“Xenogenesis” by TheFatRat 🎵
I. am. so. excited. for the Star Wars: Hunters game launch this Tuesday, June 4th. I was first introduced to the game 4 years ago in 2020 when I worked at AWS.
Full disclosure: I now work at Take-Two Interactive, specifically Zynga, in its Central Tech (Mobile Game Tech) division. My opinions are my own, but my bias is, of course, strong AF. It would be absolutely ridiculous if I did not, this week, write about it on this blog and how grateful I am to the Hunter’s team in particular.
I’ll be playing it on Nintendo Switch; however, this post in particular isn’t about how good I think the game is on Switch (it is good though – you should try it).
I want to talk about the people who made it – this game has been in development with so much love and and intelligent humans for a while. They worked hard. A lot of folks when they talk about Take-Two – they are most excited about Grand Theft Auto VI, and while I do not blame you, I’ve been most excited about this. The Hunters team has been such an incredible partner to my team, and what they have built has craft, thought, and care. It is a true homage to the landscape that is Star Wars but also speaks deep to my PVP core nature.
Those of us who have been in this industry know that when it comes to games, launching always matters. It’s not where the journey ends.
It is one huge milestone where new journeys begin.
We tell students and mentees – Finish a project. After one, you’ll do another, and another. This is the way.
I am so incredibly proud of the engineers, game designers, artists, marketing, and especially the backend family over in Natural Motion who worked on this game!! My team works to keep the lights on over in Kubernetes land for Zynga games. We are one part of a larger extended family where the hardest work is on the people who have to design, develop, and curate the never-ending fun.
To the Hunters team – it has been a pleasure to get to know you “on the other side” for the past two years, and I feel so lucky to be here during YOUR moment. You have worked SO HARD for this! From everyone over in our neck of the woods…
Do. Or Do Not. There is no try.
Yoda. The Empire Strikes Back.
I am so looking forward to YOUR week.
Please join me, Zynga’s NaturalMotion Team, and all the amazing people at Zynga and beyond who made this game on Tuesday, June 4th.
