We are people who like to have fun! Our work is positively influencing the world through the video games we make and publish. We believe good entertainment can connect people of all ages and help build understanding throughout the world.
Who We Are Today
Hyper Hippo is a proud member of Canada’s Creative Industry, partnering with some of the best minds in the video games industry around the world. We are passionate about creating original IP and connecting people around the world through fun. Our growing teams are located in Kelowna, Vancouver, Halifax and Seattle. Our games have been played by millions and millions of players around the globe.
A Brief Hippo History
Hyper Hippo started as a Canadian company in the beautiful city of Kelowna, British Columbia. Many of the team members came from drawing penguins and puffles at Club Penguin, an IP created by our founder, Lance Priebe.
Originally our Kelowna team was formed to create one game. We spent a lot of time on that one game… unfortunately, not many people liked it.
We knew there must be a better way to build games than to spend 2 years on a project no one liked to play. To accomplish this, we set off in a new direction, creating games in a lean development environment.
Our goal was to create game ideas quickly, and test these ideas with real players. We believed if players told us the game was good, then we had something into which we could invest our time and skill. It worked! And now we continue to build new game ideas, forming teams to focus on genres and areas of specialty.
We expanded beyond our Kelowna roots, and now we have team members working with us in Vancouver, Seattle, Halifax, Montreal and Omaha. Our goal is to create new games for players of all ages, and through our games we hope to connect players around the world. We have also expanded from game development to sharing our experience in publishing and community management through our new arm, Screenzilla Entertainment. Be sure to check out all our teams and what they are working on by clicking through on their website links on the What We Do page.
Our Teams
Our people make our organization tick! Every individual on our team is just that – an individual! Each employee has a talent, skill set and unique characteristic that lends to our culture. We are very protective of this culture because we know it’s what makes working here so great! Get to know our team and our culture by reading a little about who we are, below.
Hyper Hippo Productions Team
Sam Fisher
CEO
Sam Fisher
CEO
Sam is the President here at Hyper Hippo Productions and his key focus is to support our business by bringing together amazing talent and encouraging creativity. Prior to working with our organization, Sam worked as an Executive in Residence (EiR) at Accelerate Okanagan and a long, long time ago, he earned his MBA at Ivey School of Business – in other words, he knows his stuff, is passionate about tech and is constantly diving deep to learn more about the industry so that he can better guide our teams in creating successful games.
Fun Fact, Sam doesn’t like bananas…like, at all. Ask him why sometime; it’s a pretty intriguing story. Aside from his distaste for bananas, Sam LIKES to play sports and enjoys music of all sorts, and his favourite activity is anything he can do with his family.
Lance Priebe
Chief Innovation Officer
Lance Priebe
Chief Innovation Officer
Lance (or RocketSnail as many know him to be) is our lead hippo, mountain man and the visionary behind our organization. Lance has been developing online worlds since he was a child, creating his first virtual world in 2000 called Penguin Chat and later co-founding and creating Club Penguin in 2005. In Lance’s spare time, he likes to work or as he would likely phrase it, “pursue his passions!”
This guy is known for “working” from some pretty unique locations, with a few of the most interesting being the mountains, ski hills and even during his daily biking adventures. He creates ALWAYS and loves that he gets to be a part of an organization that connects people around the world through fun!
Jen Kilback
Chief Operating Officer
Jen Kilback
Chief Operating Officer
Jennifer is our Chief of Business Operations and ‘in-house’ pie maker. In addition to her stellar culinary skills, Jennifer’s day to day involves leading our HR, Accounting, Studio/Facilities & Legal divisions, otherwise known as Team Services. Jen is a fearless leader not just for our team, but for our entire company, encouraging growth within our organization, bringing shiny new ideas and encouraging her team to colour outside the lines.
Originally from PEI, Jennifer loves anything to do with the outdoors, hiking and biking… not to mention her mad softball skills. Being an avid traveller and adventurer gives Jen a unique perspective to how she leads, allowing those that work alongside her, a chance to share in the daily adventures at the Hyper Hippo studio.
Lesley Olson
Facilities Manager
Lesley Olson
Facilities Manager
Lesley oversees the day to day operations of Hyper Hippo’s facilities. Ensuring that the office is running smoothly and looking its best is something that Lesley excels at and takes major pride in. We’ve termed her our “office ninja” because she also works to support & facilitate the various studios and teams with administrative tasks. If you were to ask her what one of her favourite aspects of her job would be, she’d say, “I only get to pick one?”
When not hanging out at the Hyper Hippo headquarters, Lesley is usually sitting on her deck reading a book, riding her bike or sipping a London Fog at Starbucks.
Allison Francis
Head of Finance & Business Operations
Allison Francis
Head of Finance & Business Operations
Jason Bonnie
Accountant
Jason Bonnie
Accountant
Jason is our accounting rockstar! This guy keeps everyone happy by seeing that they get paid. Sure, he may always be surrounded by mountains of paperwork, but for a guy that scaled the Schilthorn in the Swiss Alps in a pair of $15 sneakers (what?!), he is more than up to the challenge. Jason is a major asset to the team here at Hyper Hippo, working to ensure our studios & publisher are supported through financial reporting.
If that isn’t enough, he further supports his team & those around him through his knowledge. He currently holds a management degree, accounting certificate and is very soon going to hold his CPA designation. What’s next, Jason, a doctorate? Stay tuned to find out…
Become a Hippo!
We pride ourselves on building a team out of strong, collaborative leaders. It works! If you’re tired of being just an employee number, come be a part of something awesome with us.
