Joel Breton is an American

video game producer A video game producer is the top person in charge of overseeing development of a video game. History The earliest documented use of the term ''producer'' in games was by Trip Hawkins, who established the position when he founded Electronic Art ...

video game designer Video game design is the process of designing the rules and content of video games in the Video game development#Pre-production, pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the Video game development ...

, film producer and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

. He has worked as a producer on multiple award-winning video games, including Unreal PC, Bomberman Live, and Pirates of the Caribbean. In 2016, Breton became the head of

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

content for

HTC Vive HTC Vive is a line of Virtual reality, virtual and mixed reality Virtual reality headset, headsets produced by HTC, HTC Corporation. The brand currently encompasses headsets designed for use with Personal computer, personal computers as well a ...

,
"Tech Crunch Interview with HTC Content VP" where he manages both internal and external content development for the

virtual reality platform.
"VR Source Interview with Joel Breton" In October 2018, Breton premiered the world's first feature length VR film, ''7 Miracles'',
7 Miracles IMDB" at the Raindance Film Festival, where it won the VR Film of the Festival award.
VR Focus" Joel Breton is a member of the Steering Committee for the Academy of International Extended Reality (AIXR), where he works to advance AR/VR technology in the global marketplace.
AIXR" Breton is a video game industry veteran who began his career in 1994 when he landed a role at Sega of America in Product Development. Since then, he has produced, designed and created more than 250 video games across 22 console platforms.Tech Trends He has also created more than 100 online games that have been played more than a billion times across the web.Joel Breton gets Zattikka EVP Position
"GamesmediaPro" Joel's first role as a

was for

GT Interactive Atari, Inc. is an American video gaming company based in New York City, and a subsidiary of the Atari SA holding company. It is the main entity serving the commercial Atari brand globally since 2003. The company currently publishes games based o ...

, where he produced ''Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes'',Joel Breton bio on Moby Games
"Moby Games" Unreal, Blood 2, Anno 1602, Baseball mogul, Deer Hunter, along with several other

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s. While at GT, Breton successfully green-lit and launched the development cycle for ''

No One Lives Forever ''The Operative: No One Lives Forever'' (abbreviated as ''NOLF'') is a first-person shooter video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Fox Interactive, released for Windows in 2000. The game was Porting, ported later to the P ...

''. Breton produced several games for

Bethesda Softworks Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a Division (business), division of Media Technology Limited. In 1999, it became a subsidiary of Z ...

, a game publisher based in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

. He worked as a producer on '' Sea Dogs'', ''

Echelon Echelon may refer to: * A level formation ** A level or rank in an organization, profession, or society ** A military sub-subunit smaller than a company but larger than a platoon ** Echelon formation, a step-like arrangement of units * ECHELO ...

'', and ''IHRA Drag Racing'', while serving as Producer and Studio Head of Bethesda West Studios in Olympia, Washington. Joel then moved to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, to create and manage Bethesda's European development operations. While stationed in Moscow, he worked as a producer on ''

Pirates of the Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with Wa ...

'' for the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

which was the first U.S. console game developed in Russia. Breton founded the game development company Kozmo Games to develop

casual game A casual game is a video game targeted at a mass market audience, as opposed to a hardcore game, which is targeted at hobbyist gamers. Casual games may exhibit any type of gameplay and genre. They generally involve simpler rules, shorter sessio ...

s for the global market. Kozmo Games has since developed and released ''Ice Cream Tycoon''Kozmo Games
Kozmo Games and ''War Chess'' for the casual game market. Breton returned to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 2005 where he joined

Take Two Interactive Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns three major publishing labels, Rockstar Games, Zynga and 2K, which operate inter ...

and worked as a producer on ''

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the ...

'' for the

PS2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 November, in Australia on 30 November, ...

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...

, Xbox, and

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

platforms. He also worked as a producer on ''

Amped 3 ''Amped 3'' is a snowboarding video game, the third and final installment of the '' Amped'' sports game franchise, developed by Indie Built published by 2K and released exclusively for the Xbox 360 in 2005. It expands on previous versions of ...

