Meet Cameron Hyland – Marketing Associate

Cameron has been gaming since he was a kid. Being a product of the 90s, one of his biggest childhood gaming memories is when his dad brought home a Nintendo 64. He remembers his dad playing through Goldeneye all night the first evening the console was in the house and going to work exhausted the next day. That’s when his dad realized how hard it would be to balance gaming and work, and decided the console should be Cameron’s instead. That opened up worlds to Cameron from 007: Goldeneye to Banjo Kazooie, and it was love at first site.

Cameron doesn’t have a favorite game, as he’s constantly rotating through them. Cameron’s an achievement hunter, and hunt he does! He currently holds the title of most Game Pass games played in Australia and doesn’t see himself letting that title go any time soon if he has anything to do with it. Long story short, if it has achievements, Cameron’s probably already played it or it’s on his list.

Cameron has turned his passion for gaming into something more than just his own enjoyment, however. He volunteers with Game on Cancer, a charity organization that funds early-career cancer researchers. “I doubt there’s anyone out there who’s life hasn’t been affected by Cancer in some way,” Cameron explains. “Like many, I’ve watched it destroy the lives of people I’ve cared about and witnessed the devastating impact it has on surrounding family and friends. But I’ve also seen how far we’ve come in battling this condition year after year, and I’m hopeful that with more incredible work and research being done we could in fact be the first generation to witness the end of this deadly disease.”

Cameron also cohosts the Hall of Gamers Pod, which discusses achievement hunting, Xbox news and interviews. “As a community, we very much celebrate in each other’s accomplishments, whether it be a completed game, hitting a percentage of games completed, hitting a Gamerscore goal or even just sharing a personal goal,” Cameron explains.

As if all that doesn’t have him busy enough, Cameron also has a wonderful daughter he prioritizes in his life. They build Lego, have adventures, and of course game together.

What do you look for in achievement lists and gaming experiences in general?

I keep an eye out for a mix of achievements that execute gameplay, exploration, and challenges subject to the genre and style of the game.  Overall, I’m looking for tighter, well executed experiences that original from solo devs or teams that have great and unique ideas.

What drives you to support gaming at the indie level?

I don’t think indies are synonymous with a sacrifice in quality. There’s a ton of creativity in indies, and a lot of different experiences based on well executed ideas. I also love uncovering hidden gems and taking part in the smaller, more intimate communities that tend to come along with indies.

What do you love about working at The Iterative Collective?

I love working at TIC because it allows me to combine both my skills in marketing and social media with my extensive history with gaming. I chose to work in indies because I love being able to experience the storytelling and heart people put into their titles. I’m very much the man at the buffet that wants to try one of everything (as shown by the amount of different games I play) and I want to experience everything so I can pass on recommendations to others, been engulfed by people’s storytelling and to one day help my partner to develop her own games. Being able to connect players with games is a wonderful feeling, as gaming is such an immense part of my life.