George Fan Explained

George Fan
Years Active:2000–present
Education:University of California, Berkeley
Nationality:American

George Fan (born 1978) is an American video game designer who currently works as the creative director of All Yes Good. He designed Insaniquarium (2001), Plants vs. Zombies (2009; which started the video game franchise of the same name), Octogeddon (2018), and Hardhat Wombat (2023). Before going into game design, Fan graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2000 with a degree in computer science. After graduating, he worked under Arcade Planet to develop games for their website, Prizegames.com. He eventually formed Flying Bear Entertainment and created Insaniquarium, which became a finalist for the 2002 Independent Games Festival. He then joined Blizzard Entertainment and worked there while simultaneously developing Insaniquarium further for PopCap Games, releasing the "Deluxe" edition in 2004.

Fan left Blizzard and started developing Plants vs. Zombies. He became a full-time employee for PopCap, who supplied Fan with a team. Upon release in 2009, it became the best-selling game developed by PopCap. EA bought PopCap Games in 2011 and Fan was laid off after he insisted EA to not make "Plants vs. Zombies 2" pay-to-win in 2012. Fan started developing Octogeddon and submitted it to the 2012 Ludum Dare contest. Fan formed a developing company named All Yes Good with Rich Werner and Kurt Pfeffer and developed Octogeddon further before releasing it in 2018. Fan then developed Hardhat Wombat, which was released on October 26, 2023.

Early life and education

Fan was born in 1978.[1] Fan grew up with his brother and lived with their father.[2] [3] Fan attended the University of California, Berkeley and graduated with a degree in computer science in 2000.[1]

Career

2000–2001: Early career

Fan first worked as creator of Java video games for the online gaming portal, Prizegames.com, created by the company Arcade Planet.[4] Fan describes the website as "an online version of Chuck E. Cheese".[5] The first video game he designed was the puzzle game, Wrath of the Gopher, released in 2001.[6] Fan said to Chris Carter, editor-in-chief of Destructoid, that before creating Wrath of the Gopher, he was unsure of whether or not he could be a game designer.[5]

2001–2012: PopCap Games

While researching Java games, Fan discovered PopCap Games and took a liking to their game library.[5] In 2001, Fan and Tysen Henderson founded Flying Bear Entertainment in California to work on a virtual pets video game project named FishTank.[1] Fan wanted to create a game "that's easy to get into, yet unfolds into something much deeper."[7] Flying Bear Entertainment published it on August 31, 2001, as a free Java-based online game called Insaniquarium. Fan entered the game into the 2002 Independent Games Festival, to which it became a finalist for.[5] At the finalist booth at Game Developers Conference 2002 (GDC 2002), PopCap Games offered Fan help in making Insaniquarium a downloadable game.[8] Insaniquarium won in the category of "Innovation in Game Design".[9]

At the time, Fan was looking for a job at Blizzard Entertainment. Blizzard allowed Fan to work on Insaniquarium on his breaks from working with them.[8] Because he was a freelance video game designer at the time, Fan was forced to do a majority of the programming and designing of Insaniquarium, along with composing some of the music.[10] With PopCap Games as the publisher, Insaniquarium was released on 2004 for the PC, titled Insaniquarium: Deluxe and was met with critical and financial success.[11] The game sold 20 million copies on the PC by April 2006,[12] and was released for mobile phones by Glu Mobile in the United States on April 13, 2006,[13] and in Europe on June 29, 2006.[14] The game was also released for Palm OS and Windows Mobile phones and personal digital assistants on August 6, 2008.[15]

Fan worked for Blizzard for two and a half years.[8] He was tasked with programming AI and designing enemies for Diablo III during this time.[6] [16] It was not long after Insaniquarium was released that Fan realized that he was more of a designer than a programmer. Fan tried to become a designer at Blizzard, though found it hard to persuade other employees to his ideas, leading him to conclude that he preferred to work in smaller teams.[8]

Fan left Blizzard to become an independent game designer for a year.[8] Fan eventually became inspired by his project Insaniquarium and Warcraft III mods to create a new game.[17] Fan thought about creating a defense-oriented version of Insaniquarium for the Nintendo DS utilizing its dual-screen.[8] However, after playing Warcraft III tower defense mods, he wondered if plants could make good defensive structures. Fan wanted to bring new concepts to the tower defense genre and found enemies ignoring the defensive structures unintuitive, which led to the use of lanes.[6] [10] The enemies, though initially planned to be aliens from Insaniquarium, became zombies to make the game distinctive from other plant games.[6] The working title was Weedlings. After the enemies were changed from aliens to zombies, the game was renamed Plants vs. Zombies.[6] [8]

