You can find all the formal/business/professional information in my resume or on LinkedIn, but this page is here to tell you some more personal stuff about me.
Even though my official name is Nikki, most people just call me Nik (or Nick). I’m Dutch, but I currently live and work in Copenhagen (Denmark). Before that, I worked in Malmö (Sweden) for seven years, with three years of actually living there, before moving to Copenhagen. I’m originally from Almere, which is a pretty big place (for Dutch standards) in the center of The Netherlands. It’s only half an hour away from our capital Amsterdam, which is where I used to work before moving to Sweden.
Background
Almere is where I was born and raised. I got a NES when I turned about eight years old and from that moment I knew I wanted to make games when I grew up. My next console was the original PlayStation. Even before high school, I spent a whole lot of time coming up with game ideas, drawing maps, writing stories and so on. I taught myself how to make websites and earned some money with that during school, but what I really wanted to do is actually create games.
Getting into the Game Design & Development course of the Utrecht School of the Arts brought me a step closer to that. It gave me the opportunity to spend time getting to know the development process, work in a team, meet the right people in the industry and make prototypes. It was the start of what is already a long and interesting career in the games industry. After I graduated as a Master of Arts, W!Games (and then Vanguard Games, now Force Field) immediately hired me as a full time game designer. I worked there for almost seven years before being hired by Ubisoft Massive in Malmö, Sweden. I spent another seven years working there, but halfway through moved to Denmark to live with my then-girlfriend now-wife in Copenhagen, across the bridge from Malmö. After the birth of our son, I joined IO Interactive in Copenhagen, which is where I now work.
Why the name Patt3rson?
When I ran a gaming website a very long time ago, we had editors sign their articles with nicknames, based on a game character they liked. At that time, I was playing the very first Medal of Honor on PlayStation. The main character in that game was James “Jimmy” Steven Patterson, so I picked Patterson. When the Xbox 360 came out, I had to enter a Gamertag and decided to change the E to a 3 to make it look more like a gaming handle instead of an actual name. So now I use it as a gamertag, my Twitter name, online registrations, and of course this portfolio.
Games
I used to buy every console the day it was released, now I only play Xbox and the occasional PC game. I owned a PS3 and PS4 for their exclusives, but realized I didn’t even have time to play all the games I wanted on one console, so decided to stick to a single one in the current generation. I’m a sucker for Achievements, not really caring about my overall GamerScore, but I’m a true completionist and feel like I’m not actually done with a game until I earned all its Achievements.
The types of games I like are (action) adventures, shooters, strategy games and RPGs, and the occasional sports or racing game. Uncharted, BioShock, Mass Effect, Anno, Metal Gear Solid, Forza Horizon and Batman’s Arkham titles are some of my favorites games/series. Most games I play in single player or co-operatively with a friend. PvP is not really my strong suit, but I enjoy it from time to time in the right game. The first Metal Gear Solid has probably influenced me most in my pursuit of a career in game development and Hideo Kojima is like a childhood hero to me.
I also used to write a lot about games. Along with attempts at my own gaming website, I worked for the Dutch Official PlayStation Magazine for four years. I was originally hired to write walkthroughs, which I had been doing for years on my own, but quickly became an all-round freelance writer, doing reviews, previews, interviews and other articles. This helped me a great deal in my work as a game designer, talking to a lot of developers and getting a peak behind the curtain in their companies.
Other interests
Although games are a big part of my life, both personal and professional, I do like other stuff. I’m a big movie fan and I’m very much into sports. Soccer is my favorite sport to play, probably also to watch, in addition to Formula 1. I used to watch American football more than I do now. I’m a bit of a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and was fortunate enough to go to a match at Heinz Field in 2008, in their last regular season game against the Browns, just before they won the Super Bowl. I also got to see the Penguins that same week, but I’m not much of a hockey fan.
Cars are also something I really like. I used to draw them a lot when I was younger. Now I’m especially into convertibles, super cars and hot hatches. I really missed owning a car after I had to sell mine when moving from The Netherlands, but now I own a modest Renault Clio that my wife and I got after our son was born. I also love travelling, which my wife and I tried to do as much as possible, before having kids and the pandemic.
More?
I think that covers the most basic information about me and my interests. If you want to know more, feel free to contact me.
