Black Shamrock started out as a handful of hardcore gamers creating our own gaming projects and that will always be a cornerstone of our identity within the Virtuos group. Thanks to joining Virtuos, we have been able to expand our work and connect with new partners on exciting projects, working with them to produce amazing content while also developing our own in-house titles.
WE ARE BLACK SHAMROCK
OUR MISSION
We Make Games Better, Together
Everything we do at Black Shamrock, like our parent company, Virtuos, is about people. From the player experiences that we help craft with our co-development partners to the unique career opportunities that our studio enables, enriching the human experience is at the root of our mission and the reason that we make video games.
True Gamers
Our team is, first and foremost, compromised of avid gamers of all genres. The team is enriched by a diverse mix of backgrounds and united by our passion for game development.
A Rare Opportunity
We are a unique game development studio. At any given time, Black Shamrock is working in collaboration with industry leading publishers and game developers on multiple AAA projects. This means that our team members work with a multitude of different video game brands, genres, and development technologies in a much shorter timeframe when compared to working at a conventional games studio. The result is fast-tracked development experience and faster career growth.
Made in Ireland
We believe everyone should have equal access to pursue the career of their dreams without having to uproot their life to do so. Black Shamrock chooses Ireland as our home to develop AAA titles for this very reason, to create video games industry opportunities where they are few and far between.
CORE VALUES
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Background: Elaine joined Virtuos in 2023. She was previously Founder and CEO of mobile game company Simteractive, and a founding member of Imirt: The Irish Game Makers Association. With over 17 years of games industry experience across a variety of roles, Elaine is credited for titles including Fable III, Fable: The Journey, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and Milo & Kate.
Background: Mathieu joined Black Shamrock in 2016 as a founding member of the studio. He first started his career in IT as a web system engineer after graduating in fine arts and software engineering. In 2013, he entered the video game industry as an AI programmer at an indie studio called Studio CECLY. Since then, he has worked in production management roles for various RPGs.
Favourite game of all time: His absolute favourite game is The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
Favourite non-gaming hobby: Mathieu loves to hike!
What they like most about Black Shamrock: The variety of games he gets to work on.
Background: Mark joined Black Shamrock - a Virtuos Studio in 2019. With over 25 years of industry experience, he has worked at video game development titans worldwide including Rockstar Games Vienna and LucasFilm Singapore. Some of the most iconic games he worked on are Back 4 Blood, Grounded, Star Wars: 1313, and The Last of Us.
Favourite game of all time: Samba de Amigo – if he could only find somewhere to get his maracas fixed, he'd be straight back at it!
Favourite non-gaming hobby: Dragon boating – this was something he picked up while working in Asia, and he will always participate at any chance he gets.
What they like most about Black Shamrock: The opportunity to work on a plethora of AAA projects across wide spectrum of genres.
Background: John joined Black Shamrock - a Virtuos Studio in 2020. He was previously at Lionhead Studios, Splash Damage, and Wargaming, and has worked on games such as Fable II, and Batman: Arkham Origins.
Favourite game of all time: The SNES version of SquareSoft (now Square Enix)’s Secret of Mana, but John can be convinced to play nearly anything with co-op.
Favourite non-gaming hobby: As a father of two, John believes that free time is an illusion but often dreams of playing board games and tabletop RPGs.
What they like most about Black Shamrock: The smell of the hops roasting in St. James’s Gate nearby.
Background: Sean joined Black Shamrock - a Virtuos Studio in 2020. Back in 2004, he first entered the video game industry as a technical level designer at The Creative Assembly and worked on Spartan: Total Warrior, their first console title. He later worked at Rockstar Leeds and San Diego, before moving back to Ireland. Other notable titles he contributed to include Grand Theft Auto: Vice City/Chinatown Wars/V, Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire, Project CARS 2, World of Speed, and Red Bull Air Race.
Favourite game of all time: Sean enjoys single-player games that are heavily story-driven, like the Uncharted and God of War franchises. Going back to the older consoles, he thinks one can never go wrong with Rock n’ Roll Racing or Golden Axe.
Favourite non-gaming hobby: Acting as a referee for two active kids takes up much of his time. Sean also enjoys watching film and sports – especially soccer and rugby, but he will watch pretty much anything in those categories.
What they like most about Black Shamrock: Sean loves having the opportunity of working on many exciting AAA titles, while helping to grow the Irish video game industry – which means that other aspiring developers do not need to move abroad to get the experience of working on world-class games. He also loves returning to the studio after working remotely for many years.
Background: Desirae joined Black Shamrock - a Virtuos Studio in 2018. A graduate of Full Sail University, she has worked on games such as Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, Grounded, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order over the 15 years of her career. She is also passionate about mentoring and has taught students on all forms of animation.
Favourite game of all time: For Desirae, it’s hard to pick an all-time favourite. While she grew up loving Mario games and Tetris, games with more complex storylines and puzzles like Tomb Raider and Portal speaks more to her as an adult.
Favourite non-gaming hobby: She loves outdoor activities, paint carving, and knitting.
What they like most about Black Shamrock: She loves the people she works with and having a variety of creative projects to work on that challenges her skills.
Background: Eoin joined Black Shamrock as Technical Director in 2022. For over 14 years, he has been a technical leader on triple A mobile, pc and console projects at multiple studios. Most recently, he worked on Star Trek Fleet Command at Digit Games. He worked in the UK, for both Splash Damage and Jagex, building technologies and teams for three generations of consoles. Some of his major console titles include Gears of War and Batman: Arkham.
Favourite game of all time: Doom Eternal, high adrenaline gameplay and highly performant technology, perfection!
Favourite non-gaming hobby: I like to brew beer and lift weights, perfectly contradictory past times!
What they like most about Black Shamrock: It's a source of constant challenge and opportunity. Virtuos is a special organization with so many talented people to learn from and great projects to work on.
Background: Rikki joined Black Shamrock – A Virtuos Studio in 2021. His previous experience includes both the public and private sectors, in industries such as healthcare, retail, hospitality, and financial services. His career has largely focused on Compliance, encompassing Taxation, Audit, Payroll, Employment Legislation, and Finance. He currently leads our HR and administration division within Ireland.
Favourite game of all time: Rikki really enjoys RPG style games. Some of his favourites include Dragon Age and God of War.
Favourite non-gaming hobby: Rikki loves to travel, see new places, and learn new things!
What they like most about Black Shamrock: The amazing and talented people from around the globe that inspire him and his work every day.