#67 Steve Ellmore, On Game Development

Summary

Steve Ellmore, co-founder and president of Disbelief tells me that games are a collaborative effort and how game dev differs from other dev.

Details

Who he is. What he does. His first games was in BASIC. What Disbelief does. "A game is a piece of art that can move". Game dev is iterative and never the vision of one person, why it is thought to be that way. The visionary is more of a guide, deciding what to include and exclude. Hundreds of people involved. Using game engines. Prototyping, "made four games and shipped one". Avoiding "group think". Sequels are common, holding back features. Sharing ideas between devs and companies. What happens after prototyping - playing end to end, the doldrums, getting it back together, closing stages, technical debt, making a product. How long a game takes to make. Specialized work of Disbelief, frame rates, VR. Disbelief is hiring in Boston and Chicago.