ABOUT
Devin.
20 YEARS IN THE TECH INDUSTRY
GAME DESIGN | BLOCKCHAIN | CYBERSECURITY
Get to know Devin Becker and his exhaustive history in all things game design, NFT gaming, and cyber-security. Whatever the tech solutions you need, I can provide.
I’ve had a wide variety of opportunities, but my passion and curiosity have always led me to tech, design, and learning.
I’ve been developing + designing games and apps going back to Dos 3.0 on an old monochrome 286.
My diverse background in tech gives me an edge and a deeper understanding on strategic tech solutions.
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02 | HISTORY
HIGHLIGHTS OF MY JOURNEY.
VIDEO GAME COMMENTATOR
With my extensive knowledge in game design it was an amazing opportunity to be an official video game commentator under the well known Ubisoft. I traveled all over the world to different game industry events bringing real time commentary to professional matches. As the color commentator, I would give an analysis of the professional players, the sponsored teams as a whole, and deep dive into their unique strategies for the exciting matches.
03 | EXPERIENCE
TIMELINE OF MY WORK.
2020-2021
Cybersecurity
Consultant + Private Training
While out in Poland I also found myself wanting to return to some of my youthful hacking roots and dived into offensive cybersecurity training. I went through a variety of training courses including OSCP prep and exam. I was also able to perform a lot of practice and practical exercises using simulated targets. When the commentating position ended in Poland and Covid hitting, I moved back home to California and quickly took up a position developing and delivering a comprehensive 14 week Cybersecurity Red Team training program for public sector internal red teams as well as performing security assessments for public and private sector clients.
2021-2022
Blockchain Game Design
Economy Consultant
During some off time between commentating seasons I also dived deep into blockchain technology. I developed and taught multiple local classes on how to write blockchain smart contracts on Ethereum along with some more basic Blockchain 101 for the general public.
Lately I’ve also been following my passion for blockchain technology and game design into the NFT blockchain game space and the metaverse. I am an early adopter of metaverse technology going back to building virtual office space in Active Worlds back in the late 1990s. I provide consulting for multiple blockchain game projects from game design to economy design. My focus has been on helping create more sustainable game economies with smarter designs to better engage players over the long term.
2016-2020
eSports Commentator
Video Game Color Analyst
While doing various bits of contract work developing games and apps I fell in love with a newly released game, Rainbow Six: Siege. My excitement and understanding of the game was compelling enough to land me in the position of professional eSports commentator on Ubisoft’s newly formed eSports league for the game for the next 4-5 years. I moved out to Poland to live and provide commentary from a local ESL broadcast studio with other commentators. This led to a lot of international travel to events and working with Ubisoft staff on game feedback.
2016-2020
VR/Blockchain Developer
Virtual Reality + Software Expert
During my time living in Poland commentating, I kept busy with multiple activities including contract work developing virtual reality games for multiple platforms including Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. I also worked on various hobby VR projects to explore the space.
2014-2016
Intel Platform Evangelist
Workshop Instructor
After doing a lot of game jams and hackathons for emerging or unreleased platforms, Intel noticed and gave me the opportunity to be an evangelist for some of the projects. I developed resources, onboarding workshops and networked with developers to help them work with Intel’s new technology initiatives. These included their IoT on a chip platforms, RealSense camera vision technology and HTML5 development tools. I even designed and developed an early competitor to Ring (long before Amazon acquired them) for Intel that they took to the industrial design and market research phases.
2012-2016
Game and Technology
Teaching Software + Technology
While working on the game for a living I found myself wanting to teach others again and started classes at a local maker space to teach kids how to make games. I also co-hosted a series of popular podcasts on Game Design. I helped teach and develop for a local game dev schoo, Ameon. Through my passion for pushing technology at this maker space I also ended up partnering with Intel as an evangelist and workshop instructor for some of their emerging technologies in IoT and Camera Vision.
2012-2014
Cutting Edge Game Developer
At 5th Planet Games I found myself quickly becoming lead developer on a collectible card game that I was very passionate about called Clash of the Dragons. Over the course of development which took the form of weekly releases, I found myself training new designers on the project and developing a number of new economy design and monetization features. Eventually this led to me taking over as designer on the game and continuing to introduce radical improvements to the economy and design space.
2011-2013
Gamification Designer
Game Psychology
During this time I found myself compelled back towards game design again and began diving deeper into design and gamification psychology. I began running, attending and winning game jams for fun both locally and only for the primary gamification site, Gameful. I also started providing some gamification consulting for projects that wanted to use game design for positive change like weight loss. Through these game jams and a local game dev meetup group I started co-running, I found an opportunity at a local game company called 5th Planet Games.
2011-2012
Cutting Edge Web Developer
HTML5 Programmer
When 2008 hit it caused a huge downturn in Bauer Industries retail and manufacturing side of things. I took the time to further web development skills I had started at Apple. Always one to push for the cutting edge, I found myself intrigued by the possibilities of newly forming HTML5 technology and developed a number of projects for SF bay area clients on the web and as apps for the newly released iPad. I worked on interfaces for Ticketmaster sales, Fox movie promotions and sales presentation tools.
2008-2011
IT Administrator
Information Technology Computer Science
In my role for Bauer Industries I administered all of the IT infrastructure for the corporate (enterprise and web servers) and retail side (point of sale machines) of 3 businesses: Bauer360 (a web development/SEO company), Rack and Road (a car rack retail business with 13 stores at the time), and Park-a-bike (a manufacturing business that made bike parking racks for cities and businesses). While in this role I also assisted with business development and worked with outsourced Indian partners, even traveling to India to collaborate in person.
EARLY 2000's
App Development
Early Programming
Eventually I was able to get a Windows PC and started developing games and apps in Visual Basic. I developed a popular freeware note taking program called QuickNotes that I updated for some time with many loyal users. I also did some early game design consulting work helping out on various small projects including an RPG with Dan Paladin of Castle Crashers fame. I also worked on a contract game development prototype on-site in South Carolina for 3 months.
2006-2008
Apple Training Developer
Technical Instruction Developer
Next I took an opportunity at Apple as a phone tech. I was quickly promoted and joined a brand new division to support the iLife/iWork products, I found myself compelled to develop the training for the department for new agents as there wasn’t any at the time. There I learned I had a knack for teaching and training others, delivering 13 classes of week long training. I also began developing other training programs and software to support phone agents. After multiple Senior Director Awards, bonuses and raises I eventually hit the ceiling and left Apple for an IT admin role at Bauer Industries.
Early 1900's
Game Development
Old School Early Days
As a nerdy kid who moved around a lot I focused mostly on books and video games until I got a hand me down monochrome (orange!) 286 running old Dos 3.0. Finally having a chance to make my own games and not wanting to have to beg someone else to do the coding, I taught myself Qbasic. I fell very much in love with the power of computing and even sold a text adventure I made to a fellow high school student for $5 on a 5 ¼” floppy disk!
04 | Relationship
WORK W/ AN INDUSTRY EXPERT.
I have a unique approach to the industry with a broad understanding of multiple industries in tech and design. Not just from the technical side, but also the psychology and neurochemistry of player/user experiences.
I take a systems/design approach to problem solving that focuses on the best practices to achieve your goals. There’s no one solution to copy and paste, but instead a tailored method that matches what you’re trying to achieve as a whole. I incorporate an adversarial strategy to ensure that edge case scenarios don’t become real problems.
