Last Stand
Last Stand is a groundbreaking Mixed Reality PVP shooter, transporting two players’ real life rooms into a zombie infested mall and pitting them against each other in a frenetic and exciting duel to see who’ll be the last player standing.
Enhanced body tracking techniques deliver exceptional accuracy, and players’ own furniture becomes vital cover from gunfire and zombies as they duck, dodge and defend their room in Hollywood action-inspired shootouts.
Lead Designer
As Lead Designer on this project, I was instrumental in taking the initial game brief and developing it from a concept into a fully realised game.
I worked with studio stakeholders and the game director to assemble the team for Last Stand. I then worked to help that team to become a cohesive unit despite the challenges caused by different work patterns and locations; shifting project requirements; and a short development timetable.
I led design work on the game, owning several areas of development myself while also managing, supporting and mentoring the other designers; and working closely with the game director, leads team and producer to ensure that the game’s scope and vision were achievable in the project timeline.
I was part of the three-person team who presented the game to press and content creators at Gamescom 2024, resulting in multiple positive previews and videos.
Following an initial Early Access release on the Meta store (for Quest 3 headsets), I was instrumental in identifying and prioritising issues and areas of the game to improve (which ultimately led to the game’s review scores improving until at the time of writing this, Last Stand is the best-reviewed XR game the studio has released).
My responsibilities then shifted to planning for and designing future content updates, while still supporting other team members (primarily, but not limited to, the other designers) with their tasks.
My proudest achievement on this project isn’t a game feature or review scores though: it is the tight-knit, passionate and supportive team culture we created by hiring and nurturing the exceptional individuals who took the game from concept to full release within ten months.