Griptonite Games, a Foundation 9 Entertainment studio, is the leading independent developer of high quality, fun games for console and handheld platforms. Located in Kirkland, WA, the studio employs nearly 160 people who are passionate about making great games. Griptonite's team members are not only experts at taking full advantage of each system's unique capabilities, they are also experts at designing games that appeal to both broad audiences and experienced gamers alike.

The studio has tremendous experience with licensed properties, having developed titles based on major franchises including Harry Potter, Spore, The Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man, and The Sims. The studio has shipped more than 70 titles across most of the major platforms including Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PSP, iPhone, and earlier systems. Griptonite is currently developing games for all major platforms.

 

J.C. Connors is the Studio Head of Griptonite Games. J.C. began his game career at New York's Wanderlust Interactive in 1996 working on the Pink Panther family adventure game line, and then at the Avalon Hill Game Company, where he designed and produced board and PC strategy games. J.C. moved to Seattle to join Cavedog Entertainment, where he was a designer and producer in their online PC division. Since joining Griptonite in 2000, J.C. has produced and designed over a dozen best-selling handheld and console titles. J.C. holds a BA in theatre from Vanderbilt University, and enjoys writing, karate, and cooking Italian in his spare time

 Jason Bay is the Technical Director at Griptonite Games. Coming from a five-year stint as a partner in a small software startup in Seattle, Jason joined Griptonite in 2001 with a knack for making great games even better. A jack of many trades, he served as Lead Tester, Designer/Writer, Programmer and Lead Programmer with 15 shipped titles under his belt before landing at the head of Griptonite’s programming department. He is motivated by his passion for management and technology, as well as a drive to nurture a professional and innovative environment in which to build exciting, high-quality games.

 Hal Milton is the Design Director at Griptonite Games.  Over the past 14 years Hal was worked with companies such as Origin, EA, Atari, Wizards of the Coast, Microsoft, Sony and others on a wide variety of project, including fantasy, sci-fi and most everything in-between. Hal joined the Griptonite team in the fall of 2009. 

Randy Briley is the Art Director for consoles at Griptonite Games.  Randy has been making video games for over sixteen years. He has held the position of art director or art lead and has created concept art, illustration, environments and animation on over 45 published titles. After receiving a Bachelor’s of Fine art in Illustration and Computer Graphics he worked at Riedel Software productions creating games based on children's movie licenses.  Randy joined Griptonite in 2000 and has worked on best-selling and high profile titles such as Lego Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Chronicle of Narnia, Robots, Lemony Snicket, The Sims and Harry Potter, Shrek the Third, and Where The Wild Things Are.

 Dan McAuliffe is a Development Director at Griptonite Games. Dan began his videogame career in 2002 as a designer on the million-selling The Sims: Bustin’ Out for the GBA. After a rapid advance into the production ranks, Dan has guided a bevy of top titles to completion including, most recently, Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines (PSP),  Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery (DS/iPhone), Age of Empires: Mythologies (DS), Spore: Creatures (DS), The Sims 2 (DS), and The Urbz: Sims in the City (DS). Since rising to the position of Development Director, Dan has been instrumental in enhancing both the efficiency of development and the quality of Griptonite’s top titles as well as heading up Griptonite’s India in-sourcing effort. In addition to being an avid board and video gamer, Dan enjoys all manner of outdoor sports, reading and music.

 Ryan Silva is a Development Director at Griptonite Games. Lured out of art school by the siren call of video games, Ryan began his career on a variety of console titles, including the cult classic Earthworm Jim. He has now been with Griptonite for over eight years and during that time he has served in a variety of roles including Lead Artist, Producer, and Design Director for our handheld division. Ryan shipped over 30 games, including some of Griptonite's best-reviewed titles such as Assassin’s Creed: Discoveries (DS), Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (DS), Age of Empires: Mythologies(DS) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (DS).

 Brett Gow is a Development Director at Griptonite Games.  Joining the team with over 22 years of industry experience and over 40 shipped titles, Brett brings a wealth of experience to the table.  Some of his game credits include: Halo 3: ODST, Halo Wars, Mario Strikers, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Battalion Wars, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Burnout, and All-Star Baseball. Brett is passionate about creating exceptional games from inception to completion and in addition to being an avid gamer, he is a massive comic book junkie.  He enjoys time with his wonderful family. He also enjoys cuddling, poetry, picnics and long walks on the beach...J

  Evan Buehler is the Audio Manager at Griptonite Games. Evan is an industry veteran with 10 years of experience making games. Evan started his career as an audio lead on the award winning SWAT 3 games on the PC. His most recent credits include SOCOM 3: Navy Seals for the PS2 and the award-winning Forza 2: Motorsport on the Xbox 360. He has been involved with every Griptonite project since joining our studio, including Griptonite’s exciting new titles on both console and handheld platforms. Evan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Bachelor of Arts in Jazz Studies from the University of Washington. Outside of making games Evan has many varied interests including Taekwon-do where he is a 1st dan black belt. He is also a jazz musician and an avid hiker and backpacker.

  Mike Platteter is a Senior Producer at Griptonite Games. A veteran of the industry, Mike has been working on games since the early days of the Genesis and SNES.  He’s been the lead artist on over twenty games developed since 1992 including Harry Potter, Daredevil, Heroes of Might and Magic, and Double Dragon.  In addition creating game art, he’s also heavily involved in team management and game design.  Mike has served as Producer on Crash of the Titans DS, Eragon DS, Shrek SuperSlam DS/GBA,Robots DS/GBA, and Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith for Jakks Pacific, Inc. Since taking on the role of Senior Producer, Mike has overseen the production of some of Griptonite's biggest licensed titles, including High School Musical 3 DS, Monsters vs. Aliens DS, Madagascar, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine DS.