'', a launch title for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

. He led the ''Major League Baseball 2K6'' team and produced the PlayStation Portable version of the exclusive

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

game which was released in Spring of 2006. Joel next appeared as a Senior Producer with

Hudson Entertainment was a Japanese video game company known for releasing numerous titles across video game consoles, home computers, and mobile phones. Headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo, it also maintained an office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. Fo ...

in 2006 and produced '' Bomberman Live'' among several other console titles for the U.S. division of

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company known for releasing numerous titles across video game consoles, home computers, and mobile phones. Headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo, it also maintained an office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. F ...

. From 2007 until 2010 Joel held the position of Director of Content for AddictingGames.com, MTV Network's leading website with more than 30 million monthly visitors.Joel Breton speaker bio 2010
"Flash Gaming Summit" During that time he established the site as an original game IP factory, creating and launching more than 100 original game franchises and publishing more than 800 new games on the site.
"Flash Gaming Summit" Joel is a frequent speaker at game industry conventions and he represented MTV Networks and AddictingGames by speaking at the Casual Connect conference in Kiev in 2008.How To Develop Blockbuster Online Games
Casual Connect Kiev 2008 Joel was a speaker and on the steering committee for the Flash Gaming Summit in 2009, at Casual Connect Seattle 2010. Breton also pioneered the production of viral news games and he designed and created more than 10 viral news games that were each played millions of times.
"LA Times" Hero On The Hudson
"AddictingGames" was one of the first viral news games
"Hero on the Hudson video game at FoxNews" he launched, celebrating the heroism of Captain Sully Sullenberger's perfect plane landing on the Hudson River. Oiligarchy, was another viral news game which examined the oil industry for the first time in a video game. Joel and his team at AddictingGames also produced Where's the Naughty Governor,
"AddictingGames" a news game that was highlighted by the LA Times in the article "Web games, ripped from the healdines". In August 2010, Joel was appointed Executive Vice President of North America for Zattikka Ltd., a social game companyZattikka's New US Representative
'Inside Social Games''. focused on the high growth platforms of social, mobile and online games.
'IGN''. From 2012 to 2015, Joel moved to the global video game publisher,

505 Games 505 Games S.p.A. is an Italian video game publisher based in Milan. It was founded in 2006 as a subsidiary of Milan-based Digital Bros. History 505 Games was founded in 2006 in Milan as a subsidiary of Digital Bros. The company found its earl ...

, where he served as Senior Vice President of Product Development.
mobile world" During his time as head of 505 Games' product development division, the company launched a string of highly rated and successful games, including

Payday 2 ''Payday 2'' is a Cooperative video game, cooperative first-person shooter video game developed by Overkill Software and published by 505 Games. The game is a sequel to 2011's ''Payday: The Heist''. It was released in August 2013 for Microsoft Wi ...

Terraria ''Terraria'' ( ) is a 2011 action-adventure sandbox game developed by Re-Logic and published by 505 Games. The game features exploration, combat, crafting, building, and mining inside a procedurally generated 2D computer graphics, 2D world. ...

, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, How To Survive, Gems of War, and Battle Islands. In January 2016, Breton was appointed Vice President of Virtual Reality Content at

,
"Tech Radar" where he and the

content team are responsible for creating

content across ten categories, including healthcare, education, cinematic/live video, gaming, design, real-estate, retail, media, social, & theme-park experiences.
"HTC Vive Content Chief" Joel believes that game players are going to be blown away by the full immersion that they can experience in virtual reality games on the HTC Vive platform.
"Fallout 4 on HTC Vive"

Biography

Sega of America

Joel began his video game career at

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

in 1994 where he worked in the Product Development division on many of

SEGA is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

’s games including

Virtua Fighter is a series of fighting games created by Sega AM2 and designer Yu Suzuki. The original ''Virtua Fighter (video game), Virtua Fighter'' was released in December 1993 and has received four main sequels and several spin-offs. The highly influential ...

, and World Series Baseball.Joel Breton at Giantbomb
'GiantBomb'' During his time at

, Joel worked on games that were published across seven console platforms including – Genesis, CD, Game Gear, 32X, Pico, Saturn, and Nomad.

Headgames Inc.

Breton then joined Headgames, a game development company in San Francisco where he worked as a designer on Killwheel and Sirens for the PC and

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

platforms.

GT Interactive

In 1997, Joel moved to

and began producing front-line games for the powerhouse PC game publisher. He worked as a producer on several first-person shooting (FPS) games during his three years at

including, Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes,Joel Breton bio at IMDB
'IMDB'' and

Blood 2 ''Blood II: The Chosen'' is a 1998 first-person shooter game developed by Monolith Productions and distributed by GT Interactive. Unlike the first installment, ''Blood (video game), Blood'', which was set in 1928, it takes place in the year 2028 ...

