DENNIS HARPER
INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS
FUN & GAMES
WEB GAMES
At Tencent, as Director of Game Development, I managed a broad portfolio of free-2-play, midcore titles targeted for Facebook. Tencent has a massively successful midcore game business in China. My job was to identify potential conversions to the American market, then to act as Publishing Producer to localize and adapt these titles to the US market.
This was not just translation. I directed a team of Product Managers and Producers, who help me identify where these games needed new storylines, graphics & monetization models more suited to the American market. I remotely managed 3 product teams in China.
In addition, I led the "Game Evaluation" ground where we studied midcore gaming models from China, Korea and best-in-class games from Kabam and Kixeye. I've learned a ton about how these games operate.
FREE-2-PLAY GAMES
The portfolio of games I managed at Tencent were quite varied.
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Turn-based Battle
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RPG
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Children's world
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City Builder
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Pet Battle
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Strategy
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Appointment-based simulation.
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Platformer
All these game offered premium items, accelerators, buffs, power-ups, etc. in embedded online stores. Both virtual and real currencies were supported.
MIDCORE GAME EXPERTISE
To better understand the midcore market, my team analyzed and studied many games in the genre, creating comparative matrices of game features, monetization and engagement models.
In particular, the Chinese hit "7 Heroes" was studied for its highly successful model. This was an appointment-based empire building game with strategic battles. It even had a PvP mode.
TURBINE - MMO GAMES
Dennis was Turbine's Managing Director for the company’s West Coast satellite studio. He was completely in charge of all operations, recruiting and roadmap planning. He oversaw an large, unannounced MMO development project called "Middle Earth Online". His Californian team focused on advanced social gaming features and interactive PvP functionality.
MIDDLE EARTH ONLINE - MMO
Turbine was known for its Lord of the Rings Online MMO games. This project brought this concept to popular game consoles. Our California team developed cutting-edge PvP technology, which was very difficult given the melee nature of the combat system. Unfortunately, this title was never released as Turbine was acquired by Warner, and all Tolkien properties were transferred to a different studio.