Roger's Blog

In 2001, I was still finding my footing in the games industry, building my career whilst trying to find time for my young family. I had already seen success with the launch of major titles like Spider-Man, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and Toy Story 2, but Activision was still largely seen as a US-focused company. As one of the leaders in the European organization, I was given a challenge: to help “European-ize” our portfolio by signing more titles developed in Europe or with a stronger European appeal.

Enter The Creative Assembly, a UK-based studio working on a European-themed follow-up to their previous hit, Shogun: Total War... I led the bid to sign the sequel; Medieval: Total War. 

Activision operated with a highly centralized system for production, marketing, and sales, where titles were mostly categorized and streamlined through US-based teams. However, I successfully convinced management to let us handle the global marketing of Medieval: Total War from Europe. But it still wasn’t easy to relinquish control, even though we had everything we needed to run the production and marketing from the UK. We produced the pack art and advertising creative at a fraction of US costs, secured exclusives with UK-based gaming magazines, and crafted campaigns that truly put Europe first.

The results? UK's PC Gamer named it PC Game of the Year in 2002, awarding it a 95% rating, and even today, it holds an 88% Metacritic score. More significantly, for the first time in Activision’s history, sales in Europe outperformed the US - a turning point that helped Activision see the power of “thinking global but acting local” as a viable strategy.

This was the point my career changed direction. It was my first time working closely with a developer and an internal production team. As part of Activision’s European arm, my contact with developers had been limited. But working with a studio in my time zone and sitting next door to the production team gave me a deeper appreciation for how hard-working, passionate and invested developers are. I quickly learned how easy it was to inadvertently upset a developer—whether it was through an offhand remark in the press or a placement at an expo that wasn’t quite to their liking. (Why isn’t our game as important to you as Tony Hawk?!)

I was also performing a role wider than just Marketing... It was my first major business development contract. I negotiated sequel rights and expansion packs into the deal, which proved to be incredibly profitable for Activision. So much so that when Medieval: Total War became a major success, Sega acquired The Creative Assembly in 2005 - a deal that took some serious legal untangling.

The lessons I learned from Medieval: Total War were career-defining. I had moved from being “that guy in Europe” to a Global Brand Owner, Business Development lead, and a business partner to developers and production teams. More than just a marketer or salesperson, I was now deeply embedded in the business of games, understanding how deals were structured, how franchises were built, and how strategic partnerships were formed.

This experience set the stage for the next chapter of my career, giving me a far more complete understanding of the industry and proving that sometimes, challenging the status quo leads to the biggest wins.

Special Thanks: Mike Simpson, Michael DePlater, Julian Lynn Evans, Chris Hewish, Daleep Chabbria, Dusty Welch, Kathy Vrabeck, Ron Doornink, Julie Man, Kevin Wynne, Larry Goldberg, Heather Clark, Carolyn London, Nathalie Ranson, Tamsin Lucas, Simon Dawes, Mark Nutt, Jackie Sutton, Heather Clarke, Guy Cunis, Suzanne Panter, Stefan Luludes, Stefan Seidel, Bernard Sizey, Guillaume Lairan, Scott Dodkins, Denise Walsh