About Ed Stern

I create unique, ownable IP and game worlds. I know how to collaborate and align with IP owners, publishers and platform owners, key vision holders and stakeholders, art, level design, animation and audio to create coherent, immersive, compelling game worlds. I’ve worked with some of the biggest IPs in the industry, from id Software’s Wolfenstein, Quake and Doom to WB’s Batman to Hasbro’s Transformers (and a few other colossi I can’t disclose without an NDA).

SKILLS

Highly experienced, with decades of experience of:

CONCEPT PHASE

  • Creating unique, ownable IP and game worlds

  • Collaborating and aligning with IP owners, publishers and platform owners, as well as key vision holders and stakeholders, art, level design, animation and audio to create compelling game worlds 

  • Syncing a game’s IP, USP, value proposition, player fantasy, product design, worldbuilding/setting, genre, art direction and animation style

  • Creating concept briefs that let other teams create the environment, character, item, clothing, and customisation assets that best support the game’s pillars

PRE-PRODUCTION PHASE

  • Collaborating with stakeholders to create the most compelling version of the IP worldbuilding, lore, and character design

  • Driving narrative integration with production to design flexible, robust workflows, proving out key issues early, and ensuring key feedback is acted on

  • Building, leading and inspiring productive narrative teams


PRODUCTION PHASE

  • Creating concept briefs for environments, characters, weapons, items, key art, cinematics, pre-vis and pre-sonics

  • Designing, writing and delivering key lore and worldbuilding documents, while editing, managing and mentoring other developers

  • Writing, directing, scheduling and managing VO and MoCap content

  • Liaising closely and regularly with all dev disciplines, because you can’t build a game world with just words, and collaborating is better than working in silos. 

  • Orchestrating the game’s content so that it delivers the best combination of elements to the player in each moment of play

  • Driving quality in all areas, ensuring delivery hits deadlines and quality bars, and iterating rapidly on stakeholder feedback

  • Maintaining expertise in weapons technology to enable working closely with Audio to ensure maximum player immersion

  • Organising and leading field recording sessions – including in quarries and army firing ranges, while liaising with military subject experts and serving personnel