Tim Hong

Well Met!
I'm Tim, let's chat!

The Live Ops Video Game Guy

About

Name: Tim Hong
Email: contact@timothyhong.com
Currently Playing: NBA 2K23

Let's connect!

Diablo. Overwatch. Star Wars. Disney. Call of Duty. EA Sports. These are some of the brands I've been blessed to work on during my 15 year career in the interactive media industry. I'm a lifelong video game nerd stuck in adult's body, read on for more details!

Download Resume

Skills

Leveling up constantly...

I have learned quickly that to succeed in the digital world, I must possess the ability to help my teammates by brining skills to the table that help create the world's best experiences. Below are some of the highlights of what I can bring to any project, hackathon or lan party

Product Management

Expert, 11 years

Project Management

Master, 11 years

Data Analysis

Advanced, 8 years

Game Production

Expert, 10 years

Knowledge and Tools

Below is a list of tools and skills I am also well versed in and have used in my regular day to day responsibilities.

Mobile Strategy

Micro Targetting
CRM
Monetization
Cross Platform Experiences
User Retention

Content Strategy

Information Architecture
Console/VR/AR/Mobile
User Experience Design
Data Driven Analysis

Product Management

Wireframing
Requirements Documentation
A/B Multivariate Testing
Agile Project Management

Management/Soft Skills

Cross Functional Team Management

Strategic Resource Allocation

Go To Market/Business Development

Team Development/Mentoring

Experience

Leveling up my adventures constantly

I have been fortunate enough to work on some of the best people who help bring the best experiences to life. Whether it's working on a new feature, optimizing for conversion or playtesting the latest build, I'm familiar with what it takes to see an idea from start to finish.

Check out the highlights below, with more details in my portfolio:

Amazon Web Services - Amazon for Games

Head of Business Development/Solutions - Live Ops

2023 - Current

I am here to help game studios build best in class live ops games that are fun, scalable and unique. I believe the right tools, the right tech, allow developers to deliver the right player experiences every time.

Unity Technologies - Unity Gaming Services

Staff Product Manager

2021 - 2022

As someone who has run live ops on multiple titles and run countless assessment on industry tools, I know what tools, strategies and resources are needed to help a game scale. At UGS I focus on building those tools/services that would make all Unity developers faster to market and successful in their live ops.

Blizzard Entertainment

Principal Product Manager

2020 - 2021

Product Leader focusing on incubation title efforts and best practices. Every day it was my job to answer the question "What would it take for Bilzzard to become great in mobile?" My job was to help develop teams and provide frameworks on live ops and scaling so that teams could make informed decisions about how to build/run their games.

Electronic Arts

Lead Product Manager

2015 - 2020

I wore many PM hats during my time at EA including: 1) Running a live ops pod that did all in game messaging for all of EA mobile titles 2) Working on Star Wars Galxy of Heroes to develop the live ops strategy, execution and analysis 3) Partner with multiple studios to help build out game economies and validate pricing/user models 4) Determine the best tools/services needed for EA to scale mobile live ops and sign multiple deals 5) Be the main point of contact to advocate for all live ops services in EA Mobile

DirecTV

Strategy MBA Intern

2015

Spent a summer working with Digital Innovation team at DirecTV focusing on AT&T Merger as well as new platform opportunities (AR/VR/personalization).

Activision Blizzard

Product Manager

2013 - 2015

Product owner of the digital strategy and implementation for Activision Support. Developed reporting web infrastructure and responsive web design for multi device web consumption.

Sony Online Entertainment

Senior Producer

2012 - 2013

Partnered with marketing, creative services and tech to create websites, marketing campaigns and back end systems to support MMO games. Developed production pipeline process and managed large cross functional teams.

Zynga

Product/Community

2011 - 2012

Launch team for Mafia Wars 2, responsible for website development and partnered with marketing for all launch activities. Worked on monetization team in analyzing revenue stream opportunities.

Disney

Producer

2009 - 2011

Site producer for ABCFamily.com and Pretty Little Liars online experience. Developed ticketing system and reporting tool for Disney Online Studios.

