PROBABLYMONSTERS - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Leader
• VP Global Marketing

Anne Marko is a proven leader in customer-focused marketing and sales strategy who strives for equal collaboration to embrace the strengths of all team members. A former executive at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, she brings 20 years of experience spanning marketing, publishing, sales operations, and digital storefronts to her role at ProbablyMonsters. She has worked with franchises and partners such as LEGO, DC, and Mortal Kombat, and loves the constant evolution of games and the gaming industry. As VP Global Marketing, she runs the global marketing organization at ProbablyMonsters, uniting voices across the company in service to the company mission. She wants to reach both gamers and game makers with a message that it's not just about making entertaining games, but also making the process of creating games enjoyable and rewarding. Her marketing philosophy is underpinned by the concepts of embracing change as a prerequisite for success, simplifying to avoid clutter by stripping projects down to their key elements, and being open-minded about seeking advice across the board. Anne originally came from the fashion industry and landed at Activision by chance. But when she attended her first E3, she instantly knew this was the industry she wanted to be in. At Activision, she built retail and brand campaigns across franchises like Call of Duty, DreamWorks, Marvel, and Tony Hawk. Next, she joined Warner Bros., where she built a world-class gaming organization from the ground up. She wore many hats during 15 years at the company, from overseeing the events team to building award-winning retail campaigns to structuring strategy on digital storefronts. As VP of Trade Marketing, she structured and led teams to create launch and catalog plans for all WB Games titles. As VP, Channel Marketing and Sales Operations, she added sales operations and digital publishing responsibilities while onboarding top-tier partners such as Psyonix (Rocket League) into the WB publishing process. Before joining ProbablyMonsters, she was Vice President, Digital Storefronts, where she helped lead a team towards digital transformation that reset WB's revenue strategy. Anne graduated from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management and has fulfilled executive course work at MIT's Sloan School of Management. In 2019, her team won a Brand Blazer award from Verizon Media and was featured in AdWeek for the Mortal Kombat 11 marketing campaign with Xbox. She loves to cook and is teaching her daughters to bake. She also loves watching her daughter try games such as Lost Words, Stardew Valley, and Minecraft with a fresh set of eyes. A former executive at Warner Bros. Games, Anne Marko's 20 years of experience spans marketing, publishing, sales operations, digital storefronts, and partners such as LEGO, DC, and Mortal Kombat.

The four founders have worked closely together for over a decade and collaborated on successful original RPGs, like Torchlight and Borderlands. They're joined by veteran talent from major studios including Ubisoft, LucasArts, Blizzard, and Gearbox. Read More

Job Titles:

• Professional Advisor to DigiPen Institute of Technology
• Studio Head, Cauldron

Cauldron Studios is headed by Dave Matthews, who has over two decades experience managing large teams while helping build franchises like God of War, Myst, F.E.A.R, and Destiny. Matthews was formerly Lead Character Artist at Sony Computer Entertainment of America and Art Director at Bungie and Monolith Productions. Having shipped over 20 titles across multiple platforms and game engines, Matthews finds his greatest impact in leading teams to excellence. As Studio Head, Matthews is excited to work with highly talented and motivated professionals, helping them push the limits of imagination and execution to deliver compelling worlds, characters, and experiences that delight players around the world. Matthews also serves as a professional advisor to DigiPen Institute of Technology for both the Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts programs, helping to shape curriculums that transform the next generation of talented artists into successful top tier game developers. Matthews believes that the road to creating inspirational and award-winning games starts with the focus and passion of the team. Through generating a solid foundation of respect and nurturing a culture of imagination and possibility, teams are inspired to collaborate, build from each member's strengths, and leverage individual passions to drive execution. These principles are Matthews' cornerstone for growing strong and healthy teams that bring high caliber entertainment to market and forge long lasting relationships with gaming audiences. Dave Matthews brings over two decades of experience managing large teams while helping build franchise like God of War, Myst, F.E.A.R., and Destiny. Having shipped over 20 titles, Matthews finds his greatest impact in leading teams to excellence.

