“I have had the pleasure of witnessing Andy’s versatility on multiple projects ranging from blockbusters like Harry Potter through to core games such as Shadow of the Beast. He has always shown exceptional creativity, taking the time to understand the game and central values of the projects so that his writing and direction can truly become an additive part of the vision. Perhaps the highest praise I can give is that I always hope I can work with him again on my next project.”
Matt Birch – Creative Director – Heavy Spectrum – Shadow of the Beast
Linked-in
Andy is a pleasure to work with. He is smart, creative, flexible, well-informed, diligent, friendly, and always got the job done on time no matter what. He understood the particular needs of our project, coming up with strong background ideas and great dialog to communicate both character and gameplay requirements, and then taking the lead on casting and directing the VO sessions. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to anyone interested in a first-class writing partner or just looking to know more about the theory and practice of writing for games.
William Beacham - Design Director - Square Enix - Nosgoth
Linked-in
Working with Andy Walsh will make your game better. How? He will work tirelessly to create high quality script or text, and will collaborate effectively with you to identify ways in which narrative can drive your game forward. His work always considers the many situations that interactive gameplay can occur within, creating realistic and workable solutions. His skills in directing voice and motion capture artists ensures safe translation of the story vision throughout the production process. He is also a great source of feedback for all areas of the game design, diplomatically offering realistic suggestions to improve quality. And in situations of differing opinion, by simply making you think more deeply about the situation, his approach means you come out of it with reinforced strength in what you are making. Andy is also one of the most cheerful people I’ve ever met, and working with him was always a joy. Highly recommended.
Mike Barwise - Lead Designer - EA
Linked-in
I have worked with Andy across several of the Harry Potter games as well as some other projects. He is a very knowledgable about games and game production and is a productive member of a team. He cares deeply about what he does and really goes the extra mile to try and get the best result with regards to script and game design. Andy is more than a script writer and has also taken on the role of director with regards to the script recording. He has a clear vision of how the script should be presented and how it can add to a game.
Justin Manning Producer - EA
Linked-in
Over the past 4 years of working with Andy he has worked consistently to a very high standard. He's incredibly reliable and flexible- a complete professional. Although Andy has been hired as a writer, his skills spread into many other areas of games development. In addition to script writing he has been incredibly helpful in both cutscene and voice direction. Andy has a wealth of games experience to call upon.
Adele Cutting Audio Director – EA - Harry Potter
Linked-in
Andy is the most talented game writer I ever had the privilege to meet and work with. He is the Coen brothers of the games industry. Hire him for professional (but affordable!) creative games writing, I know I will again.
Tommy Palm - Lead Designer – Jadestone - Dirk Dagger
Linked-in
Andy Walsh is a firecracker -- a bang-up game writer with a growing list of high-profile, well-received titles and an unerring sense of entertainment value in a games context. His story instincts are fabulous, his dialogue is strong but organic feeling, and his sense of humor is an invaluable secret weapon. Further, he's a delightful human being to be around and work with; no one I know doesn't like the guy. Come to think of it, I should hate him for that. But I can't; he's that likable. He's one of the standard-bearers for the craft on his side of the pond, and with good reason. Do yourself a favor and hire him. I would.
Tom Abernathy - Studio Narrative Director at ArenaNet
Linked-in
I've worked with Andy on the English rewrite and the English voice direction of the dialogs of the game 'Risen'. The game is a massive single player RPG, so it was a complicated and big project for all of us. At first the Publisher and I had a general idea of where we wanted to go with this title, but with Andy on board the idea of just having a good localization developed into a living and breathing project that easily surpassed our high expectations. He did not only understand exactly what we were looking for in basically no time, he also worked hard, showed passion and believed in what we were working on. I can recommend him for any story work you've got, he's got the spirit.
Michael Paeck - Partner at Cliffhanger Productions – Risen/Elex
Linked-in
Interactive story telling is hard. As a game producer I have screened a huge amount of willing writers. But willing and knowing is far from the same thing. Andy is one of few that truly understands what interactive storytelling is about. Apart from that he makes an excellent team member with all the demands that comes with beeing part of a development team. By the way, he makes funny dialoge if you ask him to, and funny is hard to order. You want to know details about how to work with Andy, contact me and we'll talk!
Jonas Jepson - Producer – Jadestone – Dirk Dagger
Linked-in
I have had the pleasure of working with Andy on a number of occasions. His dedication and desire to provide a creative and meaningful experience for pupils and to set high standards, the achievement of which he supports and facilitates at all levels, are beyond question. His cheerful and pleasant manner, his sense of fun, and his professional approach to work, make him a writer and educator,( in the best sense of the word), that I would be happy to commission again and again.
