Michael Anderson | Producer

Michael Anderson | Producer

(He/Him)

Games producer Michael Anderson always knew he wanted to do something with computers for a career, so when it came to selecting university courses he was looking into studying computer science. His childhood love of games inevitably drew him towards the one games degree running at the time, so he applied and thankfully was accepted on this three-year jack-of-all-trades course, which taught everything from basic programming to art design and project management.

Initially, having this broad knowledge base rather than a specific skillset proved a hindrance when applying for jobs, but eventually he landed a QA testing role at SEGA Europe. More QA followed at Lionhead and Marmalade Game Studio, before he joined ustwo Games in 2012, where he’s been ever since. Steadily, he’s gained experience working on its wonderfully innovative games, from Blip Blup (2013) and Monument Valley 1 and 2 (2014, 2017) to Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (2020) and, most recently, as producer on Desta: The Memories Between (2022). Michael is also a founding member of POC in Play, an organisation created to increase the visibility and representation of People of Colour in the games industry.

In their own words...

“I’ve always loved games. There was this particular game, Viewtiful Joe, I loved it so much. I’d never seen anything like it and it immediately became my favourite... I wanted to create something like that. From that point on, I knew I needed to work in games... I’d love to create something like that which would inspire someone else to then get into games. That would be really cool.”

“I’d love to meet someone who’s been in the industry since the early days, to find out how they have stayed fresh and on top of things, because it’s always changing. How have Nintendo been able to keep going in such an evolving landscape, keeping Mario fresh, because every generation has their own Mario? I’d love to be able to connect with people like that and pick their brains.”

ustwo has started development on its third entry in the multi award-winning Monument Valley series.

Michael’s breakthrough credit is the game Desta: The Memories Between

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