Sep 14, 2021
Welcome to the very first podcast special! The Jason Schreier "Press Reset" special features interviews with people who appeared in his book. It details the stories of game development studio closures and how it affected the people behind some of gaming's biggest titles to date. I had the pleasure to interview Zach Mumbach, who is a former producer at Electronic Arts for games such as Dead Space 2, Dante’s Inferno, Battlefield Hardline, and the cancelled Star Wars Project Ragtag. Zach shares his journey into game development, what it was like seeing Visceral Games getting closed, what he learned from Amy Hennig and how the industry needs to evolve.
Time – Topic Discussed:
0:00 - Intro
3:08 - Guest topic: Skateboarding
05:47 - The importance of skateboard decks
07:02 - Skateboarding and inclusivity
09:06 - How did Zach’s story end up in the book?
14:26 - Reading his own story in the book
17:37 - Being a workaholic
22:00 - How Zach just walked into EA and got a job
25:40 - Quality assurance back in the day
30:07 - Becoming a producer
35:53 - Working on Godfather II & Dante’s Inferno
39:30 - Putting hats on Isaac
41:19 - Working on Army of Two
45:35 - Working on Battlefield Hardline
47:51 - Star Wars Project Ragtag
50:55 - Interacting with Amy Hennig
54:17 - The closure of Visceral Games
01:02:54 - The return of Skate and Dead Space
01:12:06 - Where are the older game developers?
01:14:49 - Leaving the industry
01:20:11 - Visiting the budget hotel room he worked on
01:21:31 - Returning to the industry
01:27:04 - Crunch in the games industry
01:34:30 - Was it worth it?
01:36:25 - Lessons learned
Things mentioned on the show:
Knives sent over to Visceral Games
Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi
Dead Space Part 1 - The Deepest Dive by MinnMax
Social Media:
Zach Mumbach
Zach Mumbach on Twitter (@zachulon)
The Wandering Band on Twitter (@AWanderingBand)
Zach Mumbach on Instagram (@zachulon)
Zach Mumbach on Facebook (@zachulon)
YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY
YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Twitter (@youmeindustry)
Dorian on Twitter (@DorianChou)
YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Instagram (@youmeindustry)
Dorian on Instagram (@dorian.chou)
YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Facebook (youmeindustry)
Intro/Outro by FreshMcZone
Artwork by Thomas Martin (Instagram: @thomas.martin.martin)