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Corey May
American video game writer

Corey May is an American video game writer and Narrative Director at Certain Affinity. He co-founded Sekretagent Productions in Los Angeles and is notable for his work as the main writer on the Assassin's Creed series, including Assassin's Creed, II, and III. He also contributed to titles like Brotherhood and Syndicate. A Harvard graduate, May partnered with Dooma Wendschuh to write games such as Prince of Persia: Warrior Within and Batman: Arkham Origins developed by WB Games Montréal. He has also produced films like The Plague.

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Biography

Early life

Corey May was raised near Hollywood. May's interest in films, comics, games and anime came from a young age. However, his family wanted him to initially attend Harvard University to become a doctor. May failed in Chem 5 and realized that medicine wasn't his future. May then decided to take BA and several English courses, including literature courses and creative writing courses. He took a class on Eastern European science fiction and read many books, but still intended to be an investment banker or a trader. In the summers, May took jobs at a variety of banks in New York City, but was rejected several times due to his appearance. However, he did receive a job to copy edit reports and journal articles.4

Career

Sekretagent Productions

After college in early 2000s, May decided to apply to the Peter Stark Producing program at USC. At USC, May met his business partner, Dooma Wendschuh, and after graduation they made their production company official. They printed business cards and letterhead. Thanks to some contacts made during a Disney internship, the duo sold its first project to Disney: a re-envisioned live-action The Wind in the Willows. Many writers and directors including Guillermo del Toro have been attached.5

Ubisoft (2004-2011)

Off the success of the first project, the duo signed with a film agency. The agency received many requests for writing on video games. Having loved the medium since childhood, May decided they should at least take the meetings, where he first met Ubisoft. May and Wendschuh pitched Ubisoft an animated television show based on Rayman. Despite rejecting the pitch, the executives did like May, and invited him to visit Montreal. After the critical success of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Beyond Good & Evil, the publisher wanted May to help with the next Prince of Persia game, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within.6

May then started working on Assassin's Creed for four years. "It was this big crazy weird super ambitious monstrosity. How are we going to go from what's in the creative director's head to what's on a disc? [...] As time went on I was more and more involved with the franchise, charting some of the aspects of its future. Not just writing on the games but overseeing the narrative elements of the brand as a whole," said May.7

Alice (2011-Present)

Alice was originally formed in 2011 by Yves Jacquier, Ubisoft's director of production services. Alice's main goal was to improve stories in Ubisoft games. "It is a resource composed of talent scouts, motion capture masters, research and development engineers, sound mixers and narrative guides," reads a report from Alice.8

The first game to see significant support from Alice was Watch Dogs. Michael Mando, who played Vaas in Far Cry 3, was also motion captured in Alice.9

Video games

YearTitleCredited asNotes
WriterProducer
2002Yo, TyroneYesShort film
2004Prince of Persia: Warrior WithinYes
2005Prince of Persia: The Two ThronesYes
Battles of Prince of PersiaYes
StolenYes
2006The PlagueYesDirect-to-video
2007Assassin's CreedYes
2008Army of TwoYes
2009Terminator SalvationYes
Assassin's Creed IIYes
2010Assassin's Creed: BrotherhoodYesStory
2011Assassin's Creed: RevelationsYesStory
2011Happy Feet Two: Erik's AdventureYesApp
2012Assassin's Creed IIIYes
Cartoon UniverseYesOnline game
InversionYes
2013Assassin's Creed IV: Black FlagYesScript consultant
Batman: Arkham OriginsYes
2015Assassin's Creed SyndicateYesStory

Awards and nominations

YearAwardAward categoryTitle of workResult
2010British Academy Video Games AwardsBest Story (shared with Joshua Rubin and Jeffrey Yohalem)Assassin's Creed IINominated
Writers Guild of America AwardOutstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing (shared with Joshua Rubin and Jeffrey Yohalem)Nominated
2011Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing (shared with Jeffrey Yohalem and Patrice Désilets)Assassin's Creed: BrotherhoodWon
2014Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing (shared with Dooma Wendschuh and Ryan Galletta)Batman: Arkham OriginsNominated

References

  1. "Video game writer Corey May is head writer for the "Assassin's Creed" franchise | Harvard Magazine". August 12, 2013. https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2013/08/side-missions-engines-joysticks

  2. "Video game writer Corey May is head writer for the "Assassin's Creed" franchise | Harvard Magazine". August 12, 2013. https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2013/08/side-missions-engines-joysticks

  3. Hanson, Ben (April 17, 2013). "The Storyline of Batman: Arkham Origins". Game Informer. GameStop. Archived from the original on April 19, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130419122236/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/04/17/the-storyline-of-batman-arkham-origins.aspx

  4. Plante, Chris (February 7, 2013). "Alice: Ubisoft's plan to change storytelling in video games". Polygon. Retrieved September 3, 2021. https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/2/7/3960084/alice-ubisoft-storytelling-video-games-corey-may-assassins-creed-far-cry

  5. Plante, Chris (February 7, 2013). "Alice: Ubisoft's plan to change storytelling in video games". Polygon. Retrieved September 3, 2021. https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/2/7/3960084/alice-ubisoft-storytelling-video-games-corey-may-assassins-creed-far-cry

  6. Plante, Chris (February 7, 2013). "Alice: Ubisoft's plan to change storytelling in video games". Polygon. Retrieved September 3, 2021. https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/2/7/3960084/alice-ubisoft-storytelling-video-games-corey-may-assassins-creed-far-cry

  7. Plante, Chris (February 7, 2013). "Alice: Ubisoft's plan to change storytelling in video games". Polygon. Retrieved September 3, 2021. https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/2/7/3960084/alice-ubisoft-storytelling-video-games-corey-may-assassins-creed-far-cry

  8. Plante, Chris (February 7, 2013). "Alice: Ubisoft's plan to change storytelling in video games". Polygon. Retrieved September 3, 2021. https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/2/7/3960084/alice-ubisoft-storytelling-video-games-corey-may-assassins-creed-far-cry

  9. Plante, Chris (February 7, 2013). "Alice: Ubisoft's plan to change storytelling in video games". Polygon. Retrieved September 3, 2021. https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/2/7/3960084/alice-ubisoft-storytelling-video-games-corey-may-assassins-creed-far-cry