Meet the talents behind The Tiny Digital Factory, in a series of interviews.
Today, meet Elian, Lead Developer at The Tiny Digital Factory. His mission is to implement and optimize game features, but also to act as a link between the technical team and the project managers, ensuring that his team has all the tools it needs to work in the best possible conditions.
I used to play League of Legends a lot, and I still do a bit, and otherwise I really like 3rd person/adventure solo games. My favorite licenses are Zelda and Horizon. I play on PC for multiplayer with friends, and on console for more solo experiences in front of the TV.
I’d like to see us move away from the « industry » side and back to the « art » side, which we have kind of lost sight of because everything has grown so big, and the focus is more on profitability.
There are many companies (though fortunately not all) that take shortcuts to optimize revenues, rather than trying to make a game that appeals.
We can talk about micro-transactions, or big marketing campaigns to cover up that a game is a bit broken on release. I play a lot of Sony’s first-party games in particular, because they manage to get the games finished and qualitative from day one.
TDF is my first real experience. I did my end-of-studies internship at Breakfirst Games, another studio in Lyon, and then, when I was looking for a job, I applied here, and it’s been 5 years now.
I started as a Junior Gameplay Developer, then moved up to Senior, and finally became Lead Developer.
No, but never too far away. I grew up in Chambéry, about 100km away, then started my studies in Lyon, before going to engineering school in Clermont-Ferrand. My last year of studies was spent in Chicoutimi, northern Quebec, and then I came back to Lyon for my final internship, where I’ve stayed ever since.
I’m in a re-watch of Better Call Saul, and just before that I watched The Last Of Us series, which I really enjoyed. I had played the 2 games before seeing the series and I liked the adaptation.
I’m going to go against elitism in video games, and a little against what I said before, but for me a game doesn’t necessarily have to be acclaimed or considered good by everyone. What’s important above all is to have fun, not to think about what other people think about it.
By The Tiny Digital Factory Team
Published August 1, 2023
MEET THE TEAM
MEET THE TEAM
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Stéphane is the Founder & CEO, and has 30+ years of AAA and Mobile game development expertise. Founder of Eden Games and The Tiny Digital Factory, he is the creative mind behind hugely successful AAA and mobile racing franchises, such as V-Rally, Test Drive Unlimited, F1 Mobile Racing and GT Manager.