Jim Dunk - Associate Director ARC Theatre /Co-ordinator TEXT Project/ Artistic Director Isosceles Theatre/ Associate Speechworks.
Linked-in
I had a lot of pleasure working with Andrew. He was quite busy at the time but still found some to help us out on our project, and what an experience it was. Short but intense. He's very dedicated to his art and quickly understands the needs for the many aspects of a game. He works "with you", always suggesting the most appropriate approach in order to the get the best out of your story and dialogs. I highly recommend Andy's work to anyone looking for exceptional results.
Mario Lord - Producer - Ubisoft Quebec – PoP Wii
Linked-in
When we first brought Andy on as a Narrative Director for POP, we had no idea how much we needed him. He was able to deliver much more than the results that would normally have been expected of him, both in areas he himself pushed for as well as those that were heaped upon him during development. He can write, design and direct, and was called upon to use all of his skills as a ND time and time again on POP, all the while maintaining an incredible friendly and professional composure. There aren't many people out there who can help drive the creative vision of a project at the highest level from a narrative and storytelling perspective while ensuring that the game doesn't lose its interactivity. Andrew is one of them. I most definitely plan on working with him again as soon as I can.
Ben Mattes – Producer - Prince of Persia - Ubisoft
Linked-in
Andy is one of the sharpest, cleverest writers in the game biz. He brings more to the table than just writing skills, and can explain his narrative ideas in a way that brings the other disciplines on board. His talk at AGDC was one of the conference highlights, and I highly recommend absorbing its lessons to anyone interested in game narrative.
Richard Dansky - Central Clancy Writer at Ubisoft
Linked-in
Working with Andy on Prince of Persia was a real pleasure. He got strong skills in game, so it's a real bonus to work with him on a game. As level design director, my collaboration with him was very constructive to deliver the best game possible. I can also say that, besides all his professional strength, Andy is very great to work with.
Francois Emery – Level Design Director – Prince of Persia - Ubisoft
Linked-in
I honestly had the pleasure, and I mean pleasure, to work with Andy on this project. His writing was everything I hoped it would be, and more. I had tons of moments through out the development when an otherwise bad day switched to a good one, just by reading his text. Brilliant!
The biggest surprise though was that he had such a good skills on game design too! His contribution on that side should not be forgotten.
I can highly recommend Andy for any kind of writing job (humour seems to be his speciality) there is. He's fun to work with and he's good. What else you need?
Samuli Huuhtanen - Producer – Nokia Games – Dirk Dagger
Linked-in
I first got in contact with Andy through a friend at our English publisher. At that time, we were in discussions with several professional scriptwriters, but Andy had the large benefit of not just being very talented but also knowing and liking the X fiction. He gave X3 a pretty complex story with better dialogue than any of the older X games.
Bernd Lehahn – Producer X3:Reunion
Linked-in
Andrew's clear, focused and logical mind enabled him to work with the technical and developmental constraints imposed on writers in the games industry. While on the other hand once he was set loose, his imagination and sheer creativity flowed quickly and smoothly into the project and enabled us to pass a three-way approval system (the publisher, the IP holder and the platform owner) in a record time. Looking back on the project, I can say that working with Andrew was a joy for all involved and the value added by Andrew was massive. Although, like with all good writing, it cannot be easily measured by looking at the game it can be easily seen and more importantly, felt.
Jason Blundell – Producer – Glory in Death - Nokia
Andrew is not only an expert but an entertaining presenter and the attendees soon felt at ease.
Thea Aboud – Writers’ Guild of South Africa
Andrew is sharp, witty and great at activating the creative mind and opening it up to the complex world of game narratives through interactive exercises. He is clearly devoted to his craft, passionate about stories and very knowledgeable about the industry (probably because of his vast experience). Contrary to what such characteristics would point towards, he is also quite humble and eager to help. I would recommend his workshops and seminars any day.
Miss Yolanda Lindeque-Strauss – writer
In localising the UK/US version of Singles:Flirt Up Your Life, Andrew's new take on the characters, story and dialogue gave us something that grabbed the reviewers' attention and made the title stand out from the crowd. The result was an interactive soap opera full of comedy and drama which gave the game a unique edge for the UK market
David Blundell - Head of PR - Koch Media
The Writers’ Guild of South Africa presented a masterclass on interactive writing / video game writing to its members to unlock this new and unexplored avenue in South Africa in 2014. As one of the UK’s young and upcoming experts in the field, Mr Andrew S Walsh was selected. Andrew is not only an expert but an entertaining presenter and the attendees soon felt at ease.
Interactive or video game writing sounded intimidating at first. However, Andrew’s Talking Videogames weekend master class made the process of writing dialogue and narrative for the medium accessible. During the workshop, each delegate pitched videogame concepts and I have never felt more accomplished!
Ms Theoline Maphutha
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