Lead Designer: Paul Inouye

About
I was born in the South-Central interior of British Columbia… oh… game biography… I have been interested in game development since I first played PONG in 1979 (yes, I’m that old!). It was a magical time when turning an analog knob on a box connected to a TV resulted in actions directed by me being displayed. I was in awe and wanted to learn how this was done. I took it upon myself to learn the various disciplines involved with developing a game including: 2D and 3D art, music, audio, programming, and project management. Fast forward a couple decades and after a post-secondary education in Computer Science (while dabbling a little in engineering and commerce), I was given my first chance in game development at EA Canada. I am now in my 14th year of the game industry and have worked on several AAA titles shipping across 8 different platforms. My main role on MechWarrior® Online™ is the injection of the F2P development model into this well-defined franchise. My experience in the F2P market comes from in-depth research and discussions with a key group of people at Nexon. It was here that I realized the nuances between the Asian F2P consumer and the North American F2P consumer had different expectations. I wrote a ‘thesis’ (for lack of a better word) on how F2P works and what motivates a player to play these types of games. Now I work closely with Bryan and David to ensure that the title stays true to our design pillars and try to make the supporting game systems back this goal. It is my job to ensure that designs are well documented and presented for the engineering and art teams to do their thing. I can honestly say that this project is not only the most challenging title I’ve worked on but the most exciting as well. Interacting with the MechWarrior community, while designing the game, allows a whole new level of community feedback that isn’t really the norm in the gaming industry. I’m now looking forward to getting the game into the player’s hands to get their first impressions so we can work to fine tune and launch updates as needed.

Meet the Developer
Developer Interview 3 - David Bradley, Bryan Ekman, Paul Inouye: - 11 January 2012

Developer Blog
Dev Blog 2 - Information Warfare 4 January 2012

Developer Q&A
Developer Q&A 3 - Information Warfare - 18 January, 2012

Developer Q&A 2 - Community Warfare - 21 December, 2011

Developer Q&A 1 - The Reboot of MechWarrior® - 16 November, 2011

Contact
Contact Paul Inouye on the MWO Forums here.