Planet Mojo — Team & Vision
Every team member at Planet Mojo brings a special skill to the table. Most have decades of experience building popular video games, while others have expert backgrounds in software development. The team is drawing upon diverse backgrounds to create Planet Mojo for players who share the values of prioritizing fun in games, protecting Earth, and advocating for the rights of developers and players.
Building Planet Mojo is an endeavor that involves many talented individuals. Here’s an introduction to the team’s vision and the people who are behind Planet Mojo’s upcoming PvP metaverse.
The Vision
When Mystic Moose founder and game industry veteran Mike Levine first encountered the idea of decentralization, he realized that it was nothing like he had seen in his 30 years in game development.
Mike realized that there was vast potential in decentralization — it could lead to a paradigm shift in gaming, returning power back to the developers and players. He quickly embraced Web3 and GameFi. After conducting deep research into the space, Mike and his core team began to build the foundation of Planet Mojo.
The team embraced concepts such as “play and own” over the more popular “play to earn,” shifting the focus back to “fun first” in games. The people behind Planet Mojo also believe in the “play to own” concept where players truly own their digital game assets and, if they choose, can sell them through online marketplaces.
Mike and the original team members recruited additional gaming veterans and blockchain experts to build a new metaverse called Planet Mojo — a breathtaking alien world that can be explored and inhabited by players who take part in new adventures that unfold over time.
One of the most important parts of this new metaverse is the Mojos, plant-based magical creatures that sprout from Moj-Seeds. No two Mojos are the same, which means every player will have a unique experience in Planet Mojo.
The Origins of Mojos
Mike found inspiration when he worked for George Lucas and visited Skywalker Ranch. Being in nature while working in the digital realm was the perfect balance for him. He has always been inspired by the natural world, and that influence can be found in the projects he has developed. Years ago, he co-created Insecticide, a game set on a future Earth where insects have evolved to become the dominant species.
For Planet Mojo and the Mojos, Mike drew inspiration from walks he took with his family and a documentary that he saw on Netflix — Fantastic Fungi takes viewers into the amazing world of mushrooms and shows how mycelium networks are used by trees and other plants to communicate. Mike and Eric Campanella, Planet Mojo’s Art Director, decided to push this concept further. What if a whole planet “awoke” with magical energy and created new lifeforms to defend itself?
Mojos are special creatures that the planet has given birth to. They are preparing to fight a deadly threat known as The Scourge. “Mojo” means magic, charm, or talisman — these words embody what Mojos represent as miraculous lifeforms. Mojos possess magical abilities that will be revealed over time.
The Team
Below are some of our team members. Please read our whitepaper to see the full team in addition.
Mike Levine — Founder and Chief Creative Officer
Mike is a 30-year veteran of the gaming industry who, before forming his own company, led the FX group at LucasArts Entertainment. He sat on the Technology Council at Skywalker Ranch, oversaw compression, compositing, and video, and developed several art production techniques. Mike lives in moose-filled Conway, MA.
Ralph Gerth — Executive Director
Ralph worked alongside Mike at LucasArts as Lead Artist before starting his own independent gaming studio, Factus Games, a publisher of historically inspired grand strategy games, including the Making History series. Ralph lives in Newburyport, MA.
Eric Campanella — Art Director
Eric is a gaming veteran with 25 years of experience under his belt. He has worked at various gaming studios, including Electronic Arts and Treyarch (Activision), and has launched titles such as Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Call of Duty 3, and 007: Quantum of Solace. Eric lives in Northborough, MA.
Jim Rice — Lead Character Artist
Jim is a senior 3D artist specializing in characters. He has worked on dozens of AAA games during his nearly three decades at LucasArts Entertainment and Electronic Arts. Jim lives in Maitland, FL.
Kendrea Camacho — Community Manager
A crypto native and community builder, Kendrea likes to say she “came for the Bitcoin but stayed for the Ether.” A political science major at West Virginia University, Kendrea excelled in sales leadership and project management before becoming a part of the crypto community in 2017.
Richard Cheek — Animation and Rigging
Richard is a technical animator with 20 years’ professional experience. His work brings the lovable Mojos to life. He specializes in character animation, character rigging, modeling, and programming. Richard lives and works in Northampton, MA.
Jeff Panasen — Design and QA
Always cool under pressure, Jeff has the patience, organizational skills, and technical knowledge necessary to be a QA manager for a virtual world. Jeff lives and works in Syracuse, NY.
Nate Weisman — Game Designer
Nate brings a decade of game design experience to Planet Mojo. Before joining the team, he worked at studios including Harebrained Schemes, Funko, and March Hare Design. Nate lives and works in Seattle, WA.
Jeff Posey — Senior Game Engineer
A veteran game developer with extensive programming, management, production, and publishing experience. Jeff is an entrepreneur who co-founded Hellfire Games after years of growing in the industry from junior developer to lead programmer to technical director. Jeff lives and works in Austin, TX.
Julian Kwasneski — Sound Designer
Julian is a 25-year game industry veteran with countless titles to his credit. After joining the audio department at LucasArts Entertainment Company in 1994, he went on to work on numerous Star Wars titles such as Jedi Knight, X-Wing Alliance, The Phantom Menace, and Force Commander. He co-founded Bay Area Sound and continues to push the envelope of high-quality audio, with credits spanning every platform from console to mobile, and with notable licenses including The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Fables, and Star Wars. Julian lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Jared Emerson-Johnson — Composer
Jared is an award-winning music composer, sound designer, voice director, and voice actor. His critically acclaimed work for games and other media has earned him several awards and has established him as a leading force in the world of interactive audio. With a BAFTA-nominated score to The Walking Dead in 2013, and more recent projects such as Batman and Guardians of the Galaxy adventure titles released by Telltale Games, Jared has proven to be a composer of tremendous versatility. Jared lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area.
About Planet Mojo
Planet Mojo is a magical Web3 gaming metaverse and platform being built by veterans of LucasArts, EA, Activision, ILM, and more. Players will compete with their customized teams in a suite of eSports, PvP, and “play and earn” games set on a mysterious alien planet, with an evolving narrative. The long-term goal is to create a sustainable gaming project and platform for the next generation of gamers, where they own their in-game assets and have a say in the project’s future direction.
