Craig Beers
COO @ Ares Interactive, Inc.
About
I am a Product Management Executive with a focus on building SaaS systems and engagement features. I have led product management teams at successful F2P businesses Glu Mobile, GREE, and KingsIsle Entertainment. I was VP of Product at KingsIsle when I led Wizard101 growth & steering the business to a $185M acquisition. I am currently the COO of Ares Interactive, where I am leading studios to release new games and scale the business. • Experienced leader of team sizes ranging from 6 to 100 people across several development locations • Shipped and ran live operations on $40M per year titles • Launched over 40 web and mobile products from concept to product release • Integrator of AI into engineering pipeline, art pipeline, and gameplay systems • Proven multi-discipline development process to ship products on time and on budget • Built SaaS solutions for user engagement, merchandizing systems, and purchasing systems • Expert in analyzing data and providing action items that result in positive impacts to products • Expert in user segmentation, advanced targeting, and predictive analytics • Coaching leadership style that fosters and encourages career development of both direct and indirect reports
United States
Austin
Computer Games
Artificial Intelligence (AI), MMORPG, Mobile Game Development, Data Analysis, Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality, Video Game Production, Free to Play, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Merchandising, Strategic Roadmaps, P&L Management, Monetization, Product Management, Analytics, Mobile Devices, Marketing Strategy, Product Development, Project Management, Video Games
Experience

Chief Product Officer
Austin, Texas Metropolitan Area
WIMO Games was a spinoff of the mobile games group after KingsIsle was acquired • Led operations for a 34-person gaming start-up • Planned multi-year roadmaps that coordinated schedules for design, engineering, and art disciplines. Result was 3 products that launched globally on time and on budget • Exceeded retention, engagement, and ARPU KPI targets for RPG Dice: Heroes of Whitestone • All launched products were critically acclaimed with at least 90% user rating

VP Product Management
Austin, Texas
• Led a 100+ person organization of the following disciplines: Game Design, Engineering, Art, Product Management, Production, and Analytics • Institutionalized a data-driven focus to the 10-year old $30M MMO business, leading to renewed growth by reducing user churn and increasing ARPU • Improved product performance enabled KingsIsle to be acquired in January 2021 for $185M • Launched Animal Cove worldwide with a 95% User Rating • Added live operations in the Animal Cove mobile game which improved ARPU by 30%

Engagement & Monetization Consultant
Self-employed
• HealthTap - Designer for engagement features for telehealth consumer & doctor apps • Limbic Software - Provided monetization design for PVP systems

VP Product Management
San Francisco, California
• Business owner for upcoming title, overseeing design and product management functions • Created system frameworks and data sheets to be used across multiple products for user engagement • Built merchandizing systems that met product monetization targets (conversion & LTV) • Planned 18 month feature roadmap being executed in two week sprints • Implemented processes to streamline production and increase team velocity

Senior Director of Product Management
• Ran PM functions for six studios: monetization systems design, economy balancing, and live operations • Launched over 20 products, including Deer Hunter titles and Contract Killer:Sniper • Worked with analyst team to create queries and dashboards for KPIs and deep dive analyses • Implemented analyses process for knowledge sharing and historical records • Wrote best practices for live operations such as content release plans, AB testing, and data analyses • Created advanced merchandizing techniques using limited time offers, user segmentation, and predictive analytics • Made economy models to balance currencies and predict progression rates for user profiles • Ability to analyze and create additive spend systems in games. Drone system added in Contract Killer: Sniper utilizing item fusion increased LTV by 30% • Specced and launched socio-competitive events such as PVP, PVE raids, and world boss events, resulting in weekly revenue increases up to 64% • Introduced guild systems in multiple games that increased engaged user retention by 2x

Director of Product Management
• Modeled & balanced complex game economies using excel • Designed monetization systems for mobile free-to-play games including socio-competitive events, upgrade systems, fusion/evolution, gacha, etc • Developed content release plans to maximize live operations revenue • Created game events to boost retention and revenue • Built a community and rewards initiative called the Glu Games Network that was integrated into titles • Planned and released a universal currency for Android called Glu Credits. Players have a single Glu Credit balance where they could earn and spend credits in any supported Glu game • Launched a subscription program for Glu's games called the VIP Club. Glu was the first game company to launch with subscriptions on Google Play

Product Manager
• Launched and operated two titles: Kung Foo! and Ether Saga Online • Set pricing and release schedules for microtransaction cash shop items • Created new cash shop items, increasing ARPU by 50% • Designed in-game events that increased CCU metrics by 8% • Initiated a buyer rewards program that increased sales by 5% • Oversaw development and release of community features, including wikis and user referral programs • Operated social network community initiatives, increasing user fan growth by 100% • Evaluated marketing ROI in terms of both user growth and spending to better target future campaigns • Led a support team consisting of a community manager and assistant product managers

Director of Product Development
• Led the website relaunch of the flagship website, resulting in a 30% increase in pageviews • Created the brand identity of the Curse Network by implementing a single sign-on service • Launched an innovative database for Warhammer Online, capturing 80% of the market share • Enabled a Premium subscription service • Planned and executed new community-based projects such as a Rewards Program • Managed a team of 6 developers, both locally and remote

Product Manager
• Oversaw community-based initiatives to raise user engagement such as enhanced user profiles, updates to the achievement system, and evolution of social groups • Envisioned and wrote design specs for marketing-based initiatives. Web-based games like scavenger hunt, trivia, character battles, and tournaments increased ad buys by 100% • Planned and executed an automated video encoding process that increased video production efficiency by 18% • Built a new video player to change technology from Windows Media to Flash, increasing video traffic by 20% • Wrote design spec sheets for development projects such as the podcast entry tool and a statistical gathering tool for video reports • Managed sponsorships of key video properties like On the Spot weekly broadcast, Behind the Games developer profiles, and monthly Button Mashing game show

Project Manager
• Designed features for video content tools in GameSpot’s content management system • Led production teams for large video features • Managed a half-million dollar budget and hired 14 contractors for E3 trade shows • Managed video workflow with several business partners such as Akamai, Yahoo, Target, and AOL • Compiled video statistics to gauge YoY growth and to run cost analyses for video bandwidth • Maintained interdepartmental relationships between the video team, sales, design and editorial teams
Craig Beers's Contact Information
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