Game Industry Interview with Evan Donohue

July 28, 2012

By Andrea Emmes

In my quest to become the best game designer  I possibly can be and as I was finishing my degree, I happened to stumble upon a fellow game designer named Evan Donohue. It seems that Evan and I share similar interests in our career paths and I was able to glean a lot of solid insight and direction after speaking with him.  Currently a producer at Say Designs and here’s what he has to say about the industry.

1. What’s your background and how did you get into the game industry?

EVAN:  My name is Evan Donohue.  I’ve been fascinated by books, movies and video games from a young age. My passion for all of these mediums pushed me into researching the video game industry. I was able to find out how and where to get a higher education for doing something creative as a living.

I choose the video game industry for a few key reasons. I love solid products like a good game or a good board game. You can tell that numerous hours were spent trying to figure out how to deliver a unique experience. I wanted to create special experiences for people’s entertainment. I want to have a positive impact on people’s life and give them something that can entertain them and their family!

2.  Has the illusion of working in gaming burst yet? Are you still enamored or is it just a job now?

EVAN:  The game industry is a job and a passion for me. I’m lucky to love what I’m doing and I plan to work on games for as long as I can. I want to work in every genre and hopefully on projects with 100+ people and projects with 2 people.

3.  What is it about gaming that excites you?

EVAN:  Gaming has been a lifelong endeavor for me. Seeing new games succeed, seeing new gamers get into the world always make me smile. I do enjoy though that games are becoming more involved with other industries, such as virtual surgeries for interim doctors or flight simulators to help train jet fighters. Even hospitals are starting to use games to help kids visualize sickness and help their body accumulate defenses to beat those diseases.

4.  Favorite game and why?

EVAN:  Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

This game is a favorite for many but this is definitely a special game to me. The story, design and music were all breathtaking for its time. You cannot understand what a game like this does to a young person until you complete the journey for yourself. With the perfect difficulty curve, a great mixture of action and puzzles it’s truly a complete game that has scaled several generations.

5.  Worst game and why?

EVAN:  Tie between cosmic racers and Superman 64. Those games speak for themselves…

6.  I know you work at Say Designs, which is a pretty cool mobile game company. Do you feel that the industry is more trending to casual gaming and moving away from consoles?

EVAN:  The game industry is very fast paced. I believe casual games, cloud gaming (Even hardcore cloud gaming) is the way of the future. There will always be a spot for pc and console gaming but the new genres of gameplay are bringing a larger group of people to the video game industry, and I feel they are here to stay.

7.  You’ve been really great at offering me some solid advice when I was still in school. Would you mind listing off a couple key pointers that you wish someone had told you about before you started?

EVAN:  Don’t expect to be working on Halo 4 right out college. Set your sights on short term, mid-term and long term goals. Do the grind work while you’re in school (Internships, QA jobs etc) I only suggest you take QA job’s that interact or are near the developers so you have a chance to interact with them. Beware of QA farm’s that work you to the bone and don’t let you interact at all with developers.  Doing internships even unpaid can be great resume credits and get you face to face with developers which in turn is way better than a small pay. More than anything find a way to get small finish products in front of as many people as possible.  Even a small flash or HTML 5 game that is polished can impress an employer.

8.  You’ve done many different things in design. What job role in gaming melds the most with you and what you want to do?

EVAN:  I love design and producing. It’s hard to say exactly what I do since I cover a ton of ground but I would say Game Design and Producing are my top two roles. I love making a game interesting, something that hooks a player in and finding something that keeps them coming back for more. I also really enjoy producing.  Leading a team to do incredible tasks is something I find to be really satisfying.

9.  If you could be any game character, who would it be and why?

EVAN:  I would definitely be master chief. Spartans can do extraordinary things and he always has something witty to say.

10.  Have you had any star-struck moments? I did when I met David Jaffee. 

EVAN:   Meeting David Perry was pretty awesome. He has a positive and passionate approach to the game industry.  I hope to have a long career like him in the game industry.

Now that you’ve had a chance to meet Evan, learn more about him at www. Evandonohue.com.

Game On, Evan—Andrea