Initially, Fan worked on Plants vs. Zombies independently.[18] He became a full-time employee for PopCap Games after they convinced him that joining them would help him make the best game.[8] PopCap set Fan up with a team consisting of Tod Semple, Rich Werner, and Laura Shigihara, who each filled the role of programmer, artist, and composer respectively; Fan would also voice the game's tutorial character, named "Crazy Dave" after David Rohrl, himself.[10] Plants vs. Zombies took three and a half years to make.[18] Aside from Insaniquarium and Warcraft III, Plants vs. Zombies was influenced by the arcade game Tapper,[10] the card game ,[6] and the film Swiss Family Robinson.[18] A critical aspect of developing was designing the game to be balanced between casual and hardcore gaming.[6] [19] [20]

Plants vs. Zombies was released on May 5, 2009, for the PC and Mac OS X.[21] The game garnered positive reception from critics, being assigned an aggregate score of 87/100 by Metacritic.[22] It quickly became the best-selling video game developed by PopCap Games.[23] [24] [25] James Gwertzman, the vice president of the Asia/Pacific division of PopCap, revealed in a presentation at GDC China 2010 that the game had sold 1.5 million copies internationally.[26] Plants vs. Zombies has been ported to various platforms, including the iOS, Xbox 360, and Nintendo DS.[27]

There were various other projects designed by Fan for PopCap that were either canceled or unannounced. One of them was a role-playing video game called Yeti Train,[5] which was rumored to become a new franchise after a trademark for the title was filed by PopCap in 2009,[28] though in March 2011, David Roberts, CEO of PopCap, declined there being any plans to release new franchises.[29] Another game in production was Full Contact Bingo.[30]

On July 12, 2011, PopCap and its assets were bought by Electronic Arts (EA) for $750million.[31] EA envisioned Plants vs. Zombies as a major franchise, with the sequel using a freemium model, which resulted in Fan losing interest in Plants vs. Zombies. According to Jason Schreier of Kotaku, when EA directed PopCap towards making free-to-play games with transactions, "Fan no longer fit in."[30] In August 21, 2012, 50 employees either left or were laid off from PopCap's Seattle studio, with studios in Dublin; Shanghai; and San Mateo, California where Fan worked at the time closing.[30] [32] Fan was fired during this time after months of discussion from PopCap's management team. A circulating rumor that Fan was fired because of his opposition to EA's freemium model was based on a statement by Edmund McMillen, the creator of The Binding of Isaac and Super Meat Boy. George Fan refused to comment publicly on the truth of this story.[30] [33]

2012–present: Post-PopCap Games

After leaving PopCap Games due to his lay-off on August 21, 2012, Fan created the arcade-style action video game Octogeddon for the 2012 Ludum Dare Game Jam,[34] [35] a type of Hackathon where developers have to create a game in a short amount of time within a specific theme. For Ludum Dare, it was 48 hours. The 2012 theme was "evolution"; Fan designed Octogeddon to fit that theme by having the octopus gain weaponized limbs over time.[36] The game was met with positive reception in the jam, inspiring Fan to work on the game more.[35] He formed the indie video game company, All Yes Good, along with Werner the artist for Plants vs. Zombies and Kert Pfeffer the programmer of the Xbox 360 port of Plants vs. Zombies.[37] All Yes Good developed Octogeddon for the next four years.[35]

Fan served as the designer, Werner served as the artist, and Pfeffer served as the programmer for Octogeddon.[38] Jimmy Hinson provided the soundtrack.[5] Octogeddon was released on February 8, 2018, for the video game digital distribution service, Steam.[39] The game was met with positive reception, having a score of 82/100 on Metacritic.[40] It was ported to the Nintendo Switch on May 16, 2019.[41] Fan is currently listed as the creative director of All Yes Good.[42]

Personal life

Fan lives in California; he went to University of California, Berkeley, for his college education,[1] [7] was based in San Francisco during the development of Plants vs. Zombies,[2] [8] worked in the San Mateo, California studio of PopCap Games by the time he was fired on August 21, 2012,[30] and All Yes Good is currently based in Redwood Shores, California.[42] His girlfriend is Shigihara, the composer for Plants vs. Zombies.[6] Fan's hobbies include playing Magic: The Gathering and Lego building.[2] He designed the card Genesis Hydra for the Magic: The Gathering core set Magic 2015.[43] [44]

