Background #
Arena Junkies was created in 2008 when the game, World of Warcraft, introduced an Arena system allowing players to compete in 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5 battles. The site was created with Lincoln Hamilton, a longtime friend from undergrad at UVA. We had recently decided to start a business, both moving from California to Georgia to bootstrap a startup creating web applications.
Arena Junkies began as a side project while we focused on other projects, but quickly grew and became our primary focus. Arena Junkies became a beloved, large World of Warcraft community.
Features #
- Guides, builds, and strategies by top players
- Verified Arena team and player profiles
- Global Arena Leaderboard & Rankings
- Team Recruiting
- Early live streaming
- “Ask a Gladiator” allowing newer players to ask questions of top players
- Arena Community
Acquisition & Career at Curse #
Arena Junkies was acquired by Curse in 2008 and I went on to work for Curse full time, jumpstarting my career in the gaming industry.
Curse #
As the Vice President of Product & Design, I had the opportunity to not only work on a wide range of products and services, but also serve on the executive team, leading the company through exciting growth and successful acquisitions.
- D&D Beyond
- Launched in 2017, D&D Beyond was officially licensed by Wizards of the Coast as a digital companion for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.
- D&D Beyond was an incredibly rewarding project to be a part of, from the pitch to Wizards of the Coast, to seeing it grow into a thriving e-commerce business, and finally being acquired by Hasbro. Supporting the growth the tabletop gaming community was a highlight of my career.
- D&D Beyond was acquired by Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro for $147M, the creators of Dungeons & Dragons, in 2022.
- Curse Voice
- Curse Voice was a gaming focused voice and chat desktop and mobile application. It delivered new ways for gamers to connect while playing their favorite games.
- Curse Voice drew a $30M investment from Riot Games, the creators of League of Legends, allowing Curse to open its office in Irvine, CA and leading to the acquisition of Curse by Twitch / Amazon.
- Hearthpwn
- Minecraft Forums
- Diablo Fans
- MTG Salvation
- Team Curse eSports
Twitch / Amazon #
Curse was acquired by Twitch / Amazon in 2016. As the Vice President of Product & Design, I had the opportunity to be a part of the acquisition, transition, integration of Curse and Twitch.
Fandom #
Curse Media was acquired by Fandom in 2019. Similarly, to the acquisition by Twitch, I was also able to pitch Curse to multiple buyers and lead the transition to Fandom. At Fandom, I was on the executive team as SVP of Emerging Products.
Arena Junkies was ultimately shut down and redirected to Wowpedia after Curse Media was acquired by Fandom in 2019.