ROLE
Xbox Publishing Art Director
RESPONSIBILITIES
As the Publishing Art Director for Xbox Publishing, I directed and managed a team of artists with expertise in concepting, animation, character design, and tech art. We led the artistic concept and execution of the video games that helped green light the HoloLens, the world’s first Mixed Reality device, as well as other various games in the Xbox portfolio.
OUTCOMES
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I collaborated with the art team at Asobo Studio to develop and ship Fragments, a Mixed Reality crime solving game which featured the first fully interactive AI in physical form. I led the direction of in-world character visualization, which raised the game's player score by 10%, from 3.9 to 4.4.
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I worked with Asobo Studio to develop the world's first Mixed Reality platform game, Young Conker, based on the cult-classic character from the original N64.
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Before pivoting to Conker, I collaborated with Asobo Studio on the visual design of Dub Bang Joe, a cute alien character designed specifically to highlight the rendering strengths of the HoloLens.
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I worked alongside Frontier Studio to develop and ship ScreamRide, a roller coaster game. The game earned one of the highest Metacritic scores at that time for Xbox published titles.
“How can the world’s first Mixed Reality device transform how players interact with video game characters?”
— Question from our Xbox Publishing Creative Process Research Phase
CASE STUDY - FRAGMENTS
AI Character Connection
TEAM
Publishing Art Director - Michael Harnisch
Concept Artist - Patrick Shettlesworth
Publishing Lead Producer - Matt Turnbull
Publishing Lead Designer - Matt Hoesterey
Publishing Lead Engineer - Joel Pritchett
Studio Manager - Jorg Neumann
Developer - Asobo Studio
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Showcase the strong emotional connection of “in-your-world” AI characters.
Create a best-in-class example for Mixed Reality entertainment that accentuates the game-changing features of the HoloLens, while downplaying the technical limitations.
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Enable life-size characters that uniquely and intelligently interact with the physical world, utilizing natural human behavior to guide the player and emotionally connect them with the cast of Fragments.
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I worked closely with Asobo to develop a character system that was both aware of the player and the physical world around them. We collaboratively authored an animation systems that employed eye-contact, posture, and context, unlocking natural human interaction with digital characters that had never been done before or since.
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The implementation of the "Holo Call" saw a dramatic increase in player usability scores, as well as raising the overall score of the game from 3.9 to 4.4.
Fragments continued to be used as an example of successful AI visualization and a breakthrough in video game character interaction.
Through hours of focus test footage, it was clear that players were having issues seeing and connecting with the 3D characters behind the wall-mounted glass plinth. This was impeding usability as well as the "collaborative" gameplay promise of the platform.
Test scores were hovering around the 3.9/5 area and we aiming for 4.5/5 as first and best on a new platform. Despite the magic of HoloLens, there was a missing “wow factor” in terms of dramatic connection to the characters.
(Footage from pre-rendered OLC Video)
Working with Patrick Shettlesworth, our internal Publishing Concept Artist, we created a ton of ideas in parallel with Asobo Studio, generating a wide variety of technical solutions that we then stacked against the filter criteria from our Creative Process.
Having already established technology that used AI to understand the surface reconstruction of a living room, Asobo employed this for Fragments, allowing characters to interact directly in the Player’s environment, integral in connecting the player to the AI visualization in the game.
After the technical hurdles, we authored behaviors into the characters to best capture their personalities. I worked collaboratively with Asobo to capture poses at various angles to maintain believable eye contact, no matter the height or position of the Player.
LEARNINGS
Environmental Context is Key
Seeing the game juxtaposed against my own home (versus the Xbox lab) made all of the difference. Despite my involvement in the game’s development and familiarity with the story, my heart still skipped a beat when threatened by the game’s villain.
The Answer Can Be Hiding in Plain Sight
Sometimes the solution to a user pain point is not obvious, even when it’s starting you right in the face. Without changing a single component of the gameplay, our UR scores increased by 10%, from 3.9 to 4.4.
BONUS CONTENT!
Dub Bang JOE
TEAM
Publishing Art Director - Michael Harnisch
Concept Artist - Patrick Shettlesworth
Publishing Lead Producer - Robert Jerauld
Publishing Lead Designer - Clayton Kauzlaric
Studio Manager - Jorg Neumann
Developer - Asobo Studio
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Design a platform game character that maximizes the strengths of the HoloLens while also creating Xbox IP that can grow and evolve over time.
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Design a character that emotionally connects to the player through eye-contact and story, while also playing to the strengths of the HoloLens's additive pixel graphical interface.
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We created hundreds of character sketches with various shapes, colors, and super powers and landed on a single-eyed orange alien with electrical powers that interacted with the real world, while also looking great on the HoloLens.
We drafted a story, classically illustrated for a timeless and relatable feel.
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Unfortunately. due to a business decision to focus on existing IP, Asobo pivoted away from Joe to "Young Conker" which employed several of the learnings from the Joe prototype. That said, Joe remains one of a favorite collaboration from my entire career.
Connecting with characters in a platforming game on the HoloLens is a magical experience. After of year of prototypes, it was clear to the development team that eye contact with characters enhances the this connection, which impacted Joe's character design. This blend of technology and storytelling brings virtual adventures to life in a way that feels uniquely intimate, where the stakes feel higher and achievements are more satisfying.
Additionally, additive graphics (not drawing black pixels) required clever and intentional solutions, such as Joe's "electrical" powers, which rendered beautifully on the HoloLens's optical lens, further enriched by the story highlighted in the image sequence below.
Every element of Joe's design and story is designed to amplify the magical connection between the player and the character. The storybook itself was an important component of getting the HoloLens project (codename: Baraboo) funded.
“There is always a good reason behind any decision Michael makes, a creative thoroughness where high level concepts make their way into every nuance of a design.”
— Darren Bennett, Principal Creative Director, Mixed Reality, Microsoft