Alex Seropian

Alexander Seropian (born 1969)^[1] is an American video game developer, one of the initial founders and later president of Bungie, the developer of the Marathon, Myth, and Halo video game series. Seropian became interested in computer programming in college and teamed up with fellow student Jason Jones to publish Jones's game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete. The two became partners, and Bungie grew to become the best-known Apple Macintosh game developer before being bought by Microsoft in 2001.

Alex Seropian
Seropian at Wired Nextfest, October 2008
Born	Alexander Seropian 1969 (age 53–54)
Alma mater	University of Chicago
Occupation	Video game developer
Employer(s)	Bungie (1991–2004) Wideload Games (2004–2012) Industrial Toys (2012–2023)
Known for	Co-Founder of Bungie, Co-creator of Marathon, Myth, and Halo

In 2004, Seropian left Bungie and created Wideload Games, with the goal of streamlining game development. Wideload's small core development team worked with outside contractors to produce Stubbs the Zombie and Hail to the Chimp. Wideload was acquired by Disney in 2009. As part of the deal Seropian became vice president of game development for Disney Interactive Studios. In 2012 he left the position to start Industrial Toys, a company focusing on mobile games.

Biography

Early life

Alex Seropian attended the University of Chicago, and joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, where he met one of his future colleagues Jason Jones. Interested in computer programming, Seropian was pursuing a mathematics degree with a concentration in computer science as the Department of Computer Science did not offer undergraduate degrees at the time. He graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. Before graduating, Seropian was living with his father, sleeping on his couch, and debating whether to get a job or create his own video game company. Seropian's father advised him to take a job to get experience, but the next day Seropian decided to found his own company. "My dad is a master of reverse psychology", Seropian said.^[2]

Bungie

Seropian's first game was a self-published Pong-clone called Gnop! for Apple Macintosh.^[3] The game was free, although a few customers paid $15 for the game's source code.^[4] In 1991 he founded Bungie and published his first commercial game, Operation Desert Storm. Seropian sold 2,500 copies of the game, assembling the game boxes and mailing them out from his bedroom.^[5] Seropian partnered with his Artificial Intelligence classmate Jason Jones to publish Jones's nearly complete Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete; the game sold around 2,500 copies—it required a then-rare modem for network play^[5]—it developed a devoted following. After publishing Minotaur, the two formed a partnership.^[4]

For the next Bungie title, 1993's Pathways Into Darkness, Seropian hired a third team member for graphics work. The game was the first three-dimensional texture-mapped game on the Mac and the first true first-person shooter.^[5] By 1994 Bungie had grown to a staff of six and had moved into a rundown Chicago office^[5]—a converted former religious school located in front of a crack house.^[6] Their next title, Marathon, began development as a sequel to Pathways but grew larger. On release it won several awards and established Bungie as the top Mac game developer.^[5]

For Halo: Combat Evolved, Seropian noted that the company had to incorporate new features such as surround sound and cinematics.^[7] Halo went on to sell more than 4 million units by 2004 and founded a media franchise encompassing sequels, books, and music. Seropian left Bungie in 2002 to spend time with his new family, but also due to frustrations with the game development process.^[8]

Wideload Games

Seropian founded his own studio in 2004 called Wideload Games, intended to be more streamlined than most video game studios. Calling the method of game development "broken", Wideload began with a staff of 10, with the plan to outsource the lion's share of development, to stay within budget.^[9] Seropian said that the idea came from figuring out that his decade-old assumptions about how to make games did not necessarily apply to the future.^[10] Seropian turned to the film industry for cues, saying that it helped to look at an older industry that had been solving the same types of problems for a longer period than video games.^[11] The external development model allowed Wideload to focus on the creative aspect of a project and added flexibility in what types of projects the team could take on.^[10] Wideload produced two games, 2005's Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse and 2008's Hail to the Chimp.^[12][13]

