Matt Trobbiani is an Australian

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a larg ...

who developed the indie video game '' Hacknet''. His experience as a developer was the subject of a profile in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' in 2016.Patrick Stafford, Glixel, (3 June 2016), Solo Indie Game Development – Not for Faint of Heart, ''Rolling Stone''
Retrieved 24 July 2017

Biography

Trobbiani received a

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...

degree at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on ...

. He went on to develop ''Hacknet'' as an indie developer and posted an unfinished version of it on

IndieDB Mod DB is a website that focuses on general video game modding. It was founded in 2002 by Scott "INtense!" Reismanis. As of September 2015, the Mod DB site has received over 604 million views, has more than 12,500 modifications registered, and ...

in 2012, where it gave the site its highest day of traffic in its history. Despite this, he was unsure of the game's prospects for success, believing that people only downloaded it because it was free. However, he borrowed $10,000 AUD to finish the game, taking an advance to cover the marketing costs. When it released on

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizat ...

in 2015, it garnered a large number of sales, ultimately selling 100,000 copies four months after release and making him "rich" by indie game developer standards. He was able to make back the cost of development after years of being frugal with his money, earning the equivalent of a six-figure salary for the years he spent on the game, despite still living in the same house with his siblings where he developed it. Trobbiani stated that, in ''Hacknet'', he wanted to make the player the one who was making decisions, without any avatar separating them from the game.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trobbiani, Matt Living people Australian video game designers Year of birth missing (living people)