What We Do
PerBlue is a mobile and gaming software company based in Madison, WI. We are a cross collaboration team of engineers, artists, designers, and marketers.
We are true Generation Y entrepreneurs and have grown up on the cutting edge of technology. We were those kids down the street that you would ask to fix your computer, and we have been writing code as long as we could write longhand. In a time when most of our friends do not have answers to the dreaded "What's next?" question, we created our own company and are having fun doing what we love.
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How We Got Here
It all began with an idea at about 2:00 am while doing some mind-numbing linear circuit analysis homework in late 2007. The iPhone had been out for a few months, and Google had recently announced their Android operating system for smartphones. These devices presented an entirely new set of technologies that we wanted to take advantage of to revolutionize the gaming experience. This led to the initial concept behind Parallel Kingdom, which would become the first mobile location based role playing game ever. Development on the first version of the game began quickly and PerBlue was officially established soon after. The first version, The Age of Exploration, was released in October 2008.
The innovative concept of Parallel Kingdom attracted much interest and work began on building a second age. The Age of Gathering was launched in March 2009 to a worldwide audience and PerBlue began to dabble in new areas by launching a few other software products. Momentum behind Parallel Kingdom continued to grow, and development started on the third age. This would prove to be a monumental undertaking and would more than double the features and content of the game as well as introduce an entire virtual economy. The Age of Emergence was launched in November 2009 and by February 2010 Parallel Kingdom surpassed 100,000 players from all over the world.
It's been a fun adventure so far, and we've got some exciting things in store for you. So stick around, this is going to be a good show.
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Who We Are
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Justin Beck - CEO
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Justin has been programming since he was 12 years old. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Computer Engineering and Computer Science degree. He has interned as a Software Engineer at Google with the Product Search team, and as a Program Manager at Microsoft with the ASP.NET team. He is a passionate software entrepreneur, and is the co-founder and CEO of PerBlue where he leads a profitable small business building mobile and social games like Parallel Kingdom which has over 175,000 players worldwide.
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Andrew Hanson - CTO
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Andrew graduated with a double major in Computer Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin. He received many merit awards for his acedemic achievements, and has worked at Microsoft and Avid. From a young age he has always had a passion for making games and has never stopped. PerBlue is a product of his creativity and passion.
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Jon Steinich - Developer
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Jon graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Computer Science degree. He has previously worked at Avid and has been working with Andrew on projects since starting college. When he isn't making or playing games he's probably out on one of his bikes.
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Forrest Woolworth - Developer
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Forrest graduated with a double major in Computer Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin. He worked previously at GE Healthcare and Cisco Systems, and loves writing code (while jamming out to the The HypeMachine). He also enjoys all things entrepreneurial and writing the occasional blog post. When he's not coding you'll most likely find him outside somewhere on or near a lake.
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Tim Collins - Artist
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Tim graduated from UW-Madison with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Arts; Radio/TV/Film. With experience in website design, video production, set design, stage lighting, and 2D/3D animation he brings a wide swath of skills to the table. Outside of work and media projects, Tim enjoys being with friends, getting outside, traveling, being involved at church and following Justin on crazy adventures. Check out his website.
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Alayna Lemmer - Artist
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Alayna graduated with high honors from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, receiving a BFA in Illustration. In addition to creating art for PerBlue, she does freelance illustration for gaming companies such as Fantasy Flight Games, Troll Lord Games, Savage Mojo and Committed Comics. When she isn't painting until the sun rises, she's probably frolicking outdoors with her Bernese Mountain Dog, Frank. Be sure to check out her portfolio.
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Andy Gilbertson - Marketing
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Andy graduated from the UW-Madison School of Business majoring in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. He comes from a family of small business owners and loves the fast-paced, do-it-yourself attitude of the entrepreneur. He enjoys anything cooked on a charcoal grill, Milwaukee's Best, and playing too much volleyball.
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