Will Luton

Co-Founder

United Kingdom14 yrs experience

Most Likely To SwitchHighly Stable

Key Highlights

Cofounded Rovio London and led product strategy.
Authored a bestselling book on free-to-play gaming.
Raised $2.3m in venture funding for Village Studio.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Gaming Industry Leader with extensive experience in product management and game development.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Product ManagementGame DevelopmentGame DesignProduct StrategyCreative DirectionBusiness DevelopmentProject ManagementQuality Assurance

Other Skills

Software DocumentationData AnalysisManagementMonetizationSocial GamesMobile ApplicationsVideo GamesGameplayiPhoneMobile DevicesComputer Games

About

My career in games spans over two decade and I’ve been fortunate to work with brands such as Rick & Morty, Runescape and Marvel. I led product on Angry Birds 2, taking it to top 50 grossing, as well as founding Rovio London as Executive Producer. In 2021 I cofounded Village Studio raising $2.3m in venture funding, leading the vision for the company and its products. Prior to that I founded Department of Play, a product management agency that is trusted by the likes of PlayStation, Tencent and Meta. My book Free-to-Play: Making Money from Games You Give Away is published by Pearson and available in English, Chinese and Korean. It has been heralded as a “must read” and has become a bookshelf standard in studios worldwide. My writing has also featured on GamesIndustry.biz, The Guardian and PocketGamer.biz. I have been a nominee and juror for several BAFTA awards. I have a BA (Hons) Computer Games Design, am a distance runner and play a lot of pinball and Magic: The Gathering.

Experience

14 yrs

Total Experience

1 yr 9 mos

Average Tenure

4 yrs 5 mos

Current Experience

Village studio games

Founder / Chief Product Officer

Nov 2021 – Present · 4 yrs 5 mos · United Kingdom · Remote

🤝 I founded this ambitious game startup, raising $2.3m in VC capital.
📈 I led several product pivots as we sought market fit in the most difficult of conditions.
🎮 Launched demo of Inferni: Hope and Fear, an ambitious real-time card battler on Steam.
🧑‍💻 Second game currently in development.

Business DevelopmentGame DevelopmentProduct Management

Big pixel studios

Director of Product

May 2018 – Aug 2018 · 3 mos · London, United Kingdom · On-site

🖋️ Built and oversaw the creative and business strategy of live and in-development products under the Rick & Morty brand.
🧑‍💻 Product managed Pocket Mortys.

Game DevelopmentProduct Management

Department of play

Chief Product Consultant

Apr 2018 – Present · 8 yrs · United Kingdom · Remote

🧑‍💻 I founded DoP as a product management and game design agency with zero capital.
🏷️ I built a brand and established DoP as a premier service with an exceptional reputation.
🫡 Entrusted by the likes of Facebook, Tencent, PlayStation and Jagex to make their games better retaining, more loved and more profitable.

Game DesignProduct Management

Rovio entertainment corporation

2 roles

Executive Producer

Promoted

May 2017 – Mar 2018 · 10 mos · On-site

🇬🇧 Cofounded Rovio London, hiring the starting team.
🔍 Defined studio product strategy.
👷 Built initial prototypes.
⚔️ Led development of an innovative unreleased MMORPG.

Game DevelopmentProduct Strategy

Senior Product Manager

Nov 2016 – Apr 2017 · 5 mos · On-site

📈 Set and executed a growth strategy, taking Angry Birds 2 into top 50 grossing.
📅 Planned and executed on liveops.
🔬 Worked closely with the analytics team to build A/B tests, live tune economy and problem solve.
💁‍♂️ Mentored the design team.

Game DevelopmentProduct Management

A thinking ape

Product Lead

Jun 2014 – Aug 2016 · 2 yrs 2 mos · Vancouver, Canada Area · On-site

🎉 Revived social sim Party In My Dorm, putting it into growth.
🤝 Invited by founders to create a spiritual sequel to the flagship game (launched as Kingdoms of Heckfire).
👨‍💼 I led a multidiscipline team of 15, owning product vision, project management, hiring, game design and economy balance.

Game DesignProduct Management

Tinyco, inc.

Senior Designer

Sep 2013 – Mar 2014 · 6 mos · Vancouver, Canada Area · On-site

🖌️ Led a team of creatives to build new, innovative IP.

Game Design

Doctor monolith limited

Consultant / Author

Sep 2012 – Sep 2013 · 1 yr · Bristol, United Kingdom

📖 Wrote critical-acclaimed book Free-to-Play: Making Money From Games You Give Away. Published by Pearson with translations for China and Korea.
👨‍💻 Consulted in product management and design for the likes of SEGA.

Product Management

Mobile pie

Creative Director

May 2009 – Sep 2012 · 3 yrs 4 mos · City Of Bristol, England, United Kingdom

📈 I grew the business alongside the founders as the first employee. I was invited to the board as a director.
✏️ Oversaw studio-wide creative and biz dev.
🏆 Signed prestigious clients such as the BBC and picked up nominations for BAFTAs, Develop Awards and more.

Business DevelopmentCreative Direction

Sega europe

2 roles

Assistant Producer

Promoted

Mar 2008 – Aug 2008 · 5 mos · London Area, United Kingdom · On-site

🚢 Assisting with bringing digital and boxed titles to the Europe.
✅ Organised developers, platform holders and internal teams, such as creative, QA and localisation talent.

Project Management