Job Titles:

• Chief Financial Officer
• Formerly CFO at TheTVDB.Com

As CFO of ProbablyMonsters, Kikendall is excited to work with a highly passionate team that focuses on culture first, building strong mentorship, while at the same time having fun and giving back to the community. Kikendall has primary day-to-day responsibility for planning, implementing, managing and controlling all financial-related activities of the company. This includes direct responsibility for accounting, finance, forecasting, strategic planning, treasury, legal, property management, deal analysis and negotiations, investor relationships and partnerships with compliance and private and institutional financing. Kikendall previously held executive and senior financial leadership roles at CliftonLarsonAllen, Oak Harbor Capital, Funko LLC, TheTVDB.com, and Reischling Press Inc. Before that, he worked as public accountant performing audits within the financial services, retail, manufacturing, and other industries. A graduate of Washington State University with a Masters in Accounting, Kikendall lives with his wife in Seattle, Washington. When not looking for ways to improve the financial strength of the business, Kikendall is passport-ready and loves traveling to ease his curiosity about new places, experiences, and cultures. Beyond catching flights, he enjoys discovering Seattle's hidden gems through its culinary delights, wine country, and ever-expanding craft beer scene. Doug Kikendall, formerly CFO at TheTVDB.com and Oak Harbor Capital, brings years of experience in fiscal management, financial reporting, internal controls, human resources, strategic planning, structuring legal entities, and mergers and acquisitions.

Job Titles:

• CEO
• Founder

With over 20 years of games industry success, Harold Ryan has been responsible for generating over $5B of revenue through iconic franchises such as Halo, Destiny, Age of Empires, and MechWarrior. Ryan has established a new category of gaming company. In 2016, he founded ProbablyMonsters to drive positive change in the industry by fostering a developer-led culture in the belief that exceptional games will follow. Five years later, Harold raised $200 million in Series A funding, the largest in video game history. He has pioneered a game development ecosystem for building game studios, create original AAA game IP, and innovate with technologies that bring game developers and players together in a model where everyone can focus on what they do best. This new approach to AAA game development of daring to prioritize stable and creatively rewarding careers for developers is what has positioned ProbablyMonsters as the defender of developers. With over 25 years of games industry success, Harold Ryan has been responsible for generating over $5B of revenue through iconic franchises such as Halo, Destiny, Age of Empires, and MechWarrior.

Job Titles:

• General Counsel

As General Counsel, Jennifer Jolley partners with teams across ProbablyMonsters and its family of studios to set and execute legal strategy and manage risk. She brings a practical, actionable, and business focused approach to navigating legal issues. Jennifer has 25 years of experience working with technology companies and entertainment properties. Before joining ProbablyMonsters, she was Associate General Counsel at Aristocrat Digital, where she served as the chief intellectual property advisor to the company's digital game businesses, Big Fish Games and Product Madness. As an intellectual property expert, she helps to secure and protect IP created by ProbablyMonsters and its studios. Jennifer is a graduate of the University of Washington School of Law and the Arizona State University Honors College. She grew up in Las Vegas and loves retro games. With over 25 years of experience working with technology companies and entertainment properties like Big Fish Games and Product Madness, Jennifer Jolley brings a practical, actionable, and business-focused approach to the role of General Counsel.

Job Titles:

• Creative Director
• Formerly Creative Director at Bungie
• Game Director, Firewalk
• Lead Artist at Oddworld Inhabitants

The Game Director for Firewalk Studios is Ryan Ellis, formerly Creative Director at Bungie and Lead Artist at Oddworld Inhabitants. With nearly 20 years of game industry experience, Ellis has worked in almost every facet of game development and is a leader at building highly successful teams. His mission is to lead Firewalk's talent with a goal of making best-in-class games that inspire and entertain audiences across the world. Ellis began his career creating pre-rendered cinematics for Munch's Oddysee at Oddworld Inhabitants, where he built the entire content tool chain and led the art team on the award-winning Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath. He next co-founded an indie studio that created Poker Smash before joining Bungie Studios as part of the Destiny team. On Destiny, Ellis played numerous key roles as Technical Art Director in the development and shipment of the game. He guided and helped build the world editor used to construct content and was instrumental in the construction of Bungie's unique graphics engine. Ellis built the lighting team from the ground up and directed their work to define the iconic look of Destiny's game world. He also directed and managed a large technical technical art team and was responsible for guiding the boot sequence, opening cinematics, social space, and initial missions for the first 90 minutes of gameplay. As Creative Director, Ellis shipped Destiny: The Dark Below, spearheading the introduction of new storytelling systems and characters leading one of the most successful expansions in the Destiny franchise. As Creative Director of Destiny 2, Ellis led a team of over 600 and multiple partner studios from initial concept greenlight into full production. Ryan Ellis, formerly Creative Director at Bungie and Lead Artist at Oddworld Inhabitants, brings 20 years of game industry experience to Firewalk. Ellis has worked in almost every facet of game development and is a proven leader at building highly successful teams.

