Matthew Griffin

Matthew Alexander "Leth" Griffin (born March 27, 1979) is an American video game designer, marketer, and former teacher. He is best known for working as a marketing contractor for indie games such as Team Cherry's Hollow Knight and Hollow Knight: Silksong and Mongoose Rodeo's Crowsworn.

Early in his career, Griffin worked in sales and customer service, later becoming a full-time mathematics teacher. Griffin began creating video games using Game Maker in the early 2000s, and started working Jason Gordy. In 2006, they formed Team Wanderlust (later Yeti Trunk), which released multiple games between 2011 and 2015. Outside of his own games, Griffin worked with the game publisher Chucklefish on titles such as Risk of Rain (2013). In 2015, they hired him as a publishing manager. After departing the company, he began working as a marketing contractor for indie studios like Team Cherry.

Early life and education Matthew Alexander Griffin was born in the United States on March 27, 1979.

Growing up in a small town in central California, he initially self-taught himself how to program with a game creation system and QBasic at a young age, later taking programming classes with C++ after graduating high school.

Career

19982015: Early work and game design Before entering the gaming industry full-time, in the late 1990s2000s, Griffin worked in sales and customer service before becoming a mathematics educator, his job as of 2012. Gubs (2012), The company Chucklefish published Wanderlust Adventures, and Witchmarsh (TBA). At Chucklefish, he helped publish and market Interstellia (2015) He also led the localization of the game, and voice acted some characters. where he managed marketing and publishing, and voice acted. and revealed information about it, as Team Cherry themselves stayed mostly silent during development. In mid 2021, Canadian independent developer Mongoose Rodeo brought on Griffin to manage marketing and publishing for their upcoming Kickstarter-backed game Crowsworn (TBA). In 2026, he formally announced that he is marketing for NEO TITAN (TBA), developed by British independent developer idoz & phops. He joined the team after contacting them once seeing an early build online in 2023.

Public reception Griffin (right) and other Risk of Rain developers accepting an award at the 2014 Independent Games Festival. Griffin's early games received mixed reviews. Andrew Barker of RPGFan gave Wanderlust: Rebirth a 60/100, criticizing its combat, soundtrack, and lack of character progression, while Tyler Lubben of Operation Rainfall praised its four-player co-op gameplay. Wanderlust Adventures received positive attention in previews from Rock Paper Shotgun: Emily Gera praised its variety of environments, while Adam Smith described its presentation as "absolutely smashing". although Philip Kollar of Polygon criticized its lag and setup requirements. The game received an award at the 2014 Independent Games Festival, which he attended.

During Silksongs lengthy development, Griffin's communication drew coverage from gaming news outlets. Imogen Beckhelling, writing for Rock Paper Shotgun, praised his Discord riddles in mid 2020 that revealed Silksong characters, calling it "a nice way to keep fans entertained until bigger news comes out." IGN reported that in May 2021, Griffin deconfirmed any possible Silksong appearances at E3 of that year, which they said was praised for its transparency. TheGamer reported on reactions to Griffin indirectly deconfirming a theorized ARG via a YouTuber in early 2025, which they said some called "unprofessional".

PC Gamer writer Harvey Randall was mixed on Griffin confirming a pre-Holiday 2025 release in Discord, stating "[Team Cherry is] under no obligation to do things the traditional way... but... maybe if you want your game to be successful, this isn't a very good way to make your dreams come true?" The book Level Up 2026: An AFK Book by Dynamo Limited ranked Griffin’s statement that Silksong was “real, progressing, and will release” at No. 2 in its list of the top 30 greatest gaming moments of 2025.

In May 2026, Griffin made gaming news headlines after he responded to a satirical tweet that claimed Silksongs upcoming Sea of Sorrow downloadable content (DLC) would be releasing that month according to "reliable sources" with a monocle emoji. Some news outlets and fans speculated that this response could have been teasing a DLC release in May, but this did not occur.

Personal life Griffin currently lives in Texas. He is married, and has a daughter. As a hobby, he enjoys music composition and plays the guitar.

Ludography Year Title 2011 Wanderlust: Rebirth 2012 Gubs2013 Puck Bang Risk of Rain 2015 Wanderlust Adventures Witchmarsh

Cancelled games Title Wanderlust: The Online Adventure