Works

Works
GameRelease DateGenreRoleDeveloperPublisher
Wrath of the Gopher2001PuzzleDesignerArcade PlanetArcade Planet
InsaniquariumAugust 31, 2001Virtual petsDesigner, programmer, composerFlying Bear EntertainmentPopCap Games[45]
Plants vs. ZombiesMay 5, 2009Tower defenseDesignerPopCap GamesPopCap Games[46] [47]
Diablo IIIMay 15, 2012Role-playingAI programmer, enemy designerBlizzard EntertainmentBlizzard Entertainment[48]
OctogeddonFebruary 8, 2018ActionDesignerAll Yes GoodAll Yes Good[49]
Hardhat Wombat2023PuzzleDesignerAll Yes GoodAll Yes Good[50] [51]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Who are we? . Flying Bear Entertainment . Fresh Pulp . May 29, 2021 . June 2, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210602212620/http://www.freshpulp.com/fishtank/who.html . live .
  2. News: It's the 10th anniversary of Plants vs. Zombies: We talked to the creator about the past, present, and future of the series . Carter . Chris . . May 4, 2019 . August 20, 2021 . August 20, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210820162744/https://www.destructoid.com/its-the-10th-anniversary-of-plants-vs-zombies-we-talked-to-the-creator-about-the-past-present-and-future-of-the-series/ . live .
  3. How I Got My Mom to Play Through Plants vs. Zombies . Fan . George . Game Developers Conference Vault . March 9, 2012 . August 20, 2021 . August 20, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210820000056/https://gdcvault.com/play/1015541/How-I-Got-My-Mom . live .
  4. Arcade Planet Launches Affiliate Program For Exciting, New Games Web Site; PrizeGames.com Makes Debut at Internet World Chicago . . Arcade Planet . July 12, 2000 . August 19, 2021 . August 20, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210820162746/https://indexarticles.com/business/business-wire/arcade-planet-launches-affiliate-program-for-exciting-new-games-web-site-prizegames-com-makes-debut-at-internet-world-chicago/ . live .
  5. News: Plants vs. Zombies creator George Fan on past success, future risks, and drafts with Edmund McMillen . Carter . Chris . . February 1, 2018 . May 29, 2021 . March 8, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210308133656/https://www.destructoid.com/stories/plants-vs-zombies-creator-george-fan-on-past-success-future-risks-and-drafts-with-edmund-mcmillen-485743.phtml . dead .
  6. Flower Defence . Fan . George . . May 5, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100821190932/http://www.next-gen.biz/features/flower-defence . August 21, 2010 . May 30, 2021.
  7. Interview with Flying Bear Entertainment . Drew Sikora . Fan . George . Henderson . Tysen . Gamedev.net . March 2002 . August 4, 2021 . June 2, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210602215433/http://archive.gamedev.net/archive/columns/interviews/insaniquarium.html . live .
  8. George Fan and his cat on the making of Plants vs. Zombies . Graham Smith . Fan . George . . November 2, 2010 . May 30, 2021 . June 2, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210602213104/https://www.pcgamer.com/making-of-plants-vs-zombies/ . live .
  9. Web site: Winners: 2002 IGF Competition . . https://web.archive.org/web/20060718010919/http://www.igf.com/2002finalistswinners.html . July 18, 2006 . May 30, 2021 . live .
  10. Interview with Plants vs. Zombies creator George Fan . Erin Bell . Fan . George . . May 22, 2009 . May 30, 2021 . June 2, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210602213129/https://www.gamezebo.com/2009/05/22/interview-plants-vs-zombies-creator-george-fan/ . dead .
  11. News: Glu Mobile Launches Insaniquarium Deluxe in Europe . . June 29, 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210607160346/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/glu-mobile-launches-insaniquarium-deluxe-in-europe . June 7, 2021 . June 7, 2021 . live.
  12. News: Insaniquarium splashes onto mobile . Bennallack . Owain . . April 14, 2006 . August 16, 2021 . June 8, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210608025930/https://www.pocketgamer.com/articles/000902/insaniquarium-splashes-onto-mobile/ . live .
  13. News: Glu Announces the Launch of Insaniquarium Deluxe for Mobile Phones, PopCap's Addictive Aquarium-themed Hit . . April 13, 2006 . August 16, 2021 . June 3, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210603224204/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/insaniquarium-deluxe . live .
  14. News: Glu Mobile Launches Insaniquarium Deluxe in Europe . . August 16, 2021 . August 6, 2021 . June 7, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210607160346/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/glu-mobile-launches-insaniquarium-deluxe-in-europe . live .
  15. News: Palm OS and Windows Mobile version of PopCap's fishy challenge . . August 6, 2008 . August 16, 2021 . June 16, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210616043155/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/insaniquarium-deluxe-palm-os-and-windows-mobile-version-of-popcap-s-fishy-challenge . live .
