An established leader and personality in the editorial community, Dan Amrich has been writing and editing professionally for 20 years. As the person who has literally written the book on reviewing games, Dan's writing mixes the entertaining readability of classic print journalism with the urgency and freshness of online communication. Dan is acutely aware of how audiences' media tastes have changed — as well as how they have not. Respected in the music, game development, and social media communities, Dan has been responsible for communicating with and on behalf of some of gaming’s biggest names and brands. He takes pride in working as a member of a team but also knows that projects don’t happen without a catalyst and personal initiative. He knows his audience, responds to that audience personally, is engaging and animated on camera, and enjoys tailoring the right message for the right medium. A community manager, blogger, podcaster, musician, and fire juggler, Dan never stops at “good enough” — where some people go the extra mile, Dan goes the extra marathon.

Experience

Content Editor, Ubisoft • October 2019 to present

Dan established Rocksmith Discover, an ambitious plan to deliver journalism-style editorial in the context of the Rocksmith ecosystem. Dan created a unified vision of what and how to communicate with players, and maintained that vision while leading a team of writers and filmmakers creating that content.Challenges along the way included practical solutions for copy submission, edit workflow, establishing a style guide, handling localization, creating formats and templates for both web articles and scripts, creating and scheduling song playlists for players, and of course, always hitting deadlines.

Content Game Designer, Ubisoft • October 2018 to October 2019

Dan helped create systems for user-generated content submissions, player rewards, and player disciplinary processes, as well as helped brainstorm multiplayer modes for the next iteration of Rocksmith. This began as blue-sky work but quickly transformed into practical, player-first design documents that the rest of the team could implement.

Community Developer, Ubisoft • April 2014 to October 2018

Dan became the default personality for Rocksmith to and from its community shortly after the launch of Rocksmith 2014. Since that time, he's produced and hosted a weekly developer livestream, created social media communication campaigns and calendars for the brand, answered thousands of player questions, and reported community activity directly to the development team. The position has been an excellent blend of Dan's expertise combining music, technology, entertainment, and mass communication.

Community Manager, Activision • January 2010 to April 2014

This freshly created position came with an enormous challenge: Create a new line of communication to and from Activision’s extremely vocal gamer community via the establishment of a new website (oneofswords.com), podcast, and series of videos. Twitter, Facebook, and blogging are all cornerstones, but much of the daily activity is editorial in nature: Interviewing developers, writing fact-finding features, and previewing upcoming software, among others. The job comes with an unusual amount of autonomy and freedom — and an equal amount of trust.

Editor-in-Chief, World of Warcraft Official Magazine • July 2009 to November 2009

After being requested by the client for this role, Dan led the editorial vision for this international custom publishing venture between Blizzard and Future. Dan assembled a staff of freelancers in the US and UK to launch a magazine for dedicated WoW players that leveraged the expertise of the community itself. During the magazine’s debut at BlizzCon, Dan spent several hours talking directly with the subscribers, learning their expectations and answering their content questions directly.

Senior Editor, Official Xbox Magazine • October 2006 to July 2009

Dan was responsible for the brainstorming, creation, and planning of each issue’s features and regular department sections. This included the assignment, editing, and/or writing of feature stories, hardware & media reviews, and lifestyle/news articles, under strict word counts and inflexible deadlines. Additionally, his original features and blog entries for both xbox.com and oxmonline.com helped increase the publication’s visibility online. Dan regularly worked with both the professional and indie developer community by soliciting op-ed columns and writing monthly profiles on game creators.

In addition to answering reader mail and writing the letter column, Dan increased reader loyalty as the community manager/moderator of OXM’s forums at Xbox.com. This was not part of the job description, but a role he adopted out of passion and responsibility. Dan co-hosted the magazine’s weekly audio podcast and creates its trivia and audio contests, and occasionally produced the show.

Senior Editor, GamesRadar.com • September 2005 to October 2006

As the second editorial employee hired, Dan launched the US edition of GamesRadar in February 2006. He directly managed PC and Xbox channel editors and wrote product reviews, news items, features on an inflexible daily schedule. The site launch involved heavily debugging and creating content with a custom Interwoven TeamSite CMS. He wrote the editorial instruction manual for Final Cut HD screen-capture system and trained editors to use HD video capture equipment.

