Andy Schatz
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Andy Schatz (; born March 9, 1978) is a
video game designer Video game design is the process of designing the rules and content of video games in the Video game development#Pre-production, pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the Video game development ...
based in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
. He began developing video games at a young age and graduated from
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
. After graduation, he worked for various video game development companies, including
TKO Software TKO Software was a video game developer founded in 2002 in Santa Cruz, California, United States by Jacob Hawley and Michael Songy. TKO Software created '' Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Breakthrough'' (2003) and the multiplayer portion of '' Med ...
, before founding his own
independent video game An indie video game or indie game (short for independent video game) is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A ...
development studio Pocketwatch Games in 2004. Attempting to expand his company, Schatz tried enrolling into business school; all applications were rejected. As a result, he began working on games he was passionate about. Schatz has released four video games under Pocketwatch Games: '' Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa'', '' Venture Arctic'', '' Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine'', and '' Tooth and Tail''. '' Monaco 2'' is currently in development. His design philosophy revolves around taking inspiration from already existing media, such as
film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
s, and transforming it into a video game.


Early life

Andy Schatz was born in San Diego. His father was a
geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...
, his mother a
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
professor. At the age of four, Schatz received a
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...
, which sparked his desire to create video games. By the age of seven, he had designed maze games and applied
BASIC Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...
scripts to make them work. When he was in seventh grade, he developed code for a game he called ''Servants of Darkness'', a " ''Warlords''-esque game" for the Commodore 64. His work on game development led to an invitation to the 1995 California State Science Fair. In the same year, Schatz began working on
Netplay A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
, an online gaming
portal Portal may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), a series of video games developed by Valve ** ''Portal'' (video game), a 2007 video game, the first in the series ** '' Portal 2'', the 2011 sequel ** '' Portal Stori ...
, which acted as his introduction to the
video game industry The video game industry is the tertiary industry, tertiary and quaternary industry, quaternary sectors of the entertainment industry that specialize in the video game development, development, marketing, distribution (marketing), distribution, ...
. He later enrolled at
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
, where he graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Fine Arts.


Career


Early career and TKO Software

Schatz' first job after college was at the
viral marketing Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way th ...
firm e-tractions, where he helped create a virtual Christmas
snowglobe A snow globe (also called a waterglobe, snowstorm, or snowdome) is a transparent sphere, traditionally made of glass, enclosing a miniaturized scene of some sort, often together with a model of a town, neighborhood, landscape or figure. The sp ...
. After his work at Netplay, he worked on his first commercial release at
Presto Studios Presto Studios was a computer game development company of the 1990s. The company is notable for its award-winning series ''The Journeyman Project'' as well as '' Myst III: Exile, the'' 2001 sequel to Cyan's Myst series. In August 2002, Presto S ...
, where he helped develop '' Star Trek: Hidden Evil'' (1999) as a level builder. He left Presto Studios temporarily to work for e-tractions again, only to return later to help with the AI on the
Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly known and commonly referred to as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Gaming for the Xbox brand. It was first made available to the origina ...
version of '' Whacked!'' (2002). After leaving Presto Studios, Schatz moved to Santa Cruz to work for TKO Software, and in the early 2000s helped develop '' Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Breakthrough'' (2003) and '' GoldenEye: Rogue Agent'' (2004) among other games. During a time when the development team had nothing to work on, Schatz proposed a prototype of a game he had been working on described as "a house-robbing game" where players would build a home and defend it, then attempt to break into other players' homes. He sent this prototype to
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
, but it did not interest them.


2004-2014: Pocketwatch Games' inception and ''Monaco''