  16. Is There a Zombie on Blizzard's Lawn? . Funk . John . . August 24, 2009 . August 4, 2021 . June 2, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210602215206/https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/is-there-a-zombie-on-blizzards-lawn/ . live .
  17. Web site: Aliens in the garden: the secret origin of Plants vs. Zombies . Thomson . Michael . . March 19, 2010 . August 4, 2021 . April 30, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120430014125/http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/03/george-fan-how-insaniquarium-2-became-plants-vs-zombies.ars . live .
  18. How George Fan created the wacky Plants vs. Zombies a decade ago . Dean Takahashi . Fan . George . . May 10, 2019 . August 16, 2021 . January 11, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210111194224/https://venturebeat.com/2019/05/10/how-george-fan-created-the-wacky-plants-vs-zombies-a-decade-ago/ . live .
  19. GameArena Interviews George Fan, Plants vs. Zombies Man . Joaby . Fan . George . . June 5, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111001123643/http://www.gamearena.com.au/news/read.php/4948392?latest=1 . October 1, 2011 . August 16, 2021.
  20. News: GDC 2012: 10 tutorial tips from Plants vs. Zombies creator George Fan . Curtis . Tom . . March 9, 2012 . August 16, 2021 . December 5, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201205210122/https://gamasutra.com/view/news/165359/GDC_2012_10_tutorial_tips_from_Plants_vs_Zombies_creator_George_Fan.php . live .
  21. News: PopCap Launches Plants vs. Zombies Game for PC and Mac . . May 5, 2009 . August 16, 2021 . September 13, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180913132436/http://www.ign.com/articles/2009/05/05/popcap-launches-plants-vs-zombies-game-for-pc-and-mac . live .
  22. plants-vs-zombies . game . pc . Plants vs. Zombies . August 16, 2021.
  23. News: Plants vs. Zombies is PopCap's fastest-selling game . Sliwinski . Alexander . . May 20, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090528074720/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/20/plants-vs-zombies-is-popcaps-fastest-selling-game . May 28, 2009 . August 16, 2021.
  24. PopCap Wins Big With Plants vs. Zombies . Funk . John . . May 20, 2009 . August 16, 2021 . May 25, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210525201146/https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/popcap-wins-big-with-plants-vs-zombies/ . dead .
  25. News: Analysis: The Universal (Brain-Eating) Appeal Of Plants Vs. Zombies . Graft . Kris . . May 20, 2009 . August 16, 2021 . August 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210817035506/https://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23678 . live .
  26. Web site: The Making of PopCap's Plants vs. Zombies . Gwertzman . James . . August 1, 2010 . August 16, 2021 . November 8, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201108091722/https://www.slideshare.net/gwertzman/the-making-of-popcaps-plants-vs-zombies . live .
  27. Web site: Plants vs. Zombies Vita Review . Miller . Greg . . February 25, 2012 . August 16, 2021 . May 16, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210516132459/https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/02/25/plants-vs-zombies-vita-review . live .
  28. News: PopCap drops more IPO, acquisition hints . Meer . Alec . . March 8, 2011 . August 17, 2021 . August 18, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210818002730/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-03-08-popcap-drops-more-ipo-acquisition-hints . live .
  29. News: Bejeweled Publisher Ponders IPO . Morris . Chris . . March 6, 2011 . August 17, 2021 . August 18, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210818002731/https://www.cnbc.com/2011/03/06/bejeweled-publisher-ponders-ipo.html . live .
  30. News: Widespread Rumor About EA Firing Plants vs. Zombies Creator Isn't Quite True . Schreier . Jason . Jason Schreier . . November 21, 2017 . August 17, 2021 . November 27, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201127185442/https://kotaku.com/widespread-rumor-about-ea-firing-plants-vs-zombie-crea-1820649466 . live .
  31. News: Electronic Arts buys PopCap for $750M . Takahashi . Dean . Lynley . Matthew . . July 12, 2011 . August 17, 2021 . November 4, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201104031452/https://venturebeat.com/2011/07/12/ea-popcap-acquire-750m/ . live .
  32. News: Report: Layoffs Hit PopCap, International Studios Shuttered . Goldfarb . Andrew . . August 21, 2012 . August 17, 2021 . November 16, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181116100601/https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/21/report-layoffs-hit-popcap-international-studios-shuttered . live .
  33. News: Update: Plants vs. Zombies Creator's EA Departure Clarified . O'Brien . Lucy . . November 20, 2017 . August 17, 2021 . November 9, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201109034540/https://www.ign.com/articles/2017/11/21/plants-vs-zombies-creator-reportedly-fired-by-ea-for-objecting-to-play-to-win . live .
