Pizzas! I’ve got another dev feature for you. Our CEO and diabolical leader, PizzaDan, took to the stage for you!
His life, his dreams, his hopes and fears… All have been laid bare for your enjoyment.
Question: How did you end up getting into game development?
Dan: This one is easy! I grew up loving games. I mean really LOVING games. From the first time I played Contra on an NES I was hooked. I knew nothing about how games were made though. So fast forward to high school when I am trying to figure out what I want to do. When I realized you needed to learn programming to make games and you could make a good living doing so, there was no question for me, I would develop games. So I went to university learning the ropes of programming and got a job at the bottom of the programming rung (scripter) at a local game company, Kaneva, working on a game similar to Second Life. I was grateful for the opportunity and quickly worked my way up to bigger and bigger roles and I haven’t stopped since!
Question: When did you start working on mobile games?
Dan: It was actually my last job at NCSOFT where I first embraced mobile gaming. I came from a hardcore PC/Console player who thought mobile games were just a silly time waster that non-gamers did. But I wanted to learn new skills and challenge myself to see what the big deal is about mobile games. After playing just about every top game in the store, I started to get it. These games weren’t competitors for the games I loved, they were new experiences that I could play in addition to my Xbox games. I learned to love mobile games. Not only that, but I felt like I understood the good and bad sides of mobile. Pizza Club Games’s mission is making great mobile games that offer a new fun way to play and aren’t predatory. I’m proud of that.
Question: What is your all-time favorite mobile game?
Dan: Clash Royale. Even though I don’t play anymore and I have put WAY more hours into Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, I think Clash Royale is a perfect mobile game. I’m just jealous I didn’t think it first. It is still the best version of a real-time strategy game on mobile.
Question: What is your all-time favorite video game (non-mobile)?
Dan: The most difficult question. Did I mention I love games? (20 minutes later) I have narrowed it down to 3 games: Halo 2, Starcraft 2, and Silent Hill. Halo 2 is the greatest shooter of all time for sure and the game that I had the most single passion for. Starcraft 2 I think is the greatest game ever made, I wouldn’t change anything about it. But Silent Hill was the first time I realized games could be such a powerful immersive story-telling experience. Yeah, Chrono Trigger was a cool story but it wasn’t immersive like Silent Hill. I have never been so amazingly terrified and I think it was by far the best piece of art as a video game I had played up to that point in my life. So I’ll go with the darkhorse, Silent Hill.
Question: What is the next thing you’re most looking forward to for Raid Boss?
Dan: More alliance content. My favorite thing in mobile games is the long-term success of sticking with an alliance, getting better together, and sharing those experiences. We have some really fun ideas about where to take alliances. I’m excited about some competitive features like alliance wars and alliance leaderboards, but I think I am even more excited to add some cooperative modes. We have a neat idea where each alliance builds up alliance buildings that generate new benefits for every player and everyone can participate to help build them together.
Going world wide will also be very exciting (and scary!). As we continue to get closer we feel like Raid Boss is almost ready to be seen by a lot of new players. Seeing our baby grow from a small community to (hopefully) thousands of players each day will be crazy!
And that’s it from Mister Pizza, himself! The CEO of Pizza Club Games finally revealed all his secrets.
Stay cheesy pepperoni!
Iala Cunningham
Glad I learned from from mr pizza
Benjamin Gross
He’s a pretty swell guy!