Schatz founded Pocketwatch Games, an independent video game development studio as a
sole proprietorship A sole proprietorship, also known as a sole tradership, individual entrepreneurship or proprietorship, is a type of enterprise owned and run by only one person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity. ...
in December 2004, before TKO shut down in 2005. The first game Schatz developed and released was ''Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa'' (2005), a tycoon game designed to appeal to the same audience as ''
Zoo Tycoon ''Zoo Tycoon'' is a series of business simulation video games in which the player is tasked with building and running a successful zoo. The series was initially developed by Blue Fang Games and published by Microsoft Studios who later in 2001 ...
'' (2001). Set in the African wilderness, the game focused on a number of themes including balancing the
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...
, species' relationships and weather cycles. It was a success and became an
Independent Games Festival The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...
(IGF) finalist helping Schatz' secure the budget for the sequel: ''Venture Arctic'' (2007). ''Venture Arctic'' had the same premise as ''Venture Africa''. While some critics praised it, and it won Gametunnels
simulation game Simulation video games are a diverse super-category of video games, generally designed to closely simulate real world activities. A simulation game attempts to copy various activities from real life in the form of a game for various purposes such ...
of the year in 2007, it had complications that players did not enjoy. As a result, it was a commercial failure compared to ''Venture Africa''. Schatz was then hired by
Jim Safka James Patrick Safka (born 7 May 1968) is an American digital media executive and former Chief Executive Officer of Match.com and Ask.com. Biography Career at Match.com At Match.com, an online dating service with more than 20 million members, Safk ...
, co-founder of
Match.com Match.com is an online dating service with headquarters are in Dallas, Texas. The company has offices in Dallas, West Hollywood, San Francisco, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Beijing. Match.com is owned by Match Group, which owns several online d ...
, to develop a
flash game A browser game is a video game that is played on the internet using a web browser. They are sometimes referred to more specifically by their format, such as Flash games or HTML5 games. They are generally free-to-play and can be either single-play ...
for Green.com. This contract slowly waned, and Schatz began to work on ''Venture Dinosauria''. It was cancelled before its 2009 release date. Looking back Schatz said he had failed to find "a way to make it both fun and open-ended, but also a small, self-contained experience at the same time". Throughout this period Schatz wanted to expand Pocketwatch Games from a studio to a business and applied for enrollment in various business schools. He was never accepted, something he now considers "the biggest blessing of isentire career". In 2009, Schatz, feeling despondent after the failure of ''Venture Dinosauria'', began learning
Microsoft XNA Microsoft XNA (a recursive acronym for XNA's not acronymed) is a freeware set of tools with a Managed code, managed Runtime system, runtime environment that Microsoft Gaming developed to facilitate video game game development, development. XNA is ...
to enable him to develop games for both PC and
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...
. Having been rejected by business schools, he slowly discarded that idea and focused on making "whatever game 'mpassionate about in the moment". In 2009, he was low on cash and gave himself one last chance before getting "a corporate job". He began to code a game inspired by ''
Hitman Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...
'' and other games that resembled ''
Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...
'' without the ghosts. This was the foundation of '' Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine'' (2013) and within a week Schatz had added enemies, ambience, and abilities. Shortly after, he began to look over design documents he made years earlier. After fifteen weeks of development, he had a prototype that won two IGF 2010 awards—the
Seumas McNally Grand Prize The Seumas McNally Grand Prize is the main award given at the Independent Games Festival (IGF), an annual event that takes place during the Game Developers Conference, one of the largest gatherings of the indie video game industry. It was first aw ...
and the Excellence in Design award. With the game still unfinished, these awards allowed Schatz to continue to work on what became, as ''
Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...
'' described, "a magnificent return to the four-player couch madness of '90s console games". Schatz originally planned to release the game on the
Xbox Live Indie Games Xbox Live Indie Games (XBLIG; previously called Xbox Live Community Games, XBLCG) were video games created by individual developers or small teams of developers released on Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360. The games were develop ...
(XBLIG) marketplace. Having received these awards, however, he changed his mind, describing XBLIG as being "a roll of the dice". Soon after,
Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...
(the company behind
Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
) and Schatz began discussing the idea of selling the game on Steam. Before this he had contacted Microsoft to discuss selling the game on the
Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...
(XBLA). Schatz's idea was rejected by Microsoft for its lack of marketability. Microsoft gave him another chance, and with a "no-risk loan" of $100,000 from the Indie Fund, he continued to work on the game. In 2011, Microsoft rejected the game again. Around the same time, hackers had compromised the
PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...
databases ending Schatz' plans to port it to
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...
. Despite these issues, he persisted with the idea of getting the game on consoles. It was around this time he met San Diego-born Andy Nguyen. Nguyen took an interest in ''Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine'' thanks to the accolades it had received and sent Schatz a
cold call Cold calling is the solicitation of business from potential customers who have had no prior contact with the salesperson conducting the call. It is an attempt to convince potential customers to purchase the salesperson's product or service. Gene ...
e-mail asking if he needed "a beta tester within walking distance". Because Schatz was becoming increasingly desperate for more feedback, he hired Nguyen, whose input reaffirmed his desire to work on ''Monaco''. He later partnered with
Majesco Entertainment Majesco Games Corporation (formerly Majesco Sales Inc. and Majesco Entertainment Company) is an American video game publisher and distributor based in Hazlet, New Jersey. The company was founded as Majesco Sales in Edison, New Jersey in 1986, an ...
to get the game released on XBLA. Schatz met composer Austin Wintory during ''Monaco''s development. Initially, Schatz was using licensed music with an "old timey,
silent era A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...
piano style". He contacted Wintory and proposed replacing some of the licensed music with original music. They began to discuss it in more depth as Schatz knew of Wintory's work on
Thatgamecompany Thatgamecompany, Inc. (stylized as thatgamecompany) is an American independent video game development company founded by University of Southern California students Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago in 2006. The company was a developer for Sony ...
's ''
Flow Flow may refer to: Science and technology * Fluid flow, the motion of a gas or liquid * Flow (geomorphology), a type of mass wasting or slope movement in geomorphology * Flow (mathematics), a group action of the real numbers on a set * Flow (psyc ...
'' and '' Journey''. Wintory eventually persuaded Schatz to use a soundtrack throughout the game. Wintory explained in an interview with '' IndieGames.com'' that Schatz was the one who created the premise for each part of ''Monaco''s soundtrack. Schatz would present Wintory with an idea and then he would compose something. He recalled thinking: "When else am I ever going to be asked to write anything remotely like this?" This process was unlike the one he had while working with Thatgamecompany; there he would make a suggestion and it would be discussed bureaucratically.


