How did Chris Willson start GGG?

He did borrow some money from either friends or family to kickstart his garage project.

He did worked in IT security before (think he even had a company) so had already knowhow in how to make secure onlineservices in regards of online games, in addition to his passion for all sorts of RNG to be implemented in POEs item system.

The initial graphics (both UI and character models) to make a proof-on concept where made by his friends.

"

gandhar0 wrote:

He did borrow some money from either friends or family to kickstart his garage project.

He did worked in IT security before (think he even had a company) so had already knowhow in how to make secure onlineservices in regards of online games, in addition to his passion for all sorts of RNG to be implemented in POEs item system.

The initial graphics (both UI and character models) to make a proof-on concept where made by his friends.

Mostly this. There is a documentary out there from gamingplanet.co.nz from from 2011 I believe. Might even be 2010. It's a very fascinating look at GGG in its baby stage. One of the Devs admits they had some rich friends to help them get off the ground. And yes, Chris put a fair chunk in himself -- his ROI when he sold the majority of his shares to Tencent was the stuff of legend...but then again you can't really put a price tag on how hard he worked over those ten years. Or what he had to give up along the way for his baby...not that I I think that was on his mind much at the time.

As for we early whales, all we did was confirm that PoE was something extraordinary and that it deserved all the backing it could get. PoE was crowdfunded; GGG was not. And I think that's something a lot of Exiles should keep in mind when they support PoE -- although obviously that can be hard when GGG is a one game company and that game is PoE.

Charan ^^

"

ThngsLikeThis wrote:

Charan ^^

Me. ^_^


https://youtu.be/QxWV3w5hjU8 there ya go. 2011 GGG.

Some curious footage of early Diablo 2 Resurrected in there too. Wow. Look at how dark and claustrophobic act 1 caves were. Any wonder I once favourably compared the game to Diablo 1, caught their eye and threw a carload of cash at them as thanks.

A shame someone went and turned on the lights. Like. All the lights. And then some.

Must be really upsetting to have thrown a carload of cash at a developer in the early stages of their project with the goal of buying influence and a say in the direction of said project only to not get what you thought you were entitled to.

Not that anyone around here has ever done that.

There there. Senpai notices you. *Pat, Pat*

__

Funny how virtually all the voice work in that video is gone now. The UI. Some of the skills have been changed. The usage of lighting to instil dread, as noted, has been mostly abandoned.

If anything, what tells me it is the same game as PoE2021 is the janky character animation and posing. I guess...some find it charming?

Anyway. Shared my little nugget of knowledge. Was quite nostalgic seeing the old office in that video!

Maybe when GGG are even bigger someone will research and write a book about their origins and growth, as someone did for Blizzard. That'd be a very interesting read.

As always, great posting Charan. :)