Alternate Worlds Podcast: Adam King & the Game Developer Experience from Console to Social Games
In this episode, Brian reconnects with longtime friend, engineer, and game industry veteran Adam King for a conversation that begins with a surprisingly detailed discussion of curling injuries and evolves into a fascinating exploration of game development, engineering culture, product design, live-service games, leadership, and the changing nature of technology careers. Equal parts funny, nostalgic, and insightful, the episode traces Adam's journey from a self-taught programmer in Canada to leadership roles across console games, social games, mobile games, and live-service products.
Notes from Brian:
Adam King is a Canadian.
That isn’t a definitely trait, per se, but we start and end the conversation with in-depth conversations pertaining to curling, so you should know what you’re in for.
More seriously, Adam began as a game engineer at Radical on a Dark Angel action title, shifted to EA to work on NBA Live in the 00’s, then made his way to Zynga and joined CityVille.
Adam was the kind of engineer you’d talk to about “what I’d love to be able to do in game” who just happened to make it happen when nobody was looking.
It was magic.
(He won awards for his awesomeness in the engineering sphere at both EA & Zynga.)
Later he joined me at Rumble Entertainment, and helped lead KingsRoad out from purgatory into a nice decade-long run, and graduated to become EP.
Today, Adam is a YouTuber who lives a very LEGO-forward lifestyle, continuing his life of adventure and curiosity.
Topics Covered
* Curling, sports injuries, and why Canadians willingly slide on ice
* Growing up in Canada and discovering programming
* Building baseball simulation games as a child
* Early influences from board games and strategy games
* Radical Entertainment and the Dark Angel video game
* Console game development in the PlayStation 2 and GameCube era
* NBA Live and large-scale sports game development
* Working with massive legacy codebases
* Animation systems and gameplay engineering
* Why great engineering tools empower designers
* The transition from Electronic Arts to Zynga
* CityVille and the social gaming boom
* Live-service games versus boxed-product development
* User data, player feedback, and iteration
* Leadership and team-building
* What makes engineers successful
* Curiosity as a professional superpower
* Product development through player observation and learning
Memorable Moments
* The episode opens with an unexpectedly serious analysis of curling mechanics, strategy, and how Adam injured his foot while sliding out of the hack.
* Brian develops a theory that curling was originally learned by observing penguins and asks Adam to evaluate the hypothesis.
* Adam recounts creating a baseball simulation game while still in middle school, foreshadowing his future career in game development.
* Stories about navigating the “dungeon crawler” experience of exploring NBA Live’s sprawling legacy codebase and discovering decades of accumulated engineering decisions.
* Reflections on moving from Canada to California, joining Zynga, and simultaneously navigating a major career change, relocation, and new parenthood.
* Brian and Adam revisit the high-pressure CityVille years, including Zynga’s IPO era and the unique culture that emerged inside one of gaming’s fastest-growing companies.
