“These days, there are a lot of people making very technically accurate games. “In the early days of military games, it (his background) used to be more of an advantage,” says Long. It’s as if his past could only have brought him to where he is now. In the realm of military combat gaming, this man walks the walk.īefore Zombie, Long led a team developing a virtual reality game console at Stanford University’s Sarnoff Research Center and was a senior engineer at General Dynamics, where he headed a colossal simulation of operation Desert Storm before the actual event. Long’s background uniquely qualifies him to do what he does. In between titles including “Zork Nemesis” and Disney’s “Atlantis,” Zombie has carved a niche for itself as creator of successful military-themed games, such as the “Spec Ops” series for the original PlayStation, a PC expansion pack for Tom Clancy’s “Rainbow 6” and the new Xbox title “Shadow Ops: Red Mercury.” We’ve seen a lot of high-profile, well-funded startups come and go over the years. Staying independent gets harder all the time. A lot of independents have gone under or been acquired. Publishers are spending more, but making fewer games. “But the number of studios that can handle that scale of production is shrinking. Zombie’s co-founder, co-CEO and executive producer of its flagship games, Mark Long, 46, is feeling enthused: “It’s a great time to be an independent developer.” Game budgets average $5 million to $15 million and they’re climbing as player expectations rise with revenues. Ninety percent of the crew is from the Seattle area, with new recruits coming from the Art Institute of Seattle, Digipen and the new game design program at the University of Washington. With annual revenues between $3 million and $5 million, Zombie employs 30 artists, programmers, producers and designers. They are indeed the giants.īut Zombie has been quietly developing video and PC games that, in the case of its original “Spec Ops” military shooter franchise, sell in the millions. You’d be forgiven if Nintendo and Microsoft were the only companies that came to mind from the Seattle-area’s video and PC game cottage industry. SEATTLE - When it comes to video games, what’s every parent’s deepest fear? Could it be their dear little ones turned into drooling, brain-dead lumps planted in front of the TV, clutching game controllers? Thus, in 1994, with a sly wink and a jab in the eye of the Moral Majority, Seattle game developer Zombie had its name.
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