Hookit.com

Associate Producer

2008 - 2009

Account manager for business clients on Hookit.com. Focused on building out brand experiences, ecommerce shops and user engagement activities.

Education

Getting my learn on

I'm a lifelong student who looks to experience, question and understand all this world has to offer. I want to take what I know and use it to make a difference.

Below are some key projects and leadership positions I was a part of while in school:

UCLA Anderson

MBA

2013 - 2016

Alumni Mock Interview/Mentor

2016 - current

Work with current UCLA Anderson students to prepare for interviews and offer guidance about the tech/video game space.

Consultant - Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Thesis/Business Plan

2015

Developed US market entry strategy for Italian technology company in the Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality space. Included primary research and a final business plan.

Director - Entertainment Management Association

2014

Connecting students and alumni within the entertainment industry to continually grow the influence and reach of the Anderson brand.

Co-chair FEMBAssadors Social Media

2013

Extending reach to potential Anderson students with insights into life as a MBA student through social media channels.

UC San Diego

BA, Political Science

2002 - 2006

President of LIFE Fellowship

2006

Oversaw operations and strategy implementation. Participated in leadership mentoring program.

Director of Social Affairs

2003 - 2005

Planned events, workshops, and activities aimed at community enrichment.

Volunteer Leader - Homeless Outreach Program

2006 - 2009

Weekly outings to reach out to homeless of San Diego.

Portfolio

Pixel by Pixel

Below are screenshots of some of the projects I've worked on. View a picture below to read more indepth details on the project specifics.

Electronic Arts
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
Activision Publishing
Responsive Web Design
Sony Online Entertainment
Player Studio
Sony Online Entertainment
Registration A/B Testing
Zynga
Mafia Wars 2
Disney
Disney Online Studios Sharepoint Site

Electronic Arts
Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes
When working with one of the most iconic brands in the world, it is a constant balancing act of leveraging that brand to drive business needs, but also considering how and what that brands means to its fans. This is what I think about constantly and optimize for daily. By focusing on personalized offers and player desires I have been able to determine which events, offers and features drive the best player experience and result in a greater level of fandom for Star Wars and EA.
Activision Publishing
Responsive Website design
It is a given that web experiences must now support multi devices, screen size and interaction types. At Activision I worked with our production team to accomplish this experience. We did this through a responsive web re-design, which resulted in a higher customer satisfaction score, an increase on our KPI conversions and the peace of mind knowing that our gamers could find the support they were looking for on any device they were using.
Sony Online Entertainment
Player Studio
I was put in charge of a strategic new program that was aimed at player created items that would be submitted, reviewed, and if accepted, sold for real money in game. On top of building a security compliant application, this endeavor had almost all departments within the company involved and it was my job to make sure all technical considerations were addressed. The program launched in 2013 and player created items are now a significant revenue driver.
Sony Online Entertainment
Registration A/B Testing
I was tasked with working on web analytics and conversion metrics while at SOE. A particular KPI we focused on was registration. However what made this complicated was determining which funnel was better for registrations; through our website or directly to the game client. To determine this, I worked alongside our UI/UX team to come up with multiple test designs to see which variant performed best. Eventually we found the highest quality conversions through our web registration and were able to present our findings successfully to executive management.
Zynga
Mafia Wars 2
I worked with the head of marketing to come up with Zynga's first ever pre-launch marketing campaign. We wanted to see if we could increase the engagement and wallet spend of users through pre-launch activities such as a facebook fan page contest, free in game items, a fully developed website, a digital comic and a AAA title trailer. Our end result was over 2 million video views of our launch trailer in the first 48 hours, 1.7 million Facebook likes within a 2 week marketing span, and an increase in wallet spend of those users who participated in our campaign.
Disney
Disney Online Studios Sharepoint Site
Sharepoint was being implemented on an enterprise level at Disney Online and I was tasked with finding a use for the tool. Using the Google Chart API and Sharepoint's list management system, I developed an in house ticketing system that allowed the devs to monitor in real time the types of feedback users were giving about the games. The system resulted in a quantification of qualitative data that allowed the dev teams to prioritize features and bugs more accurately.

*Unable to show sharepoint screenshots due to internal data, but screenshots below are games supported in this program.