Jason Pace has been named director for the Center for Serious Play at the University of Washington, Bothell. He will begin working at UW-Bothell July 16.

The Center for Serious Play provides unique opportunities for students interested in game design, interactive media, entrepreneurship and the impact of games and interactive media on contemporary culture. Emphasis is placed on pairing students with industry partners to provide hands-on experience.

Pace was selected after a national search. For the last five years, he has been creative director and lead producer for the Halo franchise on Xbox, dividing his time between developing new intellectual property with external studios and leading internal projects to grow the franchise in new directions. Prior to his work on Halo, Pace led the product design teams for Microsoft Casual Games, focusing on game design, social features and metagame development.