Technical Leadership
Why Readiness Should Be a Habit, Not a Final Gate
Quality isn't decided in the final review. The teams with the smoothest launches built it through daily habits, long before anyone thought about a release date.
Game Development
What does it take to ship a great game? I work as a Technical Program Manager at Xbox Game Studios, where I get to work alongside some incredible studios on titles like Forza Horizon, Fable, Hellblade 2, and Blade. These articles cover the technical side of game development - from diagnosing crashes on Xbox and Windows, to best practices for handheld gaming. Practical stuff, written from the inside. If you build games or want to understand how they're made, you're in the right place.
Game Development
A Maturity Matrix for Game Development
A few years ago, I wrote about using a Maturity Matrix to assess software engineering teams. The idea was simple - what does a great team look like, and how honestly can you measure yourself against that picture? Since then, I've moved into the gaming industry. Anyone who has
Technical Leadership
As Engineering Teams get smaller, is the Technical Program Manager the missing piece?
Do you remember what a "normal" software team looked like? A product manager, an engineering manager, a designer, and six or seven engineers. Weekly planning meetings, a backlog to groom, a sprint to run. For most of the last decade, that was just... how teams worked. It was
Game Development
Staying Technical as a Technical Program Manager
In my career, I've been many things - a Support Engineer, a Software Engineer and an Engineering Manager. These days, I've settled into a Technical Program Manager role (which I am thoroughly enjoying). As a Technical Program Manager (or TPM), you're often expected to wear
Game Development
From Crash to Resolution: A Practical Guide for Xbox & Windows Developers
If you’ve ever had an app crash at the worst possible moment, you’ll know how frustrating it can be - both for developers and players. Recently, I wrote an article for the Microsoft Developer blog that dives deep into this exact challenge: how to diagnose and resolve crashes effectively
Game Development
Best Practices for Handheld Gaming Development
If you've ever played a game on a modern handheld device, you'll know how much fun it can be. I recently wrote an article on the Microsoft Game Dev Blog about some key recommendations to help you craft exceptional gaming experiences for handheld devices. Please head
Text-to-Speech
Getting started with Azure's Hybrid and Embedded Text-to-Speech
Over the past few months, I've been experimenting with Azure's Text-to-Speech service. It is a super powerful API that enables fluid, natural-sounding text to speech that matches the tone and emotion of human voices. Whether you are building an app or a game,