As Art Director for WWE Champions at Kung Fu Factory, I led a team of more than 20 artists and was responsible for delivering the visual direction of a live-service mobile game built around one of the world's most recognizable sports entertainment brands.
Working closely with publisher Scopely, designers, engineers, producers, and executive stakeholders, I helped establish creative processes that balanced production speed, visual quality, and brand authenticity.
The game launched to significant commercial success, reaching #1 Free Game in 24 countries and climbing to #11 Top Grossing on the App Store.
The Challenge
Building a successful live-service mobile game requires more than creating compelling artwork. The game needed a steady stream of new characters, environments, animations, UI assets, promotional content, and event updates while maintaining the visual consistency expected from the WWE brand, which means the pipeline of asset creation needs to be efficient and air-tight.
Every asset had to meet production schedules, satisfy publisher expectations, and support a product designed to evolve continuously after launch. And the team at Kung Fu is religious about challenging itself to always find ways to improve quality, so part of the process required flexibility and a desire to reach for excellence on every asset.
My Role
Art Director
I led the game's art organization, providing creative leadership across visual development and production.
My responsibilities included:
- Leading a team of 20+ artists (internal, outsourced, and local freelance).
- Defining visual quality standards and developing concept art
- Directing character art, environments, UI, and animation
- Collaborating daily with Scopely and internal leadership
- Prioritizing production schedules and creative resources
- Reviewing assets for brand consistency and quality
- Mentoring, and team development
- Helping solve cross-functional production challenges
Building Up a High-Performance Art Team
One of my primary responsibilities was creating an environment where artists could consistently produce high-quality work within aggressive production schedule with lots of stakeholders.
Rather than focusing solely on individual assets, I worked to improve communication, establish clear creative expectations, and streamline review cycles so the team could move efficiently without sacrificing quality. I constantly strove to build up team members with both constructive feedback to improve their work, and praise for their creative accomplishments.
As the game expanded, these production practices helped support the demands of a continuously evolving live-service title.
Protecting One of Entertainment's Biggest Brands
WWE has a passionate global audience with strong expectations for how its talent is represented.
Every character, costume, animation, and environment had to feel authentic while supporting the game's stylized visual language. And likenesses need to be faithful AND attractive to receive likeness approval.
Working closely with Scopely and WWE stakeholders, I helped ensure creative decisions respected the brand while remaining practical within production constraints.
Results
- Led a multidisciplinary art team of more than 20 artists
- Helped launch a commercially successful live-service mobile game
- Achieved #1 Free Game in 24 countries
- Reached #11 Top Grossing on the App Store
- Delivered consistent visual quality across a large and growing content pipeline
- Built collaborative workflows between internal teams and publishing partners
- Supported long-term live operations through scalable creative production
Executive Takeaway
Great creative organizations are built on trust, clarity, and momentum.
Leading a large art team on a live-service game reinforced that talented people perform their best when expectations are clear, communication is consistent, and every discipline understands how their work contributes to a larger vision.
Creative leadership is less about directing every decision than creating the conditions that allow great decisions to happen throughout the team.