  34. News: Plants vs. Zombies creator's new game: Octogeddon . North . Dale . . August 28, 2012 . August 20, 2021 .
  35. Octogeddon: How Plants vs. Zombies creator spent four years on zany octopus game . Dean Takahashi . Fan . George . . February 7, 2018 . August 20, 2021 . January 14, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210114004411/https://venturebeat.com/2018/02/07/octogeddon-how-plants-vs-zombies-creator-spent-four-years-on-zany-octopus-game/ . live .
  36. News: Plants vs. Zombies designer turns his game jam concept into Octogeddon . Bradley . Alan . . October 10, 2016 . August 20, 2021 . November 8, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201108111955/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/282931/Plants_vs_Zombies_designer_turns_his_game_jam_concept_into_Octogeddon.php . live .
  37. Plants Vs. Zombies Creator Has His Hands Full With Octogeddon . Jeff Cork . Fan . George . . October 6, 2016 . August 20, 2021 . August 29, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190829231021/https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2016/10/09/plants-vs-zombies-creator-has-his-hands-full-with-octogeddon.aspx . dead .
  38. New Gameplay Today – Octogeddon . Cork . Jeff . . February 8, 2018 . August 20, 2021 . August 3, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200803235525/https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2018/02/08/new-gameplay-today-octogeddon.aspx . dead .
  39. Web site: Octogeddon review — who knew that fighting as a giant octopus could be this fun? . Takahashi . Dean . . February 8, 2018 . August 20, 2021 . February 3, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210203214817/https://venturebeat.com/2018/02/08/octogeddon-review-who-knew-that-fighting-as-a-giant-octopus-could-be-this-fun/ . live .
  40. octogeddon . game . pc . Octogeddon . August 20, 2021.
  41. News: Destroy Everything As An Angry Mutant Octopus When Octogeddon Smashes Onto Switch . Craddock . Ryan . Nintendo Life . May 1, 2019 . August 20, 2021 . November 7, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201107235009/https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/05/destroy_everything_as_an_angry_mutant_octopus_when_octogeddon_smashes_onto_switch . live .
  42. Web site: All Yes Good . Octogeddon . August 20, 2021 . June 18, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210618200430/http://www.octogeddon.com/press/index.php . dead .
  43. Magic 2015 Designer Cards Include PvZ Creator, Notch . Miozzi . CJ . . April 16, 2014 . August 22, 2021 . June 3, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210603025002/https://www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/magic-2015-designer-cards-include-pvz-creator-notch/ . live .
  44. News: Minecraft, Plants vs. Zombies, Street Fighter vets and more designing Magic 2015 cards . Tach . Dave . . April 21, 2014 . August 22, 2021 . October 20, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211020111012/https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/21/5628856/minecraft-plants-vs-zombies-street-fighter-vets-and-more-designing . live .
  45. Web site: Insaniquarium . Buchanan . Levi . . March 9, 2006 . August 18, 2021 . August 18, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210818153249/https://www.ign.com/articles/2006/03/10/insaniquarium . live .
  46. Web site: Plants vs. Zombies Readme . . https://web.archive.org/web/20120106093419/http://www.popcap.com/games/plants-vs-zombies/pc/readme . January 6, 2012 . August 18, 2021.
  47. Web site: Plants vs. Zombies Review . Watters . Chris . . May 11, 2009 . August 18, 2021 . February 25, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210225230740/https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/plants-vs-zombies-review/1900-6209519/ . live .
  48. News: Diablo III Launches at Midnight: What You Need to Know . Newman . Jared . . May 14, 2012 . August 18, 2021 . August 7, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200807092508/https://www.pcworld.com/article/255564/diablo_iii_launches_at_midnight_what_you_need_to_know.html . live .
  49. Web site: Octogeddon . Octogeddon . August 20, 2021 . June 18, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210618203626/http://www.octogeddon.com/press/sheet.php?p=octogeddon . dead .
  50. Web site: Plants Vs Zombies creator's new game is about stacking wombat poo . Rock Paper Shotgun . May 19, 2023 . May 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230519232859/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/plants-vs-zombies-creators-new-game-is-about-stacking-wombat-poo . live .
  51. Web site: Hardhat Wombat . Hardhat Wombat . May 19, 2023 . May 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230519232903/https://hardhatwombat.com/ . live .

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