity to pitch the creation of boss that would be run from start to finish by the VV team.
Working together with VV Leadership I ran brainstorms, concept, set design pillars, and managed the Senior designer leading the development.
The Butcher
The Butcher
Seeing how well the team was handling two world bosses the Diablo 4 design Directors asked the team to look into creating a throwback character in The Butcher.
The team was asked to create a monster that reproduced the terror of encountering the relentless hunter without pushing the schedule.
I evaluated options, discussed with Art leads, set design pillars, and managed the Senior II leading the development
The Butcher was so well received that Blizzard invested the time to create a video detailing the team's work to bring it to life.
Final Count
Final Count
Avarice, the Gold Cursed
Wandering Death
Scorpion wildlife creature
5 Dungeon bosses
The Butcher
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