2014-present: ''Tooth and Tail'' and ''Monaco 2''

Having released the final content pack for ''Monaco'', development of '' Tooth and Tail'' (2017) began in March 2014. The premise was loosely based on a design Schatz, and college roommate Tom Wexler, had developed called ''Dino Drop''. The game was originally codenamed ''Armada'' and was initially designed to be
gamepad A gamepad is a type of video game controller held in two hands, where the fingers (especially thumbs) are used to provide input. They are typically the main input device for video game consoles. Features Some common additions to the standar ...
friendly as Schatz believed there had been no "good"
real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that does not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time." By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, tur ...
(RTS) games that utilized them. During development Schatz noted he wanted ''Armada'' to act in a similar fashion as ''Monaco''. He did this by taking the control system and "constraining tin order to make the actual, physical interaction easy to pick up without limiting the complexity of the game itself". At the
Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...
, Schatz asked several people for their opinions and received positive feedback. Nothing was definite at this point including the title and theme. The title was later changed to ''Lead to Fire''. During this stage of its development, the team took inspiration from
Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher based in Irvine, California, and a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard. Originally founded in 1991, the company is best known for producing the h ...
s design strategy in their ability to simplify complex mechanics. Around the same time, the game's development began being broadcast on
Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...
. Schatz called it a "miniature PAX (gaming festival)", a way to discuss the development with fans. The developers were unhappy with the title ''Lead to Fire'' and changed it to ''Tooth and Tail'' about a year later. The official title is a reference to the tooth-to-tail ratio. The finalized art style was also announced around the same time, with some comparing it to a modernized version of 1990's pixel art. Schatz wrote that like the development of the art for ''
SpyParty ''SpyParty'' is a social deduction game, social deduction Stealth game, stealth video game developed by Chris Hecker. ''SpyParty'' was first shown at the Experimental Gameplay Workshop at the 2009 Game Developers Conference. Hecker describes his ...
'', "the game should look utterly shitty until it's absolutely amazing". Wintory also composed the soundtrack for ''Tooth and Tail''. In March 2022, ''Monaco 2'' was announced. Schatz noted that the game would feature
3D graphics 3D computer graphics, sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics, are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the purposes of perfor ...
as opposed to ''Monaco'' 2D top-down view, as well as incorporating procedural level generation. ''Monaco 2'' will retain the stealth and heist genres, though there will be new characters introduced for players to select when playing through the game. There is currently no release date established.


Personal life

Schatz lives with his wife, Tierney Schatz, in San Diego.


Design philosophy

When designing video games, Schatz prefers to take inspiration from non-game concepts, such as
film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
s. From this point, he uses gaming themes to translate it into a playable video game. This trope was used heavily during ''Monaco''s development as it was substantially influenced by the 1960
heist film The heist film or caper film is a subgenre of crime films and the caper story, focused on the planning, execution, and aftermath of a significant robbery. One of the early defining heist films was '' The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950), which ''Film G ...
''
Ocean's 11 ''Ocean's 11'' is a 1960 American heist film directed and produced by Lewis Milestone from a screenplay by Harry Brown and Charles Lederer, based on a story by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell. The film stars an ensemble cast a ...
''. This is also seen in the plot of ''Tooth and Tail'', given it is set during the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
. Schatz also tries to make the controls of each video game intuitive to allow the player to become more immersed in the gameplay. He mentioned ''
Geometry Wars ''Geometry Wars'' is a series of top-down multi-directional shooter video games developed by Bizarre Creations, and, later, Lucid Games. Originally published by Microsoft Games Studios, the first title was included as a minigame in '' Project Got ...
'' as being one of the games that inspired this design philosophy, saying he has "never played a game with better controls". The controls of both ''Monaco'' and ''Tooth and Tail'' are "directly inspired by the simplicity" of those of ''Geometry Wars''. Schatz designs games that look "simple on their face but are driven by complex machinery".


Games developed


Notes


References


External links

* for Pocketwatch Games {{DEFAULTSORT:Schatz, Andy American video game designers Living people American video game developers 1978 births People from San Diego Pocketwatch Games