Sickhead Games, LLC is a Dallas, Texas indie game studio founded in 2002, whose success has come from our passion, experienced business acuity, and deep dedication to video games of all shapes and sizes.
As a studio, Sickhead has personally developed or directly contributed to several titles, including Batman Begins™ Mobile, Legions on Instant Action, educational simulator Be The Dinosaur, TurboSquid’s experimental modular fps Gameflood, and multiple packs and demos for the Torque line of products… not to mention ARMED!, our own sci-fi turn-based strategy experience for Windows 8 and Windows Phone.
As one of the lead contributors to the Torque series of game engines, our work has been used by thousands of developers on hundreds of shipped games across multiple major platforms.
THE TEAM
The dedicated people that make up Sickhead…
Russell Fincher | Artist & Co-owner
Russell has a decade-long history in commercial graphics, serving major corporate clients such as Dell Computer, Blockbuster, and American Airlines. In 2001 he joined Motorsports Simulations as an artist on NHRA Top Fuel Thunder, and later co-founded Sickhead Games, where he serves as Art Lead. In 2006 he acted as Lead Game Designer on Batman Begins™ Mobile with Klear Games. He teaches digital arts at Dallas area universities, is an Associate Developer with GarageGames, and runs a blog about odd and innovative game art called Uncommon Assembly.
On LinkedIn • Blog Site • Blog Facebook
Tom Spilman | Programmer & Co-owner
With a decade of experience in the game industry, Tom oversees technological direction at Sickhead Games, as well as managing the business side of things. Prior to founding the studio, he was the Lead Programmer on the Core Technology Team at Motorsports Simulations, Inc. where he worked on four titles, including the hit racing simulation NHRA Drag Racing 2 and NHRA Drag Racing Top Fuel Thunder. Over the last 3 years Tom has been a key technical consultant for the Torque series of game engines, where he has used his expertise with real-time game technology in a lead role in the engine’s development.
James Ford | Programmer
James attended Macalester College and UT-Arlington where he studied Computer Science and Interdisciplinary Studies in Game Development. Since joining Sickhead in 2007, James has worked with the Torque family of engines across several platforms. James was the lead AI developer for Be the Dinosaur and is a major contributor to Torque3D, including environmental rendering and tool development.
Joe Espinoza | 3D Artist
Joe is a graduate of the Art Institute of Dallas with an Associates Degree in Computer Animation and Multimedia. After school, he spent over 4 1/2 years at Gearbox Software, where we worked on the Brothers in Arms series and Borderlands.
On LinkedIn • Portfolio Site • Blog
James Lupiani | Programmer
After getting his degree from the University of South Florida, James worked on a number of games for the PC and Xbox 360 and has been known to dabble in the areas of game play, networking, and graphics.
Ray Batts | Programmer
Ray is currently a senior at the University of North Texas studying for his degree in computer science and certification in game programming. Spending most of his high school time in audio development, Ray has managed tours and produced audio for many independent bands across the nation. He has also been responsible for the creation and management of many professional gaming communities such as Wifi Frontier (Previously known as WifiWars), SmashBoards, ElitistJerks, DemonSouls and more. He is now looking to devote his life towards his original interest: game development.
On LinkedIn • On Facebook • At GarageGames