GET TO KNOW US
We grew up in lock-step with the video game industry.
2020 was a year unlike any other, but we’ll always look back at it fondly because it was the year we started 13th Bridge Games Studio- a company that fulfilled our shared dream of creating games that bring people together, an especially relevant mission in today’s world.
We grew up in lock-step with the video game industry. We were the kids that bent Atari joysticks, blew in Nintendo cartridges, entered cheat codes for Contra, and dominated with Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl. And while video games often get a bad rap, our own experiences with them offer a very different take.
If you ask us, video games honed our reflexes and sharpened our problem-solving skills. They improved our coordination and made us competitive. They helped us escape. They helped us to dream. They made life fun. And they brought us together with others in ways that few other things have.
The video game industry has changed tremendously since we were kids, but there are two aspects of gaming we believe should never change: games should be fun to play, and even more fun to play together.
Meet the Founders
From the moment we first crossed paths, we
knew we wanted to create something together.
We’ve both been fortunate to have learned a great deal in our careers, albeit in different industries and functional areas. Hem was a start-up founder in the tech space, while Ryan worked in commercial and general management roles in the healthcare industry. When a project brought us together in 2014, we immediately became friends and began to think about how we could one day combine our complementary skill sets and start a business venture together. It wasn’t until 6 years later, after we had both relocated to Oregon, that we finally had a vision for a business and decided to take the leap together.
HEMINGWAY
I’m one part Dad, one part inventor, one part community organizer, ten parts gamer, zero parts sleep. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Favorite Games
of All-Time:
- Command & Conquer
- Super Mario
- NBA Live
- Legend of Zelda
- Uncharted
When I’m Gaming,
I Like To:
- Talk sh*t to my nephew/nieces
- Be low-key sweaty
- Make online friends
- Talk on Discord with the fam
Greatest Skills Developed Through Gaming:
- Perseverance
- Problem Solving
- Hand/Eye Coordination
I’m one part Dad, one part inventor, one part community organizer, ten parts gamer, zero parts sleep. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I love technology and I love using it to disrupt. I’ve worked with leading companies, including Nintendo, Nike, HP, the Portland Trailblazers, Warner Brothers, Microsoft, Intel, Cisco Systems, and more to improve their business operations through the implementation of better and more thoughtful technology and services. I hold nine U.S. and international patents in areas such as rich content delivery and software algorithms.
And I love basketball. I’m a huge fan of the Trailblazers and the co-founder of a non-profit basketball organization that provides training and leadership skills to over 400 youths in the community in which I live.
Games have brought me together with childhood friends and they bring me together with my family now. We play together, laugh together, and yes, talk a lot of trash to one another. It’s this ability for games to connect people that led me, after twenty years in the tech industry, to begin pursuing my dream of building video games.
With 13th Bridge, I see an opportunity to be just as disruptive as I’ve been in my other ventures, and I know if we can do that, we’ll be able to offer a rich collection of experiences to games unlike any they’ve had before.
Ryan
When the opportunity to start a gaming studio presented itself, I realized something: this was exactly what I’d always wanted to do, but I never thought I would get the chance to.
Favorite Games
of All-Time:
- NCAA College and Madden Football
- 90s NBA Live games
- NHL Hockey ‘94
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Baseball Stars
When I’m Gaming, I Like To:
- Listen to music
- Have something to drink
Greatest Skills Developed Through Gaming:
- Math Skills – I kept all my own stats before the games kept them for us.
- Multi-tasking – In my first apartment, I had a couch and two TVs (and not much else) so that I could watch football while playing Madden.
- Sh*t-Talking – I believe my college roommates could attest to this.
When the opportunity to start a gaming studio presented itself, I realized something: this was exactly what I’d always wanted to do, but I never thought I would get the chance to. This was my chance to take my passion and turn it into my work.
For fifteen years I worked in the healthcare space, and during that time I was exposed to more aspects of business and the world than I ever anticipated I would be. But while I enjoyed my work, there was always something missing. In my free time, I found myself writing stories, imagining virtual worlds, and playing the latest versions of the game franchises that dominated my youth. I knew I wanted to find a way to combine my love of storytelling, my passion for sports, and my strong interest in video games into a career, but I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance.
When Hem and I met, I knew he was someone I wanted to work with, and when we casually discussed a concept for a mobile game one day over lunch, I realized this was exactly the opportunity I’d been hoping for- my chance to take my passion and turn it into my work.
