Jeremy Vanhoozer

It was a terrible experience just trying to FIND the right version.

One more note about the GW team. They were spectacular. A group of people who bought into a crazy vision and busted their butts to make it beautiful and legitimate. Sitting in Vancouver, in a building FIFA built, they were working on what seemed at the time a fever dream. I will forever tip my cap.

An ink drawing of a Foot Soldier zombie from the Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare games. He is shambling towards the camera, wearing his typical gear and holding his weapon. His expression could be considered "vacant."

An ink drawing of a Sunflower from the Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare games. They are standing upright with a lean and a goofy smile. There is also a drawing of the flower's side profile to the right of the main drawing.

An ink drawing of a Foot Soldier zombie from the Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare games. He is shambling to the left of the scene, wearing his uniform and carrying a rocket launcher on his back. He looks beaten up and frankly, really dumb.

An ink drawing of an Engineer Zombie and a Chomper Plant from the Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare games. The Chomper is biting the Engineer's pants from behind and pulling them back to expose the Engineer's bottom. The Engineer is desperately trying to get away, reaching for a couple of outstretched zombie hands.

I didn't escape with much behind the scenes work for GW, but I will post some beautiful ink drawings done by Taylor Krahenbuhl. Happy Birthday, GW.

YouTube video by IGN Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare Teaser Trailer - E3 2013 EA Conference

During the E3 2013 EA Conference, we dropped a surprise teaser that was spoofing the powerful Battlefield imagery and sound. We needed to set the tone that this was legit, but we didn't take ourselves too seriously. Nobody knew what to think. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUnc...

An image from the game Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare, showing a Chomper plant bursting from the ground and getting ready to "chomp" a basic "Browncoat" zombie. The setting is a typical backyard, complete with picket fences, a pink flamingo, and a yard gnome.

An image from the game Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare, showing a Bonk Choy plant sitting in a pot and punching a basic Browncoat zombie in the head. The zombie is recoiling from the impact. The setting is a suburban sidewalk, and you can see more zombies stumbling along in the background.

An image from the game Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare, showing a zombie Foot Soldier and an All-Star (two classes in the game) running toward the camera with their weapons blazing. The setting is a typical suburban neighborhood, and there are additional basic zombies stumbling around in the background.

February 25, 29014, Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare launched. It was an insane idea: Take one of the most beloved game IP's ever and make a third person shooter. Should have been a disaster. Should have been a cash-grab. But a talented, scrappy team ended up making it a passion project.

Share a TV show that raised you.

People who can draw horses are magic.

Gorgeous.

Here to add another vote for Kingdom Rush. Very solid, charming game with a bunch of sequels. Has he played the PvZ Garden Warfare games? Not completely TD but still very PvZ. GW2 is very likable.

It's all so overwhelming, but I assume that is the point. Gotta keep going and doing what we can. I am determined that this story has a different ending.

Absolutely beautiful! Love the subtlety and texture. Well done!

He is majestic.

One of the many things that have materialized thanks to the oppression and murder in Minnesota: A rock solid list of people who I would never hire, and frankly never agree to work with. People are really feeling comfortable being terrible humans online. We can see you, and will not forget.

A rough sketch showing a rowdy group of pirates looking out across an expanse at a giant treasure chest. The text "Go get the gold! Plunder and pillage" sits at the top of the image, and there is a green "GO" button in the lower right corner.

A rough sketch showing a concerned group of pirates looking out over their fort wall and across an expanse at an incoming horde of enemy pirates. The text "Pirates Ahoy!" sits at the top of the image, and there is more text on the right that says "Shiver me timbers! Pirates Attacking! We sent our crew after gold, but we are under siege! Now you must defend your treasure." There is a "DEFEND!" button in the lower right corner.

This rough mock-up shows an idea for a simple game mode selection screen, from a never-made pirate game. On the left is an image representing single player mode, and on the right one representing multiplayer mode.

A rough sketch mock-up of a title card for a mobile game idea. This sketch shows a large pirate flag in the center, housing the title "Pirate Rush." There is a skull and crossbones on the flag as well. At the bottom of the flag, there are silhouettes of two teams of pirates running at each other from each side of the image. There is a play button at the bottom center of the screen.

Cleaning out an old drive, and I found these quick sketches I did forever ago to show off a little pirate game idea.

Right. It was not Dan. I wish it had been though! Dan is awesome. I really liked the work that Russel had done on Minions, and I do think he did a good job on Zomboss… just not a fan of him anymore.

Ha. I figured you would ask me that. It’s a long story, but we never really shared who did the voice because we didn’t have enough money in our budget to afford using his name. Weird, I know. It later came out online that it was Russel Brand.

I do. I was there. I directed his performance. 📢🤓🪄

I appreciate you asking me this question. I WISH that was me, playing Dr. Zomboss… but no it isn’t me. I directed the actor doing the VO, and it was a wild session as you might imagine. Good memories.

OMG this brings back so many memories. I grew up terrified of Wookalars!

Dude, you've never ripped a pit? Or pitted a rip? Phllrrrbt!

I think the inconvenient truth is that they will actually never stop. Art is a cloudy mystery to most people, which is easy to forget since we live and breath it!

YouTube video by Women's March What Will You Say?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=684n...

"Have courage and be kind. Everything else is out of your control."

I'm going to try to make this my 2026.

Simple rough sketch on the back of note paper showing the shape of a human standing in front of a set of screens.

Simple rough sketches on a white board showing the flow of a game utilizing simple shapes and boxes.

Simple rough sketch showing sticker figure characters climbing out of the pages of an open book.

Simple rough sketch showing a robot standing at the bedside of a character lying in a hospital bed.

Throughout my career, I’ve communicated creative and artistic direction through some of the worst drawings imaginable. That’s how it’s supposed to go! Your job is to set up the people on your team for success by letting THEM interpret the rough ideas into beautiful things with their unique brains.

Lots of great examples of raw "idea art" in the comments. I think people would be shocked to know how many of their favorite scenes in both movies and games started on a napkin or Post-It. :)

If you use Generative AI to create concept art for your game, I would argue that your game is absolutely shipping with AI in it. Concept art is perhaps the most creatively influential step in developing a new idea, and it affects almost every step of the development process that follows.

OMG so good.

Huge congrats to @expedition33.bsky.social for winning all of the awards last night at @thegameawards.com. It is lovely to see a small team make a "small" game and keep the quality bar so high. I also know just how hard that is to accomplish. Our industry needs more of this!

I absolutely loved this game and this character. One of my top games of the year. Thanks for all of your hard work!

Just wow.