Officials from Sam & Max developer Telltale Games have announced three new senior level appointments, with industry veterans Mike Stemmle, Justin Chin and Brett Tosti joining the company in what is described as a “sustained wave of growth” for the studio.
Stemmle joins the developer as a designer for the primarily download only Sam & Max series, as well as other unnamed projects. Stemmle was co-designer of the original 1993 LucasArts graphic adventure Sam & Max: Hit the Road and lead designer on the cancelled sequel Sam & Max: Freelance Police. He also worked on other LucasArts titles including Escape from Monkey Island and Afterlife.
Chin is also a veteran of LucasArts, having been instrumental in the Star Wars: Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series. He has also worked at Electronic Arts, Activision, Sega and Midway on titles including Medal of Honor: Allied Assault – Breakthrough and, most recently, The Simpsons Game.
Tosti’s background includes stints at Factor-5, Sony Entertainment and LucasArts, working on the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series and the recent Lair for PlayStation 3. Both Tosti and Chin will become executive producers tasked with increasing the studio’s output and growth in multi-platform development.
Other recent hirings include author and illustrator Andy Hartzell, best known for the graphic novel Fox Bunny Funny and Gran Alexander, who worked as a background and concept artist on Adult Swim cartoon Lucy: Daughter of the Devil. Telltale plans further expansion throughout 2008, with the studio’s current size already twice that of the same time last year.
"Mere words are proving woefully inadequate to describe my delight at hooking up with this fiendishly dedicated crew," says Stemmle. "The excitement and talent swirling around Telltale remind me of the geysers of imagination that erupted across the gaming industry in the early 90's. Only this time, with rational production schedules."
"All this great talent is accelerating our plans to take advantage of the momentum Telltale has earned through the first two seasons of Sam & Max. We'll be announcing several new episodic series on multiple platforms in the near future, to offer even more new experiences for fans. Stay tuned!" said CEO Dan Connors.
