In 2006, Whitehead worked as a freelance 3D animator with the company Kine Graffiti. Since 2009, he has focused on game development, developing various
fangames based on the
Sonic the Hedgehog series, starting with a 2007
fangame entitled
Retro Sonic. The game became notable after its release for its accuracy to the games, despite not being a
ROM hack or
modification to an existing
Sonic game.
Retro Sonic later merged with two other
Sonic fangames,
Sonic XG and
Sonic Nexus, to form
Retro Sonic Nexus. In 2009,
Sega asked fans for ideas on a game to port to
iOS. As a response, Whitehead produced a "proof-of-concept" video of
Sonic CD running on an
iPhone using his own custom engine, the "Retro Engine". In an interview with
Steven O'Donnell of
Good Game: Spawn Point, Whitehead proclaims that he spent "about a year or so" convincing Sega to let him work on the
Sonic CD port. In 2009, a video regarding
Sonic CD from Whitehead was taken down, leading
Eurogamer to report that Whitehead possibly faced a
cease and desist letter from Sega, which Whitehead claimed was false. His remake was so successful that he, along with developer Simon "Stealth" Thomley of the studio Headcannon, would later be commissioned to remaster
Sonic the Hedgehog and
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for mobile devices. In 2015, it was announced that Whitehead would be involved in his first non-
Sonic game,
Freedom Planet 2. In 2017, Whitehead, in collaboration with Headcannon and PagodaWest Games, developed and released their own original title in the
Sonic series, titled
Sonic Mania. In 2018,
Sonic Mania was re-released as
Sonic Mania Plus, which added additional content to the original game.
Sonic Mania Plus was developed by Whitehead, Headcannon, PagodaWest Games, and the now included Hyperkinetic Studios. Whitehead also contributed to the development of
Sonic Origins, providing a new version of the engine used in the remasters. In late 2018, Whitehead and other development members behind
Sonic Mania founded their own studio Evening Star, where he serves as creative director and lead engine architect. Whitehead created the Retro Engine for use in
Retro Sonic in 2007. He would also use the engine to develop remasters of
Sonic the Hedgehog and
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 using the engine, released for mobile platforms in 2013. A proof-of-concept remaster of
Sonic 3 & Knuckles proposed by Whitehead and Thomley but not approved by Sega was to use the engine. The Retro Engine was also used by Sega for their compilation
Sonic Origins in 2022, which includes remakes of
Sonic the Hedgehog,
Sonic the Hedgehog 2,
Sonic CD, and
Sonic 3 & Knuckles (with the music problems solved by compositions of original tracks); Whitehead updated the engine for the release but otherwise had no involvement. == Works ==