Presenter:
Company Overview
Will Winn Games Inc. is a new East Lansing-based game studio established in Q4 of 2020 and launched out of the Michigan State University Game Development Program, Spartan Innovations, and Red Cedar Ventures. WWG was founded by faculty and former faculty of Michigan State University's number 1 ranked game development program1 and is staffed by MSU GameDev alumni and veterans of the game industry. The initial game that Will Winn Games is launching is a game called Plunder Panic, a swashbuckling multiplayer action arcade game that supports both local and online multiplayer up to 12 players at one time in each game. In May of 2021 WWG obtained an exclusive license of Plunder Panic IP from MSU, establishing an excellent start for WWG’s gaming IP portfolio. The mission of the company is to design, develop, and publish compelling video game experiences that enrich individuals’ lives and help foster enhanced relationships with friends and family.
Company Leadership
Matthew Rudd - CEO at Will Winn Games
Matthew has over 34 years of Global Business experience, leading companies within the Medical Device and Aerospace markets, managing global organizations with total Commercial, Operational, P&L responsibilities and for the past five years he has worked within the Michigan ecosystem as an (EIR) Entrepreneur in Residence with Spartan Innovations and The Lean Rocket Lab with extensive experience with assisting startup companies with launching their businesses. Matthew is currently a Business Consulting Coach an (EIR) at Spartan Innovations on the campus of MSU. At MSU he has been working with other EIRs and faculty to determine product/market fit and product viability for technologies under development at MSU. Matthew has held positions as General Manager of Orchids Orthopedics with over 275 employees across three facilities. President and Founder of a startup called Apex Precision Solutions which served the Aerospace and Medical Device markets. He also held positions of Vice President of Advanced Manufacturing for a Global Medical Device company and Prior to that he served for twenty-four years as the Sr. Vice President of the Implant Division for a Global Medical Device company where he led 5 global business units with over 950 employees.
Will Jeffery - Co-Founder and Executive Producer at Will Winn Games
Will Jeffery is a video game producer and instructor from Detroit, Michigan. He completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Michigan State University, studying game design and development. At MSU, Will served as a game designer, producer, and lab manager in the Games for Entertainment and Learning (GEL) Lab from 2011 – 2018. He was also an instructor in MSU’s top-rated Game Design and Development program from 2015-2018. Now located in Orlando, Will has worked with Walt Disney Imagineering as a producer and is currently serving as a Course Director of video game design at Full Sail University.
Brian Winn - Co-Founder and Studio Director at Will Winn Games
Brian M. Winn is the Founder and Director of the Games for Entertainment and Learning (GEL) Lab at Michigan State University and a Full Professor in the Department of Media and Information. Winn’s expertise is in designing “meaningful play” that combines games and meaningful objectives (such as learning, health, persuasion, motivation, and fitness). Winn’s “Design, Play, Experience Framework” presents a process for designing meaningful play. Winn founded the International Conference on Meaningful Play, serves as a member of the Michigan Film and Digital Media Office Advisory Council (appointed by the governor), and is a faculty advisor of the MSU SpartaSoft student game developers group. Winn’s award-winning work has been presented, exhibited, and experienced around the world. Winn is also an accomplished teacher who became an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2001 and a Lilly Teaching Fellow in 2005. Winn taught the first game design course at MSU back in 2000 and helped grow that one course into the top-ranked MSU Game Design and Development program. Winn also teaches the popular online Coursera Specialization in Game Design and Development.
