Game Developer magazine EIC Brandon Sheffield announces gradual departure

Game Developer magazine is going through some changes. While the vision will remain largely the same, the staff has shifted somewhat dramatically. Brandon Sheffield, editor-in-chief of the magazine, will be moving to part time, after over seven years with Game Developer. He will continue to guide the vision of the magazine for the next several months, remaining EIC and writing the opening editorial for that time, but is departing in a larger sense to spend more time on game development and writing projects of his own. His new company is called Necrosoft Games, and will develop and consult on a variety of game projects. He will remain a writer of original articles on Gamasutra, contributing several stories per month. "I've been working on games on the side for the last six years or so," says Sheffield, "but after a large project got canceled I figured it was time for me to try to tackle this on my own, full-time. I don't have a huge safety net, but I needed more creative space, and to tackle a wider variety of projects, not just in games. Wish me luck, maybe! At the same time, I couldn't just leave the magazine outright, so I will be helping everyone during the transition for a few months." To keep the magazine running smoothly, the company has hired Patrick Miller as editor of Game Developer, who was formerly associate editor at PC World. "I hired Patrick because he's got a love for the game industry, and a fire in his belly!" says Sheffield. "The fact that he came from the tech side of journalism and not the consumer side was another big plus, and having also worked with him as an editor on my personal game site Insert Credit, I'm confident that he can move the magazine in a good direction," he said. Lastly, production editor Jade Kraus has moved on to new things in Austin, TX. Her shoes will be filled by Dan Mallory, who was previously senior production coordinator for Future US, working on magazines like PC Gamer, Maximum PC, Official Xbox Magazine, and PlayStation: The Official Magazine. Mallory will be Game Developer's new manager of production. "I knew Dan was the right guy for the job pretty quickly," Sheffield adds. "He's got an extensive magazine background, and has worked on a number of game publications, but more importantly we knew he could hit the ground running, fitting into our pipeline without missing a beat." "Game Developer recently revamped its subscription model, has a new site, and an iPad app," Sheffield added. "The sales team, thanks in large part to new hire Jen Sulik, is also bringing us on target for the best financial year we've had in the last several. Because of all this, I feel confident that I can slowly exit the magazine on a high note. I hope everyone will continue to support it!"