Job Titles:

• Chief People Officer
• Chief People Officer / Shannon
• HR and Recruiting Leader
• Member of the Society of Human Resource Management

Armstrong is an HR and recruiting leader with over 20 years of experience in various industries, including technology startups, retail organizations, and finance. Her expertise includes talent identification and development, employee engagement, performance management, organizational design and development, compensation and benefits plans, and HR operations and systems. At ProbablyMonsters she drives the company's human capital management strategy - including talent acquisition and development, compensation and benefits, and employee engagement programs - to support the company's continued growth and innovation. Her employment history includes Human Resources Director for Wagly, where she was responsible for implementing multi-state employee initiatives and all the HR foundational needs for a start-up organization. Prior to that she was the HR Director for Boeing Employees Credit Union, the 4th largest credit union in the United States, where she implemented a companywide performance management system, recruiting process & analytics that improved time to fill for key roles by over 20 days. She also spent six years as the Senior Recruiting Manager with Amazon, where she successfully managed the global recruiting efforts for three Senior Vice Presidents and implemented innovative recruiting efforts that decreased the time to fill for senior technical roles. Armstrong has been an active member of the Society of Human Resource Management for over ten years. In addition, she is an ardent supporter directly involved in fund-raising for local charities seeking cures for cancer. Shannon Armstrong is an HR and recruiting leader with over 20 years of experience in various industries, including technology startups, retail organizations, and finance.

Job Titles:

• VP of Technology

A seasoned leader in IT and operations, Steve Lopez has provided the technology backbone supporting franchises like Halo and Destiny, built out data centers for MSN, and designed and implemented the technology needed for the divestiture of Bungie from Microsoft. As Vice President of Technology at ProbablyMonsters, his role is to align communications between all groups, provide the resources and support for the growing family of studios, and provide the right technology for all critical services and game operations. No matter what Steve is managing, his focus is on making people who love making video games feel like ProbablyMonsters is their home. Steve was passionate about technology even as a child, when he was an amateur radio operator who could build his own computer. After studying music, video production, and business at the Art Institute of Seattle, he began building specialized systems for 3D graphics and ran his own business for nine years. He joined Microsoft to build data centers and eventually built and managed large distributed systems in the company's enterprise management division. As a gamer, he wanted to break into the games industry and Harold Ryan brought him to Bungie to run IT and build an independent network and technology structure for the studio's future. This kicked off a partnership and friendship that has lasted for over 15 years, spanning many different accomplishments up to and including his role at ProbablyMonsters. At Bungie, he built out the company's new headquarters in Bellevue including a forty-rack data center, as well as the massive data center required for Destiny. With roles crossing IT, facilities, business, business development, and internal tools, Steve established a 24/7 network operations center that was stable and secure for millions of Destiny players. In 2020, Steve joined ProbablyMonsters to work with Harold again, believing in his strength as a leader and trusted builder of cultural pillars. He seeks a balance between universal tools and services-and security requirements-across the family of studios and a custom approach to serve each studio's need. Treating people well is important to him, and with every hire he looks at the person's potential growth path and plans for what they can achieve in the future. His goal is to keep people happy and fulfilled so they're excited about moving forward. Steve and his family live on a couple acres that provide everything he needs including a workshop and separate office and music studio. In addition to playing music for fun, he's currently very into Flight Simulator 2020, where he's working on instrument flight and working with real air traffic controller volunteers to fly with live streaming air traffic. He also plays games with friends and his kids on the regular. A seasoned leader in IT and operations, Steve Lopez provided the technology backbone for franchises like Halo and Destiny, built out data centers for MSN, and designed and implemented the technology needed for Bungie's divestiture from Microsoft.

Job Titles:

• Leader
• General Manager and Senior Vice President for Destiny
• Studio Head, Firewalk

Firewalk Studios is headed by Tony Hsu, a lifelong gamer, seasoned leader, and champion of new IP development. Hsu was previously General Manager and Senior Vice President of the Destiny business unit at Activision, building a world-class product management and marketing team that ultimately launched the Biggest New IP in Gaming. He harnesses over 20 years of business and gaming experience to further the goal of building a world-class next-generation games studio.