David Szymanski ( ; ) is an American video game developer. Szymanski developed ''

Dusk Dusk occurs at the darkest stage of twilight, or at the very end of astronomical twilight after sunset and just before nightfall.''The Random House College Dictionary'', "dusk". At predusk, during early to intermediate stages of twilight, enoug ...

'' and ''

Iron Lung An iron lung is a type of negative pressure ventilator, a medical ventilator, mechanical respirator which encloses most of a person's body and varies the air pressure in the enclosed space to stimulate breathing. It assists breathing when Musc ...

''.

Life and career

David Szymanski is the brother of video game developers John and Evan Szymanski, known for developing '' My Friendly Neighborhood''. On December 10, 2018, David released ''Dusk'', a retro-style

first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...

game. For ''Dusk'', Szymanski has been credited by '' Super Jump'' with "single-handedly revitalizing the boomer-shooter genre". He then released ''Iron Lung'' on March 10, 2022, a submarine simulation horror game in which players navigate an ocean of blood on a moon. Sales increased after the ''Titan'' submersible implosion, which disconcerted Szymanski. He faced criticism online for increasing the price of the game by two dollars, to which he told those complaining to "go

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

it or something". Sales of the game dropped after the price adjustment. On April 21, 2023

Markiplier Mark Edward Fischbach ( ; born June 28, 1989), known online as Markiplier, is an American YouTuber, filmmaker, and actor. One of the most popular YouTubers on the platform, he is known for his "Let's Play" videos of indie horror games. He wa ...

announced that he would be directing the film ''

'' and Szymanski said that he would have a cameo in the film on Twitter. Szymanski released ''Squirrel Stapler'' in September 2023, followed by ''The Pony Factory'' in 2024. Both had originally been released as part of the ''Dread X Collection'' and take place in the same world, while the latter was inspired by ''Jacqueline Ess: Her Will And Testament'', a short story by

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English writer, filmmaker, and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1980s with a series of short stories collectively named the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading horror author ...

. In January 2025, he released ''Butcher's Creek'', a first-person horror game about a man going to the titular Butcher's Creek on a quest to collect snuff films on VHS. David, John and Evan Szymanski developed ''Secret Agent Wizard Boy and the International Crime Syndicate'', which was released as

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release Software release life cycle, developm ...

on March 6, 2025.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szymanski, David American video game designers American people of Polish descent Indie game developers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American YouTubers Place of birth missing (living people) American video game developers