Join The TeamHyper Hippo Games Team
Tristan Rattink
Head of Studio
Tristan Rattink
Head of Studio
I love leading teams, solving problems, and seeing people reach their potential – I’m all about forward progression. The world moves too slowly for me. Outside of work I’m passionate about music and hockey. With two young kids I’m focused on healthy lifestyles, new philosophies on learning and development, and personal reflection. I want to be an example – accountable for my choices, actions and the impression I leave on the world.
Michael Ratch
Director of Operations
Michael Ratch
Director of Operations
I am constantly learning new ways to improve. I’m also that guy in the office who won’t stop talking about using Lean Startup principles to discover what our players want. When I’m not at Hyper Hippo I’m either hiking, trying to wear out my 2 kids or helping entrepreneurs. I believe in giving before you get.
Stephen Williams
Producer - AdVenture Communist
Stephen Williams
Producer - AdVenture Communist
I love working with people and helping to foster the impact of great teams. In my spare time you’ll find me playing badminton or taking my motorcycle out for a spin through the city outskirts. My goal is to create a product that can have a long lasting profound impact on as many people as possible.
Philip Beverley
Software Developer
Philip Beverley
Software Developer
Bugger if I know? Been a programmer for most of my life, and wanting to make games even longer. Got into the industry and have enjoyed my time here greatly. Outside of work I do far too many things but in particular I love cooking, traveling, and table top gaming.
Kevin Yockey
Technical Architect
Kevin Yockey
Technical Architect
I am a grumpy programmer with a passion for tech and producing quality code. When I’m not reading up on development techniques I’m usually playing some form of board or video game. Get off my lawn.
James Brotherston
Software Developer
James Brotherston
Software Developer
I started making video games as a hobby in highschool on my TI-83 Plus but didn’t consider shifting this pastime into an occupation until the final year of my Engineering degree. I started this exciting career as an indie doing contract work and self-publishing my first mobile game. I am now rounding out my 5th year calling Hyper Hippo home and can’t wait to see what’s next for our talented team. I value bringing joy to others through my life and work and hope to continue working my dream job for many years to come.
Jote Sandhu
Software Developer
Jote Sandhu
Software Developer
Like programming visual things, specifically stuff related to rendering and shaders. I love eating and sleeping. Always thinking about what I could do to be more like Kevin.
Mike Macdonald
Software Developer
Mike Macdonald
Software Developer
Hi! I’m Mike and I like to party! When I’m not coding you can catch me on the dance floor shaking my booty like it ain’t no thang!
Gabriel Lefebvre
Game Designer
Gabriel Lefebvre
Game Designer
How can I help? That’s my motto! I see my role as being a conveyer belt for information, a tool giver, an enabler (the good kind). Beside that, I design games. I like every aspect of it, from the pitch to the balancing. I would be sad to specialize. I’m also a project guy: always have half-a-dozen in the oven at the same time: a podcast, an online course, a board game, a novel, a new recipe or making you frown by making a bad pun!
Augusto Kapronczai
Artist
Augusto Kapronczai
Artist
I graduated from the Vancouver Institute of Media Arts in 2001 and have since worked in the animation, film, and games industries. My specialties lie in concept design and painting, character and creature design, KEY art creation and illustration. I do 3d sculpting, lighting and animation as well.
Tika Achtymichuk
Lead QA Tester
Tika Achtymichuk
Lead QA Tester
New challenges and surprises are a given in the QA realm, so even after almost 10 years I am still discovering new and exciting ways to break things. The constant variety keeps my job interesting, and I love problem-solving with my team. When I am not breaking stuff, you may find me playing video games, spending time with friends and family, cuddling my pet bunnies, flipping around on an aerial hoop, and/or enjoying a glass of red wine.
James Scott
UX/UI Designer
James Scott
UX/UI Designer
I was raised on video games and have been lucky enough to work in the industry now for over 6 years. I started UX/UI design professionally working in Web and Mobile before getting an opportunity to work in the AAA console space with Activision on the Call of Duty and Skylanders franchises. In 2015 I had an opportunity to move from LA back to my hometown of Kelowna to begin my career in Mobile Free-To-Play and haven’t looked back since.
Bill Murphy
Software Developer
Bill Murphy
Software Developer
I am driven to seek out and solve problems, I am at my best when things are at their worst. I believe putting yourself into situations you are uncomfortable with is the only way to grow both personally and professionally. When I am not working you will probably find me in the kitchen trying out some new recipe or playing one of any number of games.
Vlad Ryzhov
Lead Data Scientist
Vlad Ryzhov
Lead Data Scientist
I belong to the 3% of people with the Myers-Briggs personality type INTP. As such, I tend to enjoy technical and intellectually-stimulating work, and often second guess myself. The field of mobile game analytics gives me many opportunities to dig deeper into complex data, tackle challenging problems, ask questions, and improve the world by helping create better games. Clarity, accuracy and precision are the main criteria I use to measure the results of my work. I admire openness and honesty in people and always enjoy learning new ideas.
Mikaël Pomerleau
Game Designer
Mikaël Pomerleau
Game Designer
I’ve been oriented into mobile and social games since my debut as a game designer. I like to create complex systems and balance them while constantly putting myself in the player’s perspective to validate the fun and understanding. At home, I pass a great deal of time studying computer programming to build up my own game prototypes. If you look for me in my free time, I’ll probably be either hiking a mountain or in a billiard hall participating in an amateur tournament.
Become a Hippo!
We pride ourselves on building a team out of strong, collaborative leaders. It works! If you’re tired of being just an employee number, come be a part of something awesome with us.
Join The Team
