YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY EPISODE 22: Zach Mumbach

YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY

Welcome to the very first podcast special! The Jason Schreier "Press Reset" special features interviews with people who appeared in his book. It details the stories of game development studio closures and how it affected the people behind some of gaming's biggest titles to date. I had the pleasure to interview Zach Mumbach, who is a former producer at Electronic Arts for games such as Dead Space 2, Dante’s Inferno, Battlefield Hardline, and the cancelled Star Wars Project Ragtag. Zach shares his journey into game development, what it was like seeing Visceral Games getting closed, what he learned from Amy Hennig and how the industry needs to evolve.

Time – Topic Discussed:

0:00 - Intro

3:08 - Guest topic: Skateboarding

05:47 - The importance of skateboard decks

07:02 - Skateboarding and inclusivity

09:06 - How did Zach’s story end up in the book?

14:26 - Reading his own story in the book

17:37 - Being a workaholic

22:00 - How Zach just walked into EA and got a job

25:40 - Quality assurance back in the day

30:07 - Becoming a producer

35:53 - Working on Godfather II & Dante’s Inferno

39:30 - Putting hats on Isaac

41:19 - Working on Army of Two

45:35 - Working on Battlefield Hardline

47:51 - Star Wars Project Ragtag

50:55 - Interacting with Amy Hennig

54:17 - The closure of Visceral Games

01:02:54 - The return of Skate and Dead Space

01:12:06 - Where are the older game developers?

01:14:49 - Leaving the industry

01:20:11 - Visiting the budget hotel room he worked on

01:21:31 - Returning to the industry

01:27:04 - Crunch in the games industry

01:34:30 - Was it worth it?

01:36:25 - Lessons learned

Things mentioned on the show:

Knives sent over to Visceral Games

Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi

Dead Space Part 1 - The Deepest Dive by MinnMax

Social Media:

Zach Mumbach

Zach Mumbach on Twitter (@zachulon)

The Wandering Band on Twitter (@AWanderingBand)

Zach Mumbach on Instagram (@zachulon)

Zach Mumbach on Facebook (@zachulon)

YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY

YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Twitter (@youmeindustry)

Dorian on Twitter (@DorianChou)

YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Instagram (@youmeindustry)

Dorian on Instagram (@dorian.chou)

YOU ME AND THE INDUSTRY on Facebook (youmeindustry)

Intro/Outro by FreshMcZone

Artwork by Thomas Martin (Instagram: @thomas.martin.martin)