. During his time at GT Interactive, Breton also produced

Anno 1602 ''Anno 1602: Creation of a New World'', entitled ''1602 A.D.'' in North America, is a 1998 construction and management video game developed by Max Design and published by Sunflowers Interactive. Set in the early modern period, it requires the pl ...

Baseball Mogul ''Baseball Mogul'' is a series of career baseball management computer games created by game designer Clay Dreslough. The product was first published in 1997. The 27th and latest installment is ''Baseball Mogul 2024''. A proprietary database, inc ...

, and Deer Hunter.

Bethesda Softworks

Breton was hired as Game Producer and later promoted to Studio Head for

in Olympia, Washington. Joel then moved to Russia to establish Bethesda Softworks East in the heart of Moscow. While stationed in Russia he first established relations with the leading Russian game development studios and signed contracts with the top teams to develop AAA games for

to publish globally. During his 3 years in Russia, Breton produced

Pirates of the Caribbean (video game) ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' () is a 2003 action role-playing video game for Microsoft Windows and Xbox, developed by Akella. The game is a sequel to '' Sea Dogs (Корсары)'' and was originally planned to be released as ''Sea Dogs 2'', but ...

on the

- the first U.S. console game developed in

Kozmo Games

Breton founded the game development company Kozmo Games in 2004, to develop

s for the global market. Kozmo Games developed and released ''Ice Cream Tycoon'' and ''War Chess'' for the casual game market.

Take-Two Interactive

In 2005, Breton joined

where he was the External Producer for

2K Sports 2K is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. The company was founded as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports sub-labels. The nascent label incorporated several developmen ...

. During his time there he produced

, Major League Baseball 2k6, and

which was an

launch title.

Hudson Entertainment

Joel then joined

, the US division of

, the storied Japanese game publisher. While at Hudson he focused on creating the highest rated version of

Bomberman is a video game Media franchise, franchise created by Shinichi Nakamoto and Shigeki Fujiwara, originally developed by Hudson Soft and currently owned by Konami. The Bomberman (1983 video game), original game, also known as ''Bakudan Otoko'' (� ...

for the

and

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

console platforms.Metacritic Bomberman Live
'Metacritic Bomberman Live'' Joel worked closely with the North American development team and the Japanese Hudson Soft team to create Bomberman Live—the highest rated and top selling version of Bomberman released in the US market. He also produced several other console and mobile games while at

, including Bonk's Adventure,

Diner Dash ''Diner Dash'' is a strategy video game, strategy and Time Management (video game genre), time management video game initially developed by Gamelab and published by PlayFirst. It is now owned and published by Glu Mobile. It was one of the top-sel ...

, and

Military Madness ''Military Madness'' is a 1989 turn-based strategy video game originally developed and published by Hudson Soft in Japan and NEC in North America for the TurboGrafx-16. It is the first entry in the '' Nectaris'' series. Set in the year 2089 ...

AddictingGames.com /MTV Networks

In 2007, Breton joined

MTV Networks Paramount Media Networks is the division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of its television channels and online brands. The division was originally founded as MTV Networks in 1984, named after MTV. It would be known under this ...

as Director of Content for AddictingGames.com, and helped to grow the site to become the number one game site in the U.S. in terms of unique monthly visitors.comScore
"comScore June 2010" During his three years at AddictingGames, he was responsible for the development and release of more than one hundred games that have been played billions of times at AddictingGames and around the web. Breton was also in charge of creating new IP and game franchises for AddictingGames. He worked with development teams to create many of the top online game franchises including—Sniper Assassin, The Heist, Bad Boys, Moto Rush, and Stick Hero. While at AddictingGames, he was responsible for the site's game development, licensing, sponsorship, publishing, and promotion. Breton was also responsible for licensing hit game franchises to be published across platforms including online, social networks,

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...

, and other mobile platforms.

