High Moon Studios
High Moon Studios, part of Vivendi Games, is an award-winning game developer currently working on titles for next-generation consoles. The company employs more than 150 developers at an eye-popping 50,000 square foot game development facility based in Carlsbad, a seaside city in San Diego County, California.

Who we are
We are video game makers who share a passion for the medium and a commitment to innovating within it. As one of Vivendi Games’ leading console studios, we are poised to make the next big hits for the next-generation. Our studio is expanding, and so we look to grow with a new generation of hit makers.

Our studio
We operate out of a state-of-the-art studio with the latest in game development technology. It is a stunning workspace that combines form and function, one created specifically for game development with input from our own creative staff. Our facilities are exceptionally equipped with resources for in-house motion-capture, audio mixing & Foley, and cinematics.

Our culture
We have an exceptional workplace, winning awards for our employee programs, our use of an innovative development technique, and even our studio architecture. Our approach to development fosters communication and collaboration, establishing a culture of camaraderie and mentorship among our staff. We understand quality of work demands quality of life, and our staff takes full advantage of the lifestyle afforded them in sunny San Diego.

Our methodology
We utilize a product development technique called Scrum, a process derived from agile methodology. Scrum is named after the tight line of scrimmage formation in rugby where players huddle to move the ball up the field. In product development, the formation is applied in spirit using small non-hierarchal interdisciplinary teams who complete vertical slices of a project in brief work cycles called sprints. At High Moon, artists, designers and engineers work side by side and focus on demonstrable iterations meant to 'find the fun' in their games early in the development cycle. The collaborative and iterative approach allows developers at all levels to have meaningful input and consistently evaluate product features and quality.

Art
High Moon is recognized in the industry as an art-inspired studio. Our staff boasts some of the best art talent in video games, with award-winning and published artists among our ranks. We understand technology commands the bandwidth for game content, and therefore we equip our artists and animators with the tools necessary to make no compromises in our game art quality.

Technology
For development, we combine proprietary tools with licensed technology from best-in-class partners and providers. Our programmers are recognized as leaders in their field, pioneering innovative engineering practices in game development, such as agile methodology and extreme programming.

Design
We believe games are only scratching the surface of human creativity, and we are looking to push those boundaries through game design. Among our designers are people responsible for some of the most successful games ever made. Yet our development technique allows for meaningful input from designers at every level, establishing a foundation for our future stars –our writers, directors and technical designers.

Our awards
In addition to numerous art and development awards, High Moon has received award recognition as a company for our innovative development methods and employee programs. These include back-to-back 2005-2006 "Workplace Excellence" awards from San Diego Society for HR Management, as well as a place among "Top 50 Technology Innovators" in IT Week magazine. For a full list of our studio and staff’s awards, visit our award page.