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'Sammy Studios' Strengthens Developer Team

by Rainier on Dec. 12, 2002 @ 6:28 p.m. PST

Sammy Studios Inc. today announced the addition of Clinton Keith. Clinton comes to the company from Rockstar San Diego, the developer formerly known as Angel Studios, Inc., where he served as director/lead programmer. He joins Sammy Studios as lead tools programmer, working with teams currently creating the company’s first internally-developed video games in North America.

"Clinton is an amazing addition to our US development team,” said John Rowe, president of Sammy Studios. “He played a big role in establishing Angel Studios, working on some of their biggest titles and helping them nearly double in size during his time there. His immense expertise and industry background will be a big asset to our company as he spearheads development projects with our talent-charged teams.”

Before joining Sammy Studios, Clinton served as director/lead programmer of Angel Studios. While there, he created new engineering tools and production processes that greatly improved execution rates, allowing them to become the only studio to deliver two launch titles for Sony PlayStation® 2; top-ten hits Smuggler’s Run and Midnight Club. Clinton also directed the development of Midtown Madness, Angel’s first driving game for PC and still the company’s best-selling title, as well as sequels to all three driving game franchises and Test Drive Wide-Open.

Clinton is co-founder and chair of the San Diego chapter of the Independent Game Developers Association (IGDA), establishing the chapter with industry colleague and owner of Walter & Co., Barbara Walter. Both saw the burgeoning video game community in San Diego and just over a year ago decided that there was a crucial need for local representation. They have since seen the chapter grow to over 150 members.

“I’m thrilled to be here at Sammy Studios as part of a development team that boasts tremendous talent and a company that understands the formula for successful game development,” said Clinton. “Sammy Studios is out to create original franchises that will help establish the company as a powerhouse. It’s an exciting time to be here, where a focus on talent, support, knowledge-sharing and all the prerequisites to successfully developing great games are understood and ingrained in the culture.”

Before he entered the video game industry, Clinton served as software engineer-undersea technology at Applied Remote Technology, where he developed the first-ever 2400 baud underwater modem and full-color laser-line scanner. Before that, he served as software engineer with Secret/SAR clearance at TRW Avionics, where he helped develop software for two of Northrop/McDonnell Douglas’ most advanced fighter jets, the YF-23 and YF-22. Clinton received his BS in computer science at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut.

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