User:Senojam

"Senojam" is the username of April M. Jones. For 11 years, April worked in-house at small video game development studios (Red Storm, Funcom) and for larger publishers (EA, 2K). She has promoted games for consoles, handhelds, PCs, iPhone, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and even several MMOs. April has been the global lead for most projects, has been on extensive international press tours, and lived in Europe for nearly 3 years. She now offers her services as an independent strategic advisor, helping publishers, PR firms, and developers around the world. April is also branching out from the video game industry, offering strategic communications counsel to other companies. Her biggest non-industry client has been Current TV.

April M. Jones Biography April's first video game job started in 1998 with Red Storm Entertainment as a Marketing Assistant just when the original Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six was being launched for PC. The game revolutionized the first-person shooter genre by introducing elements of realism, strategy, and teamwork for the first time. She was later promoted to PR Coordinator and then to PR Manager. The success of Rainbow Six for PC led Red Storm to create console versions of the game and expanded development to create more games. April led the PR efforts to develop relationships with the broader gaming press to include console coverage. During this time, Microsoft announced they would enter the console market by creating the Xbox and Red Storm was the first well-known PC developer to agree to make games for the Xbox. Red Storm was sold to Ubisoft Entertainment in 2001 and April took on a new venture.

In 2001, April became the U.S. PR Manager for Funcom with headquarters in Oslo, Norway. Previously known for an award winning adventure game called The Longest Journey, Funcom had just launched Anarchy Online, the first science fiction MMO. Anarchy Online had a well documented rough release and April moved to Norway to work more closely with the development team in repairing the reputation of the game. After significant development time and amazing game changes, April took the revised game on an extensive press tour. With a marketing budget of zero, the PR team got creative and the game later won the PC Gamer U.S. award for massively multiplayer game of the year.

After Funcom, April ran a consulting company in Norway, speaking at the 2005 Game Developers Conference, presenting to game design students, and helping new development teams in Europe better understand the U.S. market. Not long after moving back to the U.S. in 2005, April was scooped up by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE). Blizzard had just launched World of Warcraft as SOE launched EverQuest II. At SOE, April managed the launch of several expansion packs, led the Asian PR efforts for EverQuest II East, and managed experimental efforts such as Station Exchange, a system allowing players to trade virtual items for real money. That experience led April to another MMO company, Sigil Games Online, where she was the internal PR and Marketing contact working with the game's publishers. The launch of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes solidified the understanding that World of Warcraft had truly signaled a shift in the MMO gaming market; the numbers of online gamers were growing but they wanted a more casual and solo experience. After the game launched, Sigil was sold to Sony Online Entertainment.

In 2007, April was recruited by Electronic Arts to work on Spore, the last game from veteran designer Will Wright while at his Maxis studio. Spore had very innovative features that took advantage of user-generated content and even allowed players to upload videos created in the game directly to YouTube with the click of a button. April was the PR Manager for the game during its last year before release and handled the first full-scale demos to the press, both in the U.S. and on lengthy international tours. She also served as the publicist for Will Wright's interviews and speaking engagements, working from both the Maxis studio and EA headquarters in Redwood City.

By the summer of 2008, April was eager to get back to the console world and was looking for a diverse mix of games to promote. She was recruited by 2K (a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive) to become the PR Director for their three divisions: 2K Games, 2K Sports, and 2K Play (family-friendly games). At 2K, April was in a strategic PR role that involved every game the company launched as well as upcoming releases such as BioShock 2. This included just released hits like Borderlands and NBA 2K10 as well as games for Xbox Live, Wii and the iPhone.

Products Promoted ESRB Rating: Mature (M) BioShock for PS3 BioShock 2 Borderlands Mafia II

ESRB Rating: Teen (T) Anarchy Online Anarchy Online: The Notum Wars Anne McCaffrey's Freedom: First Resistance Bang! Gunship Elite Dominant Species Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern EverQuest II: Desert of Flames EverQuest II: East Force 21 Shadow Watch Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Covert Ops Essentials Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Mission Pack: Eagle Watch Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear: Urban Operations Tom Clancy's Ruthless.com Vanguard: Saga of Heros

ESRB Rating: Everyone (E) Axel & Pixel Birthday Party Bash Carnival Games: Mini Golf Don King Boxing Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Cyrstal Kingdom Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess Frantix GripShift MLB 2K9 The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom NBA 2K9 NBA 2K10 NHL 2K9 Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Spore Spore Creature Creator