The Producer of Smart Game Objects
8 Circuit Studios Developer Journal — Nov 16, 2017
This week we’re introducing you to another of our team members, Matt Coalson. Matt is a seasoned veteran from the video game industry who’s the producer for Smart Game Objects. We spent some time asking him about his career in games and what the blockchain means to gaming.
8 Circuit Studios: How did you get started in the video game industry?
Matt Coalson: My first job in the game industry was doing quality assurance at Activision for Tony Hawk 2. I was a senior in high school and determined to get my foot into the door of any game company, no matter what. So after class I’d drive to LA from Irvine (2 hours in traffic) to get paid almost nothing. I met a lot of really cool people. I knew this was the industry I wanted to be in. After about 6 months I left Activision and went to work at Blizzard.
8CS: While still in HS?
MC: Yeah… right around graduation from high school I was at Blizzard working on World of Warcraft. I was actually the first non-engineer to step foot in Azeroth.
8CS: As a HS student with no prior work experience, how’d you even get a games company to consider you for a job?
MC: I interviewed everywhere in Irvine. Every game company that existed. From SquareSoft to companies that have long gone extinct and learned what people wanted to hear in the interview. I was somehow lucky enough to get a call back from Activision with no connections. I filled out their job application and handed it in personally to someone at the front desk.
8CS: Has your entire career been in the video game industry?
MC: I’ve split my career between games and technology. I’ve worked on console titles, online networks, social games, tech startups, and my own ventures.
Nothing beats the game industry though.
8CS: What keeps you coming back to video games?
MC: It’s the culture and that I just really love games. Working with other gamers is always fun. There’s usually some multiplayer game going on in the office, or we all join the same destiny clan, or something like that. The people are awesome. There’s no dress code which is fantastic, and you get to work on something that actually brings joy to people which is something I need.
8CS: Do you have a favorite project that you’ve worked on? Something that brought you joy?
MC: I think my favorite title would be Warcraft III. It was early in my career and I still was giddy just to be working at Blizzard, they gave me the opportunity to be a QA lead on sound and music so I got to hang out with the blizzard sound folks, which was unreal. As far as what I’m the most proud of, would probably have to be the startup I did “StageHound.” It was an interactive music and celebrity site. We got to help MegaDeth launch their latest album and that was a really cool experience.
8CS: When did you know that Bitcoin and the blockchain were something to pay attention to?
MC: Pretty early on. I started buying bitcoin back in the days where 1 coin was like $0.15. Mostly that was like “Oh, hey, look at this new currency! That’s kinda cool,” but nothing too serious. Around 2013 I started to get more into the technical areas of what the blockchain is and once I realized that it could be paired with games it just clicked. There’s so much in the blockchain that games can take advantage of. It’s kinda amazing. We’re on the forefront of a new wave of gaming.
8CS: With that, can you tell us a little about what you are working on for 8CS?
MC: Sure. So at 8 Circuit I’m leading the charge for what we’re calling Smart Game Objects. I create, define, and manage the smart contracts that will power the future of games. These are contracts, or code, that live on the blockchain and pertain to areas of your game. It could be anything from a special sword in the game that can be sold, traded, and permanently owned by a player to something more complicated like a character that you can move from one game into another.
8CS: How does this differ from the type of work you’ve done on games before?
MC: It actually falls in line with a lot of what I’ve been doing in my career. I tend to gravitate towards the use of new technology in games. While at EA I spent most of my time working on the EA network which allowed gamers to play against each other online for the first time (Madden, Need for Speed, etc…). I feel very much at home here and working on new technologies.
8CS: Do you think that Smart Game Objects will change game development?
MC: Absolutely, I think the blockchain itself is going to change the world around us. It’s basically internet 3.0. We’re going to see a fundamental shift in ownership of everything not just games. To answer your question, I think every major game studio will be on the blockchain in the next 5 years and the idea of, say EA, or Activision, owning your data will be a distant memory. An awful horrible memory.
8CS: Any advice for anyone who’s interested in working on Smart Game Objects in the future? What should they have a solid understanding of? What should they be learning?
MC: Great question… obviously understanding how the blockchain works in general is crazy important. Once you have a good grasp on that personally I’d argue that a solid understanding of JavaScript is a great to have under your belt considering where it looks like things are heading. Read blogs, join irc channels, just invest yourself in the ecosystem and things will start to come naturally.
8CS: I heard you’re pretty good at DDR…
MC: Oh christ! [laughs] When I was younger I spent a good amount of my time in an arcade. Got pretty heavy into DDR, to the point where me and some friends would travel the country playing in tournaments for gas and hotel money. To be honest we had a blast.
From that, I ended up working at Konami for a while making step patterns and was on the team that eventually left and founded Harmonix
8CS: From what you’ve described, it looks like you’re the type of person who’s really made an effort to craft the life you want in the industry you want to be in. What advice do you have for anyone that’s been inspired by your story and would want to do the same?
MC: Dedicate yourself to that industry. The only way to stay relevant is to live and breathe it. Read blogs, go to conferences, participate in discussion on places like Reddit. Do something related to that industry daily… I still play at least 2 hours of games a day just to keep up with what’s going on currently. Most importantly, enjoy it. If you aren’t enjoying your job, find one you do.
As always, we want you to join in the fun. We love our fans and people who are passionate about the game industry. Follow along with 8 Circuit Studios in all the following ways.
Join the Discord Channel
We invite everyone who has played, or wants to play D-PARC to join the 8 Circuit Studios Discord channel.
Join Our Development Community Discussion
Join our Developer Community on Slack. Here we will be discussing the creation of Smart Game Objects, partnering with other game developers, and extending the platform to create a new gaming ecosystems.
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