Inside Full Circle – Melvin Teo, skate. producer

Hi, I’m Melvin Teo, a producer at Full Circle, and I’d like to take this opportunity to give some insight into who we are and what we’re all about.

This is my 14th year at EA, having had the privilege to work with many amazing teams and franchises. I joined Full Circle at the start of this year, right around when we were publicly announced as the studio working on the next evolution of skate. and as you can imagine, our team is super excited about this project and opportunity.

It’s been more than 10 years since Skate 3 was released, and yet what’s truly amazing is that our community is still actively playing and creating skate. content every day. In that time, skateboarding has grown into a massive part of mainstream culture, with its debut appearance at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. It’s also wonderfully inclusive and enjoyed by people from all walks of life around the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEKzFAvqz_s

For Full Circle, it has been great to witness the expansion of our development team. We've doubled in size over the last year, and we are still growing. Our studio is unique in that we have folks spread out across North America with large pockets in Vancouver, Montreal, Seattle, etc. We also have a healthy mix of long time skate. veterans and complete newcomers to the franchise, which has really helped us broaden our perspective and be more inclusive in our design.

The thing I admire most about our studio is the level of respect and trust shown by each person on the team. People communicate with humility and kindness, there are no egos on display, and everyone genuinely cares for each other. And we’re willing to laugh at ourselves and have tons of fun along the way, not just during special team events like Skate Paddy’s Day but also in our daily work and interactions with each other.

As a studio, we also believe strongly in transparency and inclusivity by embracing diverse perspectives and backgrounds. We want to create a positive environment where everyone can be themselves and feel a sense of belonging, all while having fun and making amazing games. 

In the same way, our goal for skate. is to create a positive, safe and inclusive social destination where millions of players can join in, be themselves, and have fun skating or just hanging out with their friends. No matter who they are, we want each and every one of our players to feel like they belong in skate.

We’re still early in pre-production but we’ve started engaging with selected groups of players to gather their feedback throughout our development so that we can deliver the best possible experience. It’s a critical aspect of how we're making this game, and we want to grow and build it together with our community. 

It’s a wonderful time to bring skate. back, and we’re working on it.

Be part of Full Circle, a winner of the Canada GamesIndustry.biz Best Places To Work Awards 2021! Check out our open positions here: https://www.ea.com/ea-studios/full-circle