Mike Goslin is an American experience designer, game developer, and technologist working in the areas of video games, immersive experiences, and consumer products. He is best known for creating

Toontown Online ''Toontown Online'', commonly known as ''Toontown'', was a 2003 massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) based on a cartoon animal world, developed by Disney's Virtual Reality Studio and Schell Games, and published by The Walt ...

and Star Wars: Jedi Challenges while an executive at

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

. In 2020, Goslin founded New Peak Interactive and is its CEO.

Education

Goslin holds a bachelor's degree in

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

and a master's degree in

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. During his computer science education, Goslin worked as a researcher at The Institute for Simulation and Training where he collaborated with Jacquelyn Ford Morie on the VR artwork ''Virtopia''. At UNC-Chapel Hill, Goslin led the Walkthrough Project under VR pioneer

Fred Brooks Frederick Phillips Brooks Jr. (April 19, 1931 – November 17, 2022) was an American computer architect, software engineer, and computer scientist, best known for managing development of IBM's System/360 family of mainframe computers and the ...

. Goslin later interned at

Silicon Graphics Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and soft ...

and helped develop the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...

video game console.

Career

Goslin joined

Walt Disney Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc.—commonly referred to as Walt Disney Imagineering, Imagineering, or WDI—is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construc ...

in 1996, working in various roles before becoming Director and Vice President of the VR Studio where he led the development of several interactive attractions for

DisneyQuest DisneyQuest was a Retail chain, chain of indoor interactive theme parks in the United States operated by the Disney Regional Entertainment subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. The DisneyQuest pro ...

and

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

, including the THEA Award-winning Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold. Goslin founded Disney's

Massively Multiplayer Online Game A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players to interact in the same online game world. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, although t ...

and

Virtual Worlds A virtual world (also called a virtual space or spaces) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many simultaneous users who can create a personal avatar and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its acti ...

business, overseeing the launch of a portfolio of award-winning games,

Pirates of the Caribbean Online,

Pixie Hollow Pixie Hollow is a character meet and greet attraction at Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland () (abbreviated HKDL; also known as HK Disneyland or Disneyland Hong Kong) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's ...

, and

The World of Cars Online ''The World of Cars Online'' was a massively multiplayer online racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some ...

. In 2009, Goslin left Disney to join a startup game company, Hangout Industries, as Vice President of Product Development. He oversaw the development, design and operations of the company's online entertainment product. In 2010, Goslin was recruited by IAC to found Rebel Entertainment, where he was General Manager. During his tenure at Rebel Entertainment, Goslin developed several online and social games including the award-winning Dungeon Rampage. In 2013, Goslin returned to Disney to lead the development of the connected play system Playmation. He later launched the wearable AR experience Star Wars: Jedi Challenges in 2017, which was presented live on

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

. In 2019, Goslin's team partnered with

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

and Holoride to create ''Rocket's Rescue Run'', a VR experience for backseat passengers. In 2021, Goslin founded New Peak Interactive and led the development of the connected smart wand product Harry Potter: Magic Caster Wand, which launched in 2022 for

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American film studio, filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and th ...

., and helped

Niantic Niantic may refer to: * Niantic people, tribe of American Indians * Niantic, Inc., mobile app developer known for the mobile games ''Ingress'' and ''Pokémon Go'' * Niantic Correctional Institution, now known as York Correctional Institution ...

design an AR headset for outdoor gaming in 2022.

Selected publications

* *

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goslin, Mike American video game designers American video game programmers Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) American founders Duke University alumni American video game directors University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni American designers Living people