Paul Doyle is Director of Product Management for Unreal Engine at Epic Games, focusing on character technologies.
He has worked in the media and entertainment industry for over 20 years at companies such as Softimage and Autodesk, before co-founding Fabric Engine in 2010.
Before joining Epic Games in 2019, Paul was Global Head of R&D at MPC Film, where he led the software teams that worked on films such as Lion King, Aquaman, and 1917.
In his session at Beyond Games, Doyle will speak about MetaHuman Creator - Epic's approach to creating real-time digital humans and populating the Metaverse.
Before the brand new online event explores the intersection of games and other creative industries next week (May 10th to 14th), we caught up with Doyle to see which innovations in the creative industries have impressed him and how games contribute to other media.
Tell us a bit about your company
We make Fortnite, Unreal Engine, Rocket League, Fall Guys, and a whole lot of other stuff.
What does your role entail?
I help drive the character technology efforts across the company.
Real-time is eating the 3D world. Epic is doing amazing things in real-time, so it's where I wanted to be. I also love games :)
What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into your field?
You're going to have to develop resilience and rejections will have to bounce off of you.
Be relentless and focus on being great at something rather than average at everything. Seek advice, build your personal network, keep going!
How has the way the games industry is perceived changed in recent years?
I'm old - I remember when a large games team was 25 people.
The biggest change has been the shift away from 'just' games and into any domain that needs to visualise 3D content.
What innovations have impressed you in recent months?
I think everyone feels very fortunate to be in an industry that has boomed as a result of 2020.
It's incredibly challenging to work in a creative endeavour without being able to see each other 'live'. We're getting better at it but I desperately miss being in the same space with people.
What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?
MetaHumans everywhere!
Aside from that, I think we'll see ML-driven approaches to artist augmentation really taking off.
It's impossible to create content in the same way given the required quantity and quality of assets that new gen consoles demand.
Which part of the Beyond Games event are you most looking forward to and why?
Just chatting to people will be nice - we've been disconnected from each other for a long time now.
Book now!
To hear Doyle discuss populating the Metaverse next week at Beyond Games, make sure you book your ticket now. Mid-Term prices offer savings of up to $140, but hurry - the offer ends at midnight TONIGHT (Thursday, May 6th).
