Mike Acton

Current

Engine Director at Insomniac Games

Past

Sr. Architect at Highmoon Studios
Lead FX Programmer at Sammy Studios
Lead Programmer at FINE

Engine Programmer at Yukes co, ltd.
Technical Director / Engine Programmer at VBlank, inc.
Lead Programmer / Engine Programmer at Bluesky Software
Lead Programmer / Engine Programmer at Sony Interactive Studios America

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500+ connections

Industry

Computer Games

Websites

Mike Acton’s Summary

I am a programmer who cares about performance. I understand that all the software we write must eventually sit on top of a real hardware platform and push real content and real experiences out to real people.

I am a programmer who appreciates the needs of the content creators. I understand that what I write is only a conduit between the artists, designers and the users.

I am a programmer who wants to give back to the community. I understand that I could not have done my job well without relying on the work of others and I have a duty to try my best to return the favor.

Mike Acton’s Experience

Engine Director

Insomniac Games

(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Computer Games industry)

January 2007 — Present (2 years 11 months)
Sr. Architect

Highmoon Studios

(Computer Games industry)

May 2005 — November 2006 (1 year 7 months)

Discovering the secrets of the Cell BE processor and the Playstation 3.
Lead FX Programmer

Sammy Studios

(Computer Games industry)

April 2004 — March 2005 (1 year )

Worked closely with the FX art staff to create custom tools, realtime editing and previewing on the target platform and some very cool special effects.
Lead Programmer

FINE

(Public Company; Computer Games industry)

June 2003 — January 2004 (8 months)

Worked on the LIME PS2 title. Developed all tools including art converters and a unique scripting language. Developed all console code including graphics engine, scripting engine, streaming engine and game code. Developed the title from start to gold master in record time.
Engine Programmer

Yukes co, ltd.

(Computer Games industry)

January 2002 — June 2003 (1 year 6 months)

Worked on developing a new PS2 graphics engine.
Technical Director / Engine Programmer

VBlank, inc.

(Computer Games industry)

March 2000 — January 2002 (1 year 11 months)

Mostly engine programming, plus designed the toolset and formats and co-developed the tools.
Lead Programmer / Engine Programmer

Bluesky Software

(Computer Games industry)

January 1999 — March 2000 (1 year 3 months)

I wrote and completed the PSX engine (arbitrary portals, no convexity design restrictions, using arbitrary geometry and all the pipeline tools (lightwave for geometry, image converters, etc)
Lead Programmer / Engine Programmer

Sony Interactive Studios America

(Public Company; Computer Games industry)

1996 — June 1998 (2 years )

Involved in every aspect of the development. Including character animation engine, camera logic, AI and virtual control systems, tools, etc.