My name is Alex Seropian. I am a game developer and entrepreneur. I’ve been making video games since college when I started Bungie. I currently operate a studio called Look North World where we are building games and entertainment in UGC platforms.
TGN: Where were you born and where did you grow up?
AS: I was born in New York City and grew up in suburban Westchester. I went to public school in Ardsley, New York
TGN: What games did you enjoy most in your childhood?
AS: My first gaming experience is growing up was the Atari 2600. I have very fond memories playing Atari with my brother in the living room as well as with my friends. I would also go to Nathan‘s in Yonkers New York where they had a huge arcade. They had a multiplayer Pole Position racing game set up, which blew my mind.
TGN: What planted the idea in your mind to start a game studio? [Bungie]
AS: Honestly, the idea to start Bungie happened in high school when I first started learning how to code on the Mac. We didn’t have a lot of games for the Mac. Beyond Dark Castle was awesome. And I guess it was part ambition part naïvite that made me think I could do that too.
TGN: What was the most difficult part of founding your first game studio? [Bungie]
AS: I started Bungie my senior year of college. I was young and I had limitless energy and it seemed like making the games was the easy part. I mean, I know that’s not true in hindsight, but the real hard part was figuring out how to get distribution and how to find customers. Funny that’s kind of still the hardest part this business. Maybe for different reasons now i.e. it’s so competitive and there’s so much content and there’s so much noise on the Internet. But back then games were sold physically in stores so there were way, way, way fewer points of purchase so in some ways the competition was just fierce.
TGN: Which game that you were involved in making, is your favorite, and why?
AS: Ha ha. Tough question. So many fond memories for lots of different reason. Minotaur definitely is one of my favorite experiences and it was the game that Jason Jones made while he was in high school and that we published at Bungie and it was totally a multiplayer game only back in the day where you needed to have a modem to play it. So not a huge addressable audience ha ha. But so much fun. I have lots of fond memories of Stubbs the Zombie as well. Stubbs has such a great story, a great character, and a great sense of humor. And obviously Halo had such a huge impact, but that’s obvious 🙂
TGN: Is there any specific thing you did differently, when starting other studios, as a correction to something you wish you had done when founding Bungie?
AS: Yes, definitely. Every time I do anything I try to iterate learnings into the next version and the studios I’ve been involved with are no exception. The whole business model behind Wideload was designed to be more resilient and more nimble by having a smaller team that can scale easily with game production. That’s something Hollywood’s been doing for decades and decades, and that the game industry is still, even now continuing to learn how to do. The game industry is super exciting because it’s constantly changing which means there’s always new opportunities. Look North World is another iteration looking at how gamers growing up today behave socially and digitally and reacting to the where and what they embrace as the idea of play.
TGN: You mentioned on your podcast you picked up woodworking as a hobby, have you ever had any other hobbies outside of games?
AS: Some tech bro recently made a comment about how wanting “work life balance” means you’re not committed and I think that’s fucking stupid. It’s so important to be well rounded so important to have the ability to step away from the grind and get perspective and so important to build a variety of different skills. Both intellectual and physical. Yes woodworking is an important hobby of mine. It’s very creative and for me, it’s a solo activity. I love it. I’m also a huge tennis nerd a runner and an enthusiastic triathlete. I love cooking and hanging out with the family. I’ve recently gotten into gardening though I’m not that great at it ha ha
TGN: What one single game or game series that you were not involved in making, would you most liked to have worked on?
AS: I was a pretty big fan of Ico and Shadow of the colossus. I don’t know for sure but I’m guessing the way that they built those games is pretty different from anything I’ve been involved in and I could imagine that of being a really cool experience to be a part of.
TGN: You have mentioned you are not willing to disclose why you chose Bungie as the studio name, but can you reveal how Wideload Games and Look North World got their names?
AS: That’s funny. At least the “not willing” part of the question. Names are really interesting. There is a creativity to brand building and naming. It’s kind of part of the glue that stitches games, game development, company culture, and a company’s brand together. I like names that have meaning to them, but there’s also a practicality of having to find names that can stand out, sound good and are available for trademark URL, etc. I’ll tell you Look North World is an homage to the old games of the 70s i.e. text adventures where you would have to type the commands into the computer. It’s a nod to where we came from and a directive to look to the future.
TGN: You mentioned on couple of occasions, on your podcast, that you enjoy reading. What are some of your favorite books?
AS: I’m a huge fan of science fiction and fantasy. I’ll shout out my buddy John Scalzi and just how enjoyable his books are to read (check Old Man’s War). I’m currently reading “Martian Time Slip” by Philip K Dick right now. Foundation // Asimov are definitely some of my favorites. also love reading biographies and learning about the people of history, how they lived, what they did, what we can learn from them. I am currently reading about John D Rockefeller to maybe get some insight into the craziness that’s happening and politics and business today.
TGN: I want to thank Alex for the fantastic interview. Be sure to visit his podcast website [in my Links section] and also check out what they are doing at Look North World!
His (and Aaron) podcast, was a big influence on me starting this interview website project. Thank you Alex!
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