Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Greenberg.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Andrew. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
After arriving in Atlanta to write about lawyers for a legal affairs newspaper, I got tired of writing about lawyers and started writing about vampires instead. That turned into a career making games. In 1995, three other talented game devs and I started Holistic Design, Inc., which made a number of successful and popular games on behalf of publishers like Take-Two, Sega and others.
In the early 2000s, however, the industry changed, and it became harder to get the publisher deals that had made us successful. Indeed, most of the game developers in Georgia closed up shop, and at one point there were only two game developers left in the state – HDI and Heuristic Park. We transitioned more into support roles for other game developers, doing consulting and production work for them. By 2005, the Georgia game industry was very slow growing again. In order to help support its new growth, friends and I started the Southern Interactive Entertainment and Game Expo (www.siegecon.net) to bring everyone together.
The state Entertainment Tax Credit started near the same time, and it sparked an amazing growth in Georgia’s game industry. In 2012 there was an attempt to remove Interactive Productions from the tax credit program. The industry came together to stop that and has continued its growth trajectory. I was elected executive director of the Georgia Game Developers Association at that time, and have served in that role since.
During this time, my own game development work took a back seat to support the industry itself, and only recently have I managed to get back into game dev with Noble Armada: Lost Worlds (https://clickteam.itch.io/noble-armada-lost-worlds). We expect to release it this Fall and continue developing games for years to come.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The game industry has seen many changes in the 28 years I have been part of it, and each change comes with its own challenges. The publisher-developer model has changed, distribution platforms have come and gone, tools have changed dramatically, and the skills required to succeed morph constantly. Staying up with the changes is both a challenge and an opportunity.
Georgia Game Developers Association – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Georgia Game Developers is a non-profit trade association representing people in digital entertainment statewide. It works on building up the game development workforce, representing the industry publicly, and improving networking opportunities for people who often do not like to network.
Holistic Design has a strong reputation in the game development for creating good games for people who like games. We have had fans who have supported our products for decades, and the best thing about our fans is that they are exactly the type of people with whom we like to play games.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success involves both creating successful games and events while building up strong communities around them.
Pricing:
- GGDA memberships are $45 for students and $65 for professionals
- SIEGE registration currently runs from $25 to $65
Contact Info:
- Website: www.holistic-design.com, www.ggda.org, www.siegecon.net, www.georgiaesports.org
- Email: president@ggda.org
- Instagram: https://twitter.com/hdiandrew
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ggda.org/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/GGDA_ORG
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/georgiagamedevs
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