Chris Schmidt

So here's to one hell of a ride on Anthem. A bit of pre-launch dev, a bit of live service, and a bit of Next. Some of my fondest memories amidst some very complicated times in both games and how communities engaged. I would do it all over again.

RIP Anthem

Their advocacy, support, and recognition of my work to my local leadership is something I'll never forget. The confidence I gained and the support I felt for the first time made me a better designer and leader, and I cannot WAIT to see the next thing they put out.

Advocacy
I was in the mid/senior slump - I felt constantly overlooked and underappreciated. Working with a new design leadership team in our sister studio changed the course of my career...

It was a fundamental re-think of the player growth journey, while pushing for excellence in every other aspect. Everything could be improved, even traversal. It was an exciting time.

Anthem Next
The team working on Next was incredibly driven. A wildly talented small group that playtested every day. Every morning we would look at changes from the day before...

Community
I had the opportunity to interface with some really great communities. We were heavily invested in getting feedback on all of our potential changes and fixes, and there were some dedicated folks that were excited to join us on that journey.

Cataclysm
We designed something special in live service that I'm still really proud of. Cataclysm was a PvE Extraction experience that (imho) was ahead of its time. We had a blast designing it and working with public testers to refine it to something really unique and engaging.

Personalization
Working with and organizing all of the cosmetics and personalization options for the exosuits was a ton of fun. Coming up with more ways for players to express themselves (emotes/poses), and working with some world-class animators and modelers was inspiring.

Circumstances led to us adding a social hub at the last minute: 2 months before launch. I was lucky to work with a two crazy talented engineers (and a couple of producers) from Motive who pulled off a miracle. Working with them was unforgettable.

We didn't want to lean on dark patterns (like FOMO) to fuel social motivation, so we came up with the Alliance system, which encouraged play via positive social pressure. The more you and your friends and their friends played, the more everyone benefitted collectively. More currency for everyone.

Social
Connecting folks together is pretty crucial in a co-op pve game. It was also important to the business. AWS dedis were very expensive, especially when not full. One of the systems I was pretty proud of was the Alliance system...

Today Anthem went dark after almost 7 years - quite a run! It had a profound effect on my career in a few ways, and I wanted to capture some positive memories and thoughts I'll take with me. 🧵

I was born in 1978; Return of the Jedi came out in 1983; Clerks came out in 1994. During those eleven years I never once heard an adult talk about Star Wars other than family members talking directly to me, until I heard Randall and Dante do it. I feel like this is impossible to convey to people now

New Vekoma tilt coaster was open for a preview during the F1 weekend, so of course I had to try it out... This one's legit!

This is important.

This has been a go-to wind-down game for me for a long time. Really executed well and great presentation. I've been recommending this to folks for years - check it out!

meme of two guys looking out a bus. guy on the left is depressed and looking to the left, because "they're having a meeting without me". he is labeled "associate". guy on the right is smiling and looking at a bright horizon because "they're having a meeting without me". he is labeled senior. director would wrap back around to the left probably

Borat voice:

6 because Peggle rules

Most experts acknowledge that a takeover by artificial intelligence is coming for the video game industry within the next five years, and executives have already started preparing to restructure their companies in anticipation. After all, it was one of the first sectors to deploy A.I. programming in the 1980s, with the four ghosts who chase Pac-Man each responding differently to the player's real-time movements.

This is an insane thing to write about game development. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/a...

Broken Wings and Kyrie on infinite repeat.

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

A very large roly-poly light brown bunny rabbit wearing a tiny SF Giants ballcap is cuddled by a man wearing a Giants jersey.

please meet Alex the Great, a therapy bunny who works at the San Fran airport and now Giants games to help people who are overwhelmed

LOOK AT HIS TINY BALLCAP. LOOK AT IT.

Loc spreadsheets with questions were always a highlight of my day

Loc: What gender is the droid?
Me: Ehhhhh
Loc: Is the 'broken console' sad/depressed, or non-functional?
Me: Awwww

Baskets was like a top 5 show for me. So we came full circle when I saw my first Cirque show in Vegas last week and was surrounded by French 'clunes'

Tidy cats litter with a lounging hammock cat

Oh you know this guy fucks

The layers are just... inspiring. So many roots. So many Americana touchstones. I don't want to say underrated since it's been well recognized but...underappreciated maybe?

Well color me surprised

saw so many folks making fun of "liquid glass" this week that I missed people praising apple for introducing call screening, something other phones have done since...2022