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First Strike Games Founded By Former 343 Industries Devs

by Rainier on March 11, 2016 @ 5:48 p.m. PST

Various key figures who worked on 343 Industries' Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer component have decided to venture out of their own and form First Strike Games. Judging by their backgrounds, it is safe to say that FSG's first game will be multiplayer focused.

​First Strike Games is engaged in publisher and investor discussions to develop a PC/Console Multiplayer game.

Kevin Franklin, First Strike Games Founder/CEO & Design Director

Kevin has a near lifetime of building multiplayer games, including over ten years in the industry.

At EA Black Box, Kevin shipped NFS: Most Wanted and Carbon. With Sony & SSG Kevin led design on SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3. As Multiplayer Design Director, Kevin shipped Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians, Microsoft’s largest and most extensive investment in multiplayer ever, featuring a 24 player PVE/PVP multiplayer mode, and a 4v4 multiplayer Arena experience built for eSports.

Kevin is a member of the Washington Seaplane Pilots Association, on the board of the Canadian Video Game Awards, a speaker at DICE Europe, and an alumni of Forbes 30 under 30.

Brian Lemon, First Strike Games Founder/COO & Executive Producer

Brian has over 15 years building great teams on a wide variety of AAA games ranging from real-time strategy, massively multiplayer, casual/social to blockbuster shooters. These games have spanned many platforms from PC, Xbox, Web and 3DS.

Brian enjoyed 7 years at Ensemble Studios working on Age of Empires and Halo Wars. His most recent position at 343 Industries was Lead Multiplayer Producer on Halo 5: Guardians.

Outside of work Brian spends time with his amazing wife, son and daughter skiing, hiking, mountain biking and generally taking advantage of the the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Brian also loves brewing beer, so much so that he convinced his wife to convert a third of their garage into a 1 barrel brewery.

Doug Barnes, First Strike Games Founder/CTO & Technical Director

A software developer with a passion for multiplayer games, Doug led the engineering efforts on the 4v4 eSports multiplayer modes of Halo 5: Guardians on the Xbox One. After launch, Doug led the multiplayer games-as-a-service team focusing on monthly releases to boost player population and engagement.

A lifelong multiplayer gamer, Doug spent endless hours playing Rainbow Six, Unreal Tournament, Counter-Strike, and Quake on his 56k modem. Doug has always had a competitive spirit, and gaming turned into his outlet.

When he’s not crafting amazing multiplayer experiences, you can find Doug on the mountain, he’s an avid snowboarder and mountain biking enthusiast.

Jeff Hilbert, First Strike Games Founder & Chief Business Development Officer

Jeff is recognized as one of the game industry's top business development executives and has been involved in securing in excess of $750,000,000 in capital for development studios.  He has extensive experience structuring Publishing and Distribution deals having worked on projects with the top Publishers and Distributors in the world.

Jeff most recently was the Founder and Co-CEO of DDM, the world’s largest video game representation agency where he was responsible for company direction, entering new markets and overall business development.

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