People
Martin Middleton
Martin Middleton joined thatgamecompany during their first project, "flOw," and has been a Core Engineer at TGC ever since. Martin's interest in programming began when he formatted his first floppy and realized he had nothing to put on it. He searched his hard drive for some content and stumbled across QBasic, and his life was forever changed. Later on, he discovered the joys of game design (and machinima ) through Tim Sweeney's ZZT. After finishing high school in Atlanta, Georgia, Martin went to the University of Southern California to pursue a Computer Science degree and to seek out a lifestyle balanced between the sun and the screen.
A little bit about us…
thatgamecompany was founded in the Spring of 2006 by Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago, two graduates of the University Southern California Interactive Media MFA program. They had worked on several projects together, including the multi-award winning student game, “Cloud,” and decided to continue working together on small, experimental games by forming a game studio that would focus on these projects.
thatgamecompany designs and develops artistically crafted, broadly accessible video games that push the boundaries of interactive entertainment. We respect our players and want to contribute meaningful, enriching experiences that touch and inspire them. We seek talent that values integrity and personal growth within an environment of intense collaboration and experimentation.
We call our games “core games.” Core games appeal not only to existing hardcore and casual gaming markets, but also to dormant gamers and even non-gamers. Core games reach these new markets because they are easier and less time consuming, yet possess emotionally rich and powerful interactive experiences.