6 Game Makers and Who they were Before they Became Famous

Masaya Matsuura

He was famous before he developed games, but for making music. In the year 1983, he formed a band called PSY.S. They released 10 albums over the course of 13 years, before he quit the band to concentrate on developing video games. He is known for music based games like PaRappa the Rapper and Vib-Ribbon through his company, NanaOn-Sha. If you aspire to become a game developer, his journey is an inspiring example of blending creativity with technology.

Hideo Kojima

Best known for games like Zone of the Enders series, Boktai series and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Hideo Kojima is one of the most famous game designers in the industry. He won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 Game Developers Conference, solidifying his place among the world's most famous game developers. Kojima initially aspired to become an artist or illustrator but was discouraged by his family due to societal norms. After unsuccessfully submitting short stories to Japanese magazines, he shifted his focus to filmmaking. However, he soon changed his path again and decided to become a game developer, eventually creating some of the most iconic games in history. Today, his work continues to inspire game studios worldwide.

David Jaffe

His games Twisted Metal: Black and God of War, have ranked in IGN‘s “Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time”, with Twisted Metal: Black in ninth place and God of War winning first place respectively. After graduating from school, he applied to a film school but never got in. Even so, he pursued his dream of directing movies, before he turned towards game designing.

Ken Levine

Ken Levine is most notable for his conceptualization and work on the BioShock franchise. Before, he started developing games, he studied drama. He moved to Los Angeles form Ney York to pursue a career in films. In the year 1995, he was hired by  Looking Glass Studios as a game designer. After two years, he and two of his cowokers, left Looking Glass and founded Irrational Games.

Suda51

Goichi Suda had the most unconventional jobs of all. He worked as an undertaker, also known as a funeral director. He applied to Human Entertainments when he saw an advertisement for an opening. He didn’t hear back from them for weeks and resigned himself to working as an undertaker. His luck changed when he got a call from Human and was immediately hired. He founded Grasshopper Manufacture in the year 1998. He is best known for games like Shadows of the Damned, Lollipop Chainsaw , Killer Is Dead and many more.

It’s okay to take time to figure out what you want in life. Not even famous game developers or the most famous game designers knew their paths right away. But once you decide that games are the way to go and you want to become a game developer, make sure you pick the right game development course to guide you. Many renowned game studios started with developers who took that first step!