Mike L Kinshella

I’m a copywriter living in Los Angeles. My background is in narrative writing, with extensive training both formal and informal in the realms of film and television, immersive events, and video games. For the last seven years I have honed an uncommon skillset working on one of the most unique, diverse, and sophisticated video game projects ever conceived, Chris Roberts’ Star Citizen.What follows are some highlights. Please enjoy:

Marketing/Sales

With one foot in Marketing and the other in Narrative, I’ve written traditional marketing and sales copy alongside diegetic in-lore marketing copy, creating individual voices for hundreds of fictional brands and manufacturers, pushing spaceships, laser guns, and soda pop on the denizens of the 30th century, concurrently supporting huge promotions both in and out of game.

Traditional

Even when dealing with unfathomable science fiction adventures, sometimes copy needs to be straightforward, conveying real information to real people about a promotion or event, like this informational page/FAQ for a Free Fly referral bonus.

Diegetic/In-Lore

Most sales copy blurred the lines between a real sales page selling game assets for real currency, and media that could actually be found within the game world itself (considered and referred to as "in-lore"), exemplified by this sales page I conceived and wrote for Star Citizen's homage to the Millennium Falcon.

Hybrid

Sometimes a hybrid approach was called for - copy that isn't exactly in-lore but sits in a sort of no-man's-land. This approach is illustrated by the copy I've written for the annual Ship Showdown event, where in-lore ships are pitted against each other in a popularity contest decided by community votes.

Live Events

While working on Star Citizen I also wrote the copy for massive live ticketed events in Austin, Manchester, and Los Angeles, taking fans on a journey starting with a dynamic “save the date” website and direct marketing campaign, getting them hyped and prepared through a progressively expanding web experience, and guiding them through the shows themselves via signage, video, swag, scripted live entertainment, and programs at the venues.

CitizenCon 2953 Web Experience

The CitizenCon web experiences were streamlined and designed to prepare guests for the event in every conceivable way, making sure they knew what to expect, where to go, and how best to use their time both at the venues and elsewhere in the hosting city.

Hype Video

Using footage from previous conventions, in-game clips, and bespoke set-ups, we crafted an emotional journey to get fans and backers suitably amped up for CitizenCon's triumphant post-pandemic in-person return, and our biggest live event to date by a long shot.

Direct Marketing

During the first half of my tenure at Star Citizen I wrote and edited several weekly and monthly newsletters, setting a tone and style that resonated deeply with the fans and remains the company standard.

Weekly Newsletter

The weekly newsletter covering everything going on in the world of Star Citizen. Puns, obscure music references, and a mildly snarky attitude gave this publication the voice that it more or less retains to this day.

Concierge Newsletter

A monthly publication tailored specifically to our VIP backers, this newsletter always dipped liberally in and out of lore in a fun way, but was mostly a way to give the Concierge members a first look at upcoming ships and promotions.

Social Media

I work closely with our Social and Community teams to maintain brand voices and lore accuracy. Most marketing and sales social media copy comes from me indirectly, and anything involving lore is either co-written or signed off on by yours truly across social media channels.

Patch Releases

Patch release trailers are meticulously scripted and storyboarded to weave thematic throughlines and bits of story into the presentation of new features. The following are a few that I found particularly fun to script:

Mission Ready

Discover all-action missions, cutting-edge tech, improved features, quality-of-life updates, and much more in our most adrenaline-pumping patch yet.

Wrecks to Riches

Discover all-new gameplay, outposts, settlements, vehicles, and more in Star Citizen Alpha 3.22.

Call to Adventure

Discover a new PvP event, thrilling missions, a fully rebuilt Lorville cityscape, tractor-beam salvage, and more in Star Citizen’s latest release. The Stanton system has never been more inviting for veteran and new players alike.

Ship Commercials

A large part of my time at Star Citizen was spent conceiving, pitching, developing, and scripting diegetic in-lore commercials that doubled as marketing content to sell the ships to players for real world currency. A few highlights follow:

Anvil Carrack

This trailer was created for the in-game debut of one of Star Citizen's most hotly anticipated ships. Cinematics created a ton of bespoke assets and environments for this in order to faithfully adapt the script and convey the feeling of exploring the far corners of our impossibly diverse galaxy.

The Long Haul - MISC Hull C

To sell Star Citizen's biggest freighter I wanted to romanticize the idea of seeing the beauty, terror, and excitement of the entire universe from the perspective of a long-haul shipping operation. Time lapse was used to convey the epic nature of the continuous cargo run, and the staggering amount of cargo moved.

Anvil Ballista

A high concept premise that unfolds slowly and mysteriously, illustrating the deadly potential of the Ballista anti-aircraft platform. The enemy pilots are compomised before they even know what's going on, and I wanted to put the audience in that space before showing them what just hit them.

Short Films/Cinematics

I have conceived, pitched, and written in-game commercials and promo videos, as well as cinematic short films taking place in the Star Citizen universe, penned original songs, designed in-game events and minigames, building a fully immersive sci-fi world through creative marketing.

The Reunion

This long-form promo for the Crusader Mercury and the smuggler-centric game play it enables, brings characters to life that I originally created for the ship's concept sale.

24 Scars

For Pirate Week, a celebration of piratical game play, I was tasked with writing a 30th century "shanty" and spinning up some exploits for Bob and her merry crew of cutthroats.

The Hunt is On

The misadventure of these two unlucky fortune hunters changed and shifted as the in-game promotion was adjusted on the fly, but they were always doomed.

Let's Talk

Like what you see? Want to work together? Send me an email. Let's build worlds, tell stories, and create unique connections through copy and content.