Thomas "Tom" Purdue (born August 4), also known by his aliases "One-Eyed Jack" and "Dworgyn," is an American video game developer who worked in several community and production positions at KingsIsle Entertainment from 2012 to 2021. After becoming known in the Wizard101 community for his blog "The Friendly Necromancer" and working as a freelance writer for Beckett Media writing articles about the game, Purdue was hired at KingsIsle in 2012 as the Community Manager for the then-upcoming MMORPG Pirate101. In 2014, Purdue was promoted as the Community, Communication and Public Relations Manager at the company, now overseeing all community responsibilities for KingsIsle and their products, including Wizard101. In September 2014, he became the host of the new KingsIsle Live! livestream show on Twitch alongside Leala Ulrich, AKA "Professor Greyrose." In 2016, amidst a sizable amount of layoffs at the company, Ulrich was laid off from her position and was replaced with a new co-host, Senior Producer Leah Ruben AKA "Professor Falmea." In 2018, Purdue left his position as the Community Manager at KingsIsle, and was replaced in his position by Mathew Anderson AKA "Sparck." He went on to become a full-on game developer, mostly in the mobile games department, and would become the Level Designer for the mobile game Animal Cove, released in August of that year.
In February 2021, shortly following the acquisition of KingsIsle Entertainment by Media and Games Invest (MGI), Purdue left the company after nearly a decade and took up the position of Senior Game Designer at WIMO Games, a new mobile game company headed by former KingsIsle CEO Elie Akilian which spun off from KingsIsle's mobile team. WIMO dissolved its mobile games team in 2022 and moved development to virtual reality (VR) titles, before fully shutting its doors in 2024.
Roles[]
Career[]
On May 9, 2012, Purdue announced that he had been hired at KingsIsle Entertainment as the company's new Community Manager for the then-upcoming MMORPG Pirate101.[2]
On February 3, 2021, it was reported by The Atmoplex that Tom Purdue had left KingsIsle to join Wimo Games.[3] This was later confirmed by Purdue the next day via a Twitter post, where he looked forward to his future at Wimo and assured Wizard101 and Pirate101 fans that there was no need to say goodbye, and that he would be rejoining the communities as "a fan" rather than "a fan with employee benefits."[4]
Credits[]
Pirate101[5]
- Pirate101 Live Team (2012) – Marketing (Community Manager)[5]
- Pirate101 Live Team - Spring 2014 – Marketing (Community Manager)[5]
- Pirate101 Live Team - Summer 2014 – Marketing (Community Manager)[5]
- Pirate101 Live Team - Winter 2014 – Marketing (Community Manager)[5]
- Pirate101 Live Team - Summer 2015 – Marketing (Community Manager)[5]
- Pirate101 Live Team 1.090 – Marketing (Community Manager)[5]
Wizard101[6]
- Wizard101 Aquila Expansion Live Team (2013) – Additional Marketing[6]
- Wizard101 Khrysalis Expansion Live Team (2014) – Additional Marketing[6]
- MMO Live Team - Polaris Expansion (2015) – Marketing (Community Manager)[6]
- MMO Live Team - Mirage Expansion (2016) – Marketing (Community Manager)[6]
- MMO Live Team - Empyrea Pt. 1 Expansion (2017) – Marketing (Community Manager)[6]
Trivia[]
- In Pirate101, Purdue was given his own character in-game, "Honest" Thomas Purdue, a PvP pet and mount vendor in the Brawlin' Hall on Skull Island.
Sources[]
Wizard101
Pirate101
Ryan’s Make-A-Wish Visit on the KingsIsle Blog (July 16, 2013) (backup link)
Throwback Thursday – Gardening Fun! on the KingsIsle Blog (July 10, 2014) (backup link)
KingsIsle Visits Syndcon! on the KingsIsle Blog (August 20, 2014) (backup link)
KingsIsle at SXSW! on the KingsIsle Blog (March 23, 2016) (backup link)
Tom’s Top 10 KI Live Moments on the KingsIsle Blog (September 5, 2018) (backup link)
Wizard101 Dev Diary: Musician and Composer, Nelson Everhart on the KingsIsle Entertainment YouTube channel (May 14, 2020)
KingsIsle’s Got Talent! on the KingsIsle Blog (May 22, 2020) (backup link)
From All of Us at KingsIsle, Happy Holidays! on the KingsIsle Blog (December 19, 2020) (backup link)
Gallery[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ KingsIsle Voice Actor Database - Voices of the Spiral
- ↑ Purdue, Tom (May 9, 2012). Ding! New Badge Earned!. The Friendly Necromancer.
- ↑ The Atmoplex reports that Tom Purdue has left KingsIsle - Twitter
- ↑ Tom Purdue announces his departure from KingsIsle - Twitter
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6
Pirate101
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5
Wizard101
External links[]
Tom Purdue on LinkedIn
Tom Purdue on MobyGames
Tom Purdue on X
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