From Hellgatewiki.com

Max Schaefer teamed up with his brother Erich and their friend David Brevik to create Diablo. Their collaboration contined on D2, D2X, and various unannounced projects at Blizzard North, and has now moved to Flagship Studios, where Max is one of the key artists and designers on Hellgate: London. Max has been a company president for years, but despite the title, the media attention, and the fame, he's still a very down to earth guy. Max spent dozens of hours in the DiabloII.net chat room, giving as good as he got from any fan who had a complaint or compliment, and he's spent some time chatting with HGL fans as well. Max is always happy to chat at conventions and game shows, enjoys demoing his creations, and loves to talk to fans. Lately he usually be found in Stonehill during Mythos alpha testing, chatting and answering questions just as if he wasn't the Chief Operating Officer of Flagship Studios.

Contents 1 Official Biography 2 Features 3 Interviews 4 Photos

Official Biography

Max Schaefer, an interactive entertainment industry veteran, served as a Vice President for Blizzard North and a Director of Blizzard Entertainment before co-founding Flagship Studios in 2003. He was a member of several internal project oversight teams, lending essential foresight to numerous Blizzard games.

Max contributed to art design on the original Diablo while simultaneously working on another title. He took over the responsibilities as Project, Design and Environment Art Director on Diablo II and was the Executive Producer and a key design influence on Diablo II: Lord of Destruction.

In September of 1993, Max Schaefer founded Condor, Inc., along with his brother Erich Schaefer and friend David Brevik. Condor was renamed Blizzard North when the company was acquired by the owners of Blizzard Entertainment in June of 1996. Max's other projects in the early days of Condor, Inc. included positions as Art and Design Lead on Justice League Task Force and Quarterback Club Football as well as being the Project and Art Lead on the cornerstone football title created for the launch of the M2 gaming platform.

He left the company in 2003 to co-found Flagship Studios where they are creating Hellgate: London. When he isn’t busy creating effects and environments, Max splits his time between tending to the numerous carnivorous plants in his home and dominating the rink with his championship roller hockey teams.

Features

In May 2006 Max spoke with RPG Vault about how he planned to spend his time at E3.

At E3, my official duties will be to speak with as many computer game press people as can be squeezed into three short days. Since E3 tends to immediately induce bleeding eardrums, aching backs, protesting feet and pounding headaches, retreating to the backrooms for press demos can be a welcome relief!

Of course, I will find the time to roam the floor, where I like to find the underdog, under-appreciated, under-hyped games. There are always a few gems out there that nobody has heard of or aren't getting the attention they deserve.

My other fun activity is finding the coolest booth goodies. Anyone can have a T-shirt or key chain bearing their game logo, but only the finest marketing crews can get game-themed squishy balls. Anything that can be thrown or that flies is good.

Interviews

Max has participated in a tremendous number of interviews during his time heading up Diablo, Diablo II, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, and now Hellgate: London. Here are a few highlights, in reverse chronological order.

• Max talks to Game Banshee, November 2005.

• A profile of Max, Erich, and David in Time Magazine, written by a childhood friend of theirs, during the days of Diablo II's development. September 1999.

• Max contributed a number of designer diaries to Gamespot during Diablo II's development.
  • November 16, 1998.
  • November 3, 1998.

Photos

Max looked a lot like Mel Gibson's stunt double, back when that was a good thing. His smiling mug can be seen in dozens of photos from game conventions, interviews, and PR appearances all around the world.

• See photos of Max Schaefer in the Image Gallery.