fter the closure of THQ’s Australian studios, we follow the progress of ex-THQ Studio Australia Game Programmer Anthony Reddan, a young developer who recently left Australia to work overseas in Canada. Is his journey representative of a brain drain in the Australian games industry, or is the local indie development scene on the verge of a glorious rebirth?
October 5. Anthony Reddan sells almost all of his belongings. He says goodbye to his friends and family. He packs his clothes; he packs the remainder of his gear, and despite the fact that his flight disembarks in Montreal, he packs his surfboard.
August 10. Just two months ago, THQ ‘right-sizes’ three of their studios, leaving 200 men and women redundant; Anthony Reddan is among that 200 — a programmer who had spent his entire professional life working at THQ Studio Australia in Brisbane.
Now, in the wake of the THQ closures, Anthony Reddan is about to join the contingent of Australian game developers working overseas, part of a skills migration that could hamper the Australian industry as it attempts to recover from the recent closures plaguing local development.
We spoke to him about the move and the strange circumstances that led to the closure of THQ Studio Australia and Blue Tongue.
The best years of my life
October 19. Today Anthony turns 25 and celebrates his birthday in Montreal, Quebec, having just finished his first week working with Ubisoft on an unnamed project.
It wasn’t always this way. Once upon a time Anthony was putting his skills to use in an Australian studio, recruited straight from University.
“I studied a double bachelor of IT/Multimedia at Griffith University,” says Anthony. “As with most degrees, we were offered the opportunity to intern somewhere in the industry during final year. The Uni has a whole bunch of existing partners you can choose from, or you could find your own. It was mid-way through third year and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do at that point.
“I loved games, but all I’d heard about the games industry was that the barrier to entry was ridiculous, so I guess I kinda wrote it off as a career choice in the back of my mind.”
A chance lecture at Griffith by Scott West from THQ, however, gave Anthony the opportunity he was looking for.
“In my final semester we had this rad lecturer who organised for guys from the games industry to come talk to us,” explains Anthony. “We had Matt Ditton and Morgan Jaffit from Pandemic, and Scott West from THQ. These guys were super inspiring, I was blown away.
“I recorded each talk, and at the end I asked if they had any internships going. Scott said he thought the THQ Technical Director might be looking for some interns. We wasted no time. Three of us from that class ended up working at THQ as Intern Programmers.”
Eventually, THQ offered Anthony a permanent job.
“After the intern year I was offered a full time position as an Associate Programmer,” says Anthony. “I moved onto general programming for Megamind and did a bit of everything.
“I was shifted onto our final project — The Avengers — early and was one of two gameplay programmers in the pre-production team, which was an amazing experience. In production I was part of the combat strike team, working with the most talented people around. I was responsible for writing our attack framework, projectile behaviours, cameras, interactive finishers, among other things.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét