In this inspiring and informative post, we’ll be learning a lot from videogame designer Jeff Evans. He tells us about his passion for gaming, describes his current project, and offers advice for new creators.
About Jeff Evans:
Evans is a lifelong gaming enthusiast and entrepreneur. He started creating board games at an early age and transitioned that passion to computer games in his early teens. In 2003 he began creating video games professionally and in 2008 he combined his two passions together and started his first game development business called Antic Entertainment. Since then he has created 2 other video game businesses (Tiny Titan Studios and Doom Turtle), a Games and Hobby retail store with 2 locations (Mana Lounge) and a Pinball Shop and Arcade (Mana Pinball).
Jeff, when you were hired to work on Battlefield, did you have an inkling that this could spark a career path in video game design? At what point did you decide to venture out on your own as an entrepreneur?
I’ve wanted to make games ever since I was young. I remember writing ideas down on a letter, putting it in an envelope that I wrote Nintendo on and stuffed in the mailbox, hoping they would one day make a game like that. I didn’t even have a stamp or address on it. Woops. I was in Waterloo at the time I found out about Digital Illusions in London. I reached out, performed an art test and was hired within the week. It was a pretty exciting turn of events.
While I worked for a few companies I knew I always wanted to make my own games and in 2008 I took the chance at my first studio. Since then, I created a mobile studio called Tiny Titan Studios, and most recently Doom Turtle, where we focus on quality premium indie titles.
How long does a video game such as Ember Knights take to go from concept to market? Tell us about your source of inspiration. What helps you push through when a project seems stuck or impossible?
Video game production can be a strange thing with many variables to consider. The overall development time can be months to years depending on all the features and scope. With Ember Knights, it actually started as a completely different project on mobile.
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Pauline Shen 