Jeff Strain is an American entrepreneur, CEO, and founder of three independent video game studios, most recently
Possibility Space.
In 2000, Strain cofounded
ArenaNet
ArenaNet, LLC is an American video game developer and subsidiary of NCSoft, founded in 2000 by Mike O'Brien (game developer), Mike O'Brien, Patrick Wyatt and Jeff Strain and located in Bellevue, Washington. They are most notable as developers o ...
, where he worked as an executive producer and programmer on the popular online roleplaying game ''
Guild Wars
''Guild Wars'' is an online role-playing game franchise developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSoft. The games were critically well received and won many editor's choice awards, as well as awards such as "D.I.C.E. Award for Role-Playing Game ...
''. ArenaNet was acquired by
NCSoft
NCSoft Corporation (stylized as NC, formerly stylized as NCSOFT; ) is a South Korean video game developer and publisher headquartered in Pangyo, Seongnam, South Korea, primarily known for the distribution of massively multiplayer online role-pl ...
in 2002, and Strain went on to become President of Product Development for the company's North American and European operations.
Strain left NCSoft in 2009 and founded
Undead Labs
Undead Labs LLC is an American video game developer based in Seattle, Washington. The company was founded in November 2009 by Jeff Strain and developed the '' State of Decay'' series. In 2018, Undead Labs became part of Microsoft Studios (now ...
, creators of zombie survival series ''
State of Decay.''
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
acquired Undead Labs in 2018, and Jeff Strain left the studio shortly after in 2019. As of August 2021, ''
State of Decay 2
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
'' had over 10 million players worldwide.
In August of 2021, Strain published an open letter, calling for full unionization in the games industry.
In 2021, Jeff founded Possibility Space, a distributed studio based in
New Orleans, LA. According to a press release, Strain and his team were working on "a joyful game that's been
isdream for many years." In an interview, Strain said the game would be a AAA title. On April 12, 2024, Strain closed the studio citing "cancellation of the publishing relationship" and an as-yet-unpublished article from
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History ...
reporter Ethan Gach, which had also allegedly prompted the closure of Crop Circle Games, a related studio and part of Strain's umbrella corporation, Prytania Media, a few days earlier.
Strain previously worked as a lead programmer on Blizzard Entertainment's MMORPG ''
World of Warcraft
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a 2004 massively multiplayer online role-playing (MMORPG) video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows and Mac OS X. Set in the '' Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of War ...
;'' he also created the ''
StarCraft
''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance amon ...
'' campaign editor and worked on ''
Diablo'' and ''
Warcraft III
''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' is a high fantasy real-time strategy computer video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment released in July 2002. It is the second sequel to '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', after '' Warcraft II: Ti ...
.''
References
How to Create a Successful MMO Strain's 2007 Games Convention speech
MMOZed Community website following Undead Labs
Undead Labs Zombie MMO Facts Everything we know about Undead Labs Zombie MMO from VGRevolution.com
Video game programmers
American video game designers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
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