The Team

BERNARD YEE

CEO & Executive Producer

I started playing and writing games on a TRS-80, and despite a detour into other professions, made it back into game development. I’ve helped launch genres like MMOs and rhythm games, saw two radically different approaches to high quality at Bungie and PopCap, which I brought to shipping a new medium at Oculus. There’s something deeply meaningful about mediated cooperation and collaboration I’ve wanted to bring to games - I would have been a better dad (and human!) if I had a dog earlier. My spare time (!) is spent with my family (which includes our pup) and at the velodrome, racing bikes. Windup Minds is the place where I want to make games, with people I want to make games with.

BEN VANCE

Game Director & CTO

I started patrolling the moon at around 4 years old, shortly after picking up a pencil, and haven’t looked back. My lifelong interest in art and computing led me through DOOM mods, into early VR labs, and into the professional world with Electronic Arts. I’ve always loved games, yet felt they were just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve explored the medium in many ways, as programmer, designer, artist, and director, and in many kinds of productions, including independent game studios, AR & VR startups, museums, and pop-up shows. I love the dance of excitement, expectations, and constraints while innovating in interactive experiences and creating unexpected joy.

AMY CONCHIE

Software Engineer

I've tinkered with game programming since my teenage years when I picked up ActionScript and RPG Maker 2. This passion ultimately led me to spend seven years at Meta (Oculus) and Microsoft, where I worked on games and experimental AR/VR features. Outside the tech sphere I find joy building a community of writers, artists and other creatives in NYC.

AUSTIN GROSSMAN

Game Designer

Author, game designer, narrative designer, teacher. I started designing games in 1992 at the very beginning of real-time 3D, and went on to work on classic immersives like System Shock, Deus Ex, and Dishonored. I moved into XR design as Director of Design at Magic Leap, finding the new paradigms mixed reality offers in game design and storytelling. I’m always looking for the next big new technology - and how to make it sing.
In my other life I’m a novelist. My published books include Soon I Will Be Invincible, YOU, and Crooked, with more forthcoming. I like to put my own spin on different styles of genre fiction, to tell new sides of old stories.

JAY FAULKNER

Gameplay Engineer

Since discovering the debug menu in Sonic the Hedgehog, I've wanted to build experiences that surprise and delight players. I've built mods, indie games, and tools in various game engines and been a professional engineer for over a decade. I fell in love with VR the day I got my hands on a Vive and somehow found myself at my dream job with incredible people building something special - I intend to make the most of it!

DREN MCDONALD

Audio Design & Composer

I’ve composed music and designed sounds for film, tv, theme parks, escape rooms, VR/AR experiences, phone devices and, of course, games…many many games! Tom Petty famously said “Music is probably the one real magic I have encountered in my life” and I might add that interactive music (and sounds) bring that magic to another level. In addition to the music and audio that I’ve created for these projects I’ve also taught at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and U.C. Santa Cruz (Games and Playable Media graduate dept.) I have also released many records under my name as well as my fundraising collaboration project called polyeheDren, where I’ve collaborated with musicians such as Iva Bittová, The Residents, Nels Cline (Wilco) & Josh Freese (Foo Fighters.)

AH YOUNG JOO

Game Designer

As far as I can remember, I've been obsessed with crafting, designing, and making things. I earned my Bachelor's at the University of Southern California's Games program, where I led and designed several small-to-large-scale projects. Upon graduation, I spent a year working with game designers and shipping Niantic's first AR pet simulation game Peridot. I am passionate about designing games that are not only systemically rich and fun but also positively enrich players' lives. In my free time, you might find me practicing archery, sewing plushies, or doting on my pet bunny.