I was Executive Creative Director on Drone Racer, working with the Groove Jones team, TMA, and Team TBWA on a U.S. Army arcade experience. We brought drone flight into a multiplayer race that could travel to events and welcome people who had never picked up a drone controller.
An easy way into flight
After testing five controllers, the team landed on an Xbox controller with Gamer, Inverted, and Drone control schemes. Players choose from four drones and race through two courses: Alpha’s training base and Bravo’s mission environment. A single-player mode uses adaptive game AI, while multiplayer lets guests race one another.
From the screen to the arcade
The team built the game in Unity HDRP, with local multiplayer through Photon Fusion so races could run without an internet connection. Human-directed AI cinematics extend the game’s visual world, using Unity artwork, generation, animation, and compositing. Portable cabinets and shared leaderboards bring it together as an event experience. My part was creative direction across those pieces; the craft and care of the wider team made them work as one.