On September 8, 2009 Disney acquired Wideload. Seropian joined Disney to head its in-house game development team,^[14] Disney Interactive Studios. The sale of Wideload was not originally planned: Wideload and Disney began working on a title together, and as conversations turned to a "broader scope and vision", the two companies "discovered [they] had a lot in common," Seropian said.^[11] Seropian left Disney in February 2012.^[15] Seropian also serves as DePaul University's second "game designer in residence"; DePaul is the first liberal arts university to offer a bachelor's degree for game design.^[16]

Industrial Toys

In 2012, Seropian founded a studio named Industrial Toys. The company plans to develop mobile games for core gamers.^[17] The first title by Industrial Toys, Midnight Star, was announced to be a sci-fi shooter designed with touch-based mobile platforms in mind,^[18][19] and debuted in February 2015.^[20] In July 2018, Industrial Toys was acquired by Electronic Arts,^[21] who shuttered the studio in January 2023.^[22]

References

1. "Copyright Catalog: Operation : Desert Storm". United States Copyright Office. June 17, 1991. from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
2. Recchie, Benjamin (Fall–Winter 2008). "They've Got Game; Tom Kang, AB'88, and Alex Seropian, SB'91, take video gaming beyond swordplay and shoot-'em-up". The Core. University of Chicago. from the original on May 22, 2009. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
3. Marathon Scrapbook, pages 1-2. From the Marathon Trilogy Box Set, Bungie, 1997.
4. Staff. . Bungie. Archived from the original on September 29, 2009. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
5. Xbox World 360 (October 8, 2007). . GamesRadar+. pp. 1–4. Archived from the original on November 23, 2008. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
6. Staff. . Bungie. Archived from the original on April 26, 2008. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
7. Deniz, Tuncer (December 10, 2001). "Interview: Bungie's Alexander Seropian". Inside Mac Games. from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
8. Morris, Chris (September 26, 2004). "The return of innovation? Wave of veteran game developers launch their own studio". CNN. from the original on March 8, 2007. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
9. Fahey, Rob (April 26, 2004). "Bungie founder creates new studio, starts work on PC/Xbox title". Gamesindustry.biz. from the original on September 13, 2009. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
10. Butts, Steve (April 26, 2004). . IGN. Archived from the original on April 29, 2004. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
11. Graft, Kris (September 9, 2009). . Gamasutra. Archived from the original on November 12, 2009. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
12. Sinclair, Brendan (March 25, 2006). "GDC 06: Dissecting a zombie". GameSpot. from the original on December 17, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
13. Brudvig, Erik (December 14, 2007). "Hail to the Chimp Hands-on". IGN. from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
14. Martin, Matt (September 8, 2009). "Disney adds Bungie co-founder, Wideload to games team". Gamesindustry.biz. from the original on September 11, 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2009.
15. Kollar, Phil (February 7, 2012). "Breaking: Bungie Founder Leaving Disney Interactive". Game Informer. from the original on April 12, 2012. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
16. Roberts, Scott (April 25, 2009). . DePaul University. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
17. Schramm, Mike (February 23, 2012). . Joystiq. Archived from the original on November 16, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
18. Gaudiosi, John (December 11, 2012). "Halo Creator Alex Seropian Explains How He's Changing Mobile Games With Shooter Morning Star". Forbes. from the original on December 15, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
19. Takahashi, Dean (February 25, 2012). "After Disney, Bungie founder dives into mobile games with Industrial Toys (exclusive interview)". VentureBeat. from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
20. Webster, Andrew (February 5, 2015). "Nobody can make Halo for your iPhone, and that's OK - Midnight Star is the next best thing". The Verge. from the original on February 22, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
21. "Electronic Arts Acquires Industrial Toys". Business Wire. July 9, 2018. from the original on April 20, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
22. Takahashi, Dean (2023-01-31). "EA cancels mobile Apex Legends and Battlefield games, shutters Industrial Toys studio". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2023-01-31.

External links

• Industrial Toys
• Chicagoist: (June 20, 2005)
• "Wideload Games' Alexander Seropian on Outsourcing for the Living Dead" Gamasutra: Wen, Howard (September 29, 2005)