Games

*''Ready Player One: Oasis Beta'' (2018), Vive Studios *''Knockout League'' (2017), Vive Studios *''Super Puzzle Galaxy'' (2017), Vive Studios *''TrueScale'' (2017), Vive Studios *''Amazon Odyssey'' (2017), Vive Studios *''Virtual Sports'' (2016), Vive Studios *''Arcade Saga'' (2016), Vive Studios *''Chef Emma'' (2015),

*''Fashion Week Live'' (2013),

*''Wicked: The Game'' (2014),

*''Gems of War'' (2014),

*''Battle Islands'' (2013),

*''Sniper Elite III'' (2014),

*''Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons'' (2013),

*''How To Survive'' (2013),

*''Terraria'' (2014),

*''Payday 2'' (2013),

*''MotoRush World'' (2010),

*''Stick Hero'' (2010),

*''Sniper Assassin'' (2010),

*''Oiligarchy'' (2009),

*''Mix Master'' (2009),

*''The Heist'' (2008),

*'' Bomberman Live'' (2007),

*''

'' (2005),

*''

'' (2006),

*''Major League Baseball 2k6'' (2006),

*''

'' (2003),

*''

Sea Dogs (video game) ''Sea Dogs'' () is a 2000 Russian role-playing video game for Microsoft Windows, developed by Akella and published by Bethesda Softworks. In it, the player is the captain of a ship and can serve as a privateer to a European power, or as a pirate ...

'' (2000),

*''

'' (2001), Bethesda Softworks *'' IHRA Drag Racing'' (2000),

*'' Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes'' (2000),

*''

Unreal Unreal may refer to: Books and TV * ''Unreal'' (short story collection), a 1985 book of short stories by Paul Jennings * ''Unreal'' (TV series), a 2015 television drama series on Lifetime Computing and games * ''Unreal'' (video game series), ...

'' (1998),

*''

'' (1998),

*''Blood II: The Nightmares'' (1999),

*''

'' (1999),

*''

Duke Nukem Forever ''Duke Nukem Forever'' is a 2011 first-person shooter game developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K for Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Mac OS X. It is the fourth main installment in the ''Duke Nukem'' series and the sequel ...

'' (1998),

*''

Sonic & Knuckles is a 1994 platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. Players control Sonic the Hedgehog or Knuckles the Echidna in their quests to save Angel Island; Sonic tries to stop Doctor Robotnik fro ...

'' (1994),

*''Doom 32X'' (1994),

*''

'' (1995),

*''X-men 2: Clone Wars'' (1995),

*''

Daytona USA is a 1994 arcade racing game developed by Sega AM2. Inspired by the popularity of the NASCAR motor racing series in the US, the game has players race stock cars on one of three courses. It was the first game to be released on the Sega Model 2 ...

'' (1995),

*''Shining Force II'' (1995),

*'' Nightmare Circus'' (1996),

*''

The Adventures of Batman & Robin (video game) ''The Adventures of Batman & Robin'' is a series of video game adaptations released between 1994 and 1995 featuring the DC Comics characters Batman and Robin based on '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (which had been retitled ''The Adventures of B ...

'' (1995),

*''

Wacky Worlds Creativity Studio ''Art Alive!'' is a paint video game released by Sega for the Sega Genesis in 1991. Gameplay Its features include stamps of Sonic the Hedgehog, ToeJam & Earl, and other Sega characters. It was followed by Sega's ''Wacky Worlds Creativity Stu ...

'' (1994),

References

External links

Joel Breton
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...

*
Web games, ripped from the headlines
"LA Times"
Zattikka's new US Representative talks -Inside Social Games

Going Japanese - Hudson Entertainment

Joel Breton at the FlashMindMeld project

Zattikka nabs MTV's Breton - MCVUK

Joel Breton gets zattikka evp position - gamesmediapro

Bomberman live developer interview - jordashe

World Poker Tour credits - Answers.com

Joel Breton on achievement junkie podcast - achievement junkie podcast

FlashGamingSummit Speakers

How to develop blockbuster online games - Casual Connect

Virtual Goods Get Addicting - Casual Connect Seattle 2010

Flash Games Coming to Xbox and Wiiware - gamedaily

World Poker Tour 2k6 Developer interview at Gamespot

Hudson's Joel Breton talks Bomberman Live at Digg

Bomberman Live Major Nelson Joel Breton interview

Bomberman at XBLarcade

Joel breton talks Bomberman live on OXM podcast

Bomberman live producer Joel Breton interview at X360plex

Bomberman at Electric Chaos

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breton, Joel Video game producers American video game designers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)