Factsheet

Developer:
Tony Davis
Currently based in Doha, Qatar

Founding date:
May 1st, 2015

Press / Business contact:
tdavis@itanican.com

Phone:
+(974) 66208145

History

I joined the games industry in 1999 by cold-emailing a then unknown German company called Crytek, saying 'do you have any 3d artist jobs?' They didn't yet, so they made me a game designer.

After working on a 3D demo - X-Isle/Dinosaur Island - remotely from the UK for a year, Crytek flew me to Germany where I have lived ever since. I turned out to be employee number two (the first guy beat me to Germany by two days, which I am in no way bitter about...)

At Crytek I was lucky enough to enjoy many roles, starting with gameplay/level designer on the original Farcry (published in 2004) for PC, helping to develop CryEngine. Perhaps related to working on version 0.1 software, I established the QA department which initally consisted of me placing whiteboards next to the programmers and writing bug reports next to their names. In red. Which was pretty effective. On FarCry I was also put in charge of localisation, which means I own a pretty sweet shrink-wrapped copy of the Japanese version.

From there I became Lead Level designer on an unreleased Xbox360/PS3 3rd person shooter with a female protagonist, and then Game Director on a Military coop shooter. At the same time I was a producer assisting with Crysis (2007) and Crysis 2 (2010). My last role was as Game Director on Ryse before leaving Crytek in 2011.

I then joined the mobile games industry with ngmoco/Dena, getting back to my creative roots as gameplay and level designer on The Drowning (2013) and Isolani (2015) for iOS, built in Unity.

After making violent FPS games for 15 years, I needed a change of pace and started working on a simple platform game with my 7-year-old son. He drew all the art and told me how the game should play, while I programmed it and made the levels. Pushdown (2015) was released on iOS and Android.

After Pushdown I re-wrote the game engine to create a four-player couch coop/arena game with multiple game modes and levels. Go Team Yeah will be released soon for PC Mac and Amazon Fire TV.

Knowing that the cost of controllers can be a hurdle for this type of game, I also created a Smartphone Controller App to allow anyone with a smart-device to jump into a game.

Using skills acquired during 20 years in the industry, I am responsible for all of the art, game-design code, music, website and marketing for Go Team Yeah, and I keep a whiteboard next to my desk. It has a lot of red on it.

Resume

Boomzap: Oct 2017 - April 2020

I was Project Lead for Hidden Conspiracy, an iOS/Android hidden-object game published by Hipster Whale
I was Project Lead for The Loveboat 2, an iOS/Android time-management game published by GameHouse.

Itanican: May 2015 - Sep 2017

I built Go Team Yeah, a local multiplayer coop/competitive brawler for Amazon FireTV, controlled via my own smartphone App.
Built and released Pushdown on iOS and Android; I coded the game, my 7-year-old son created the art and was Creative Director.

ngmoco:) / Dena Sweden: Nov 2011 - May 2015

I helped build The Drowning and Isolani for iOs and Android phones and tablets.
Designing gameplay elements and levels and ensuring that they are fun to play.
Responsible for creating YouTube channels, trailer videos and content to promote our games.

Crytek GmbH: Nov 2000 - Nov 2011

Game Director on Ryse
Producer on Crysis 2, focusing on level design review and playtest feedback.
Game Director on unreleased Xbox360/PS3 coop first person shooter Freedom.
Producer on Crysis
Lead Level Designer on unreleased Xbox360/PS3 third person shooterRedemption.
Level Designer and localisation on the original FarCry.