Editor, Future Plus custom publishing • July 2004 to September 2005

This multifaceted position required editorial, management, organizational, and diplomatic skills. Dan created a specialized review process for pre-release game evaluations for Microsoft, Vivendi Universal, and Square Enix, then recruited and managed a pool of 15 freelance writers to generate those evaluations. He managed and created the editorial content for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 retailer launch brochure, then served as Executive Editor of SOE Worlds magazine, a boutique 96-page publication for Sony Online Entertainment. Dan was named Employee of the Month for his success in this unique position.

Senior Editor, GamePro • June 1997 to June 2004

Over seven years, Dan oversaw the monthly features and departments wells, while regularly writing, rewriting, and editing print and online reviews, previews, features, and news stories for both the print magazine and GamePro.com. In a self-started effort to boost traditionally low-selling issues, Dan conceptualized and implemented two “GamePro Enigma” treasure hunts/hidden contests for the March 2003 and March 2004 print issues. He directly supervised the Senior Associate Editor and acted as a mentor/writing coach for new staff writers and interns. Dan also chose to be the forum administrator of active reader community at gamepro.com.

Ancillary projects during this time included acting as the Editorial Director/voice-over host for GP Action Disc/GP Boost CD-ROMs, editing the GamePro Presents Handheld Video Games special issue (Winter 1999), and assisting with the Star Wars Insider relaunch as Senior Editor. Dan received the President’s Award in 2000.

Executive Editor, Digital Diner • June 1996 to June 1997

Dan oversaw the editorial staff of this tech/lifestyle startup magazine, writing/rewriting/editing stories as needed and helping refine the magazine’s voice and direction. He represented magazine at industry events and trade shows (including E3 and Comdex) and forged key contacts within the game and tech industries. Unfortunately, the staff’s ambition lasted longer than the funding.

Online Editor, Guitar World • April 1995 to June 1996

In the earliest days of the Web, Dan helped establish Guitar World’s online identity with the first iteration of guitarworld.com. Dan selected and converted print articles for electronic publication, created audio files for online lessons, and extensively rebuilt sheet music in Photoshop for HTML. Additionally, Dan answered e-mail queries from readers and maintained the online letter column.

Managing Editor/Senior Editor, FLUX magazine • February 1995 to February 1996

Dan created video game features and reviews for this pioneering geek-lifestyle magazine. His articles helped establish the magazine’s unique irreverent attitude and helped cultivate its cult following. Administratively, he hired, and managed freelance writers and edited their copy in various stages, from rough to final proofreading.

Senior Contributor, SLAM, BLITZ and HARDBALL magazines • February 1994 to June 1996

Dan authored regular basketball, football and baseball video game columns, sought out fresh freelance talent for hire, and helped establish the publications’ scope to game industry PR and publishing contacts. This led to his being named Executive Editor of both issues of the special interest magazine GameSport — the only editor — where he created an exhaustive library of game screens and art and wrangled review and feature text from freelance writers.

Managing Editor, Country Guitar • October 1993 to March 1995

As managing editor, Dan oversaw all aspects of the editorial flow of the magazine, from scheduling features to shipping pages. Highlights include working with celebrity guest columnists, managing freelancers, writing original features, editing and proofreading copy, and even some minor layout assists.

Senior Video Game Editor, Critics’ Choice • October 1993 to June 1996

One of the earliest online journalists, Dan assigned video game reviews for an online-only electronic entertainment syndicate. In addition to writing more than 300 game reviews, he coordinated weekly live chats, booked and advertised chatroom guests, and moderated message & file areas in Critics’ Choice’s America Online forum. Additionally, he taught himself AOL’s Rainman programming language to create vibrant online documents and templates, distinguishing Critics’ Choice’s content from competing text-only publications.

Freelance Writer • October 1993 to present

Dan has written for several national and regional publications including Wired, Time Out NY, PC Gamer, PSM, Blender, FamilyPC, and PalmPower. He is also the author of Critical Path: How to Review Videogames for a Living (Tripletorch, 2012) and PlayStation 2 for Dummies (Hungry Minds, April 2001).

Education

Bachelor of Science in TV/Radio (Audio Concentration) with a minor in Writing, Ithaca College, Ithaca New York, May 1993

Software and Skills

Microsoft Office, WordPress, Adobe InDesign CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS3, Soundtrack Pro, Logic Express 9, Final Cut HD