Billy Joe CainDeveloper BIO
Billy Cain has been making games for some time; he got his start at
ORIGIN Systems, Inc. in 1992. The first day he went to work was the day that
Electronic Arts bought Origin. There, he first worked on SNES titles (
Ultima VII: The Black Gate,
Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire,
Wing Commander II), then went to
Electronic Arts UK and helped complete the first EA Sports Rugby title
Rugby World Cup 95 on the SEGA Genesis. Finally, Billy came back to ORIGIN to work on a few things including a stint as lead designer on
Wing Commander: Prophecy. Billy commented "Origin was a lot of fun and a LOT of work. Great people were doing amazing things every day." It also allowed him to get a chance to see what the internal workings of EA were like. "I am still impressed by EA to this day," Billy concluded.
After ORIGIN, he got a job as a producer at
Kalisto Entertainment USA Inc. in 2001 that lasted until April 2002 when the mother company
Kalisto Entertainment SA went bankrupt. The game he was working on was ground breaking (
Crimson Order) and received great press, but the company shut down unexpectedly before they had a chance to get it completed. With four other people from the company, he co-founded the development studio
BigSky Interactive, Inc. in May 2002.
There he landed at a company that needed a producer to complete a next-gen title for PS2 and GC. He took that role and got to meet a lot of great people while working on
SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman as an external developer for
THQ.
Since all the above, Billy started a development studio and outsource company called
Critical Mass Interactive in early 2003. They have done games for the United States Air Force and many others.
Billy is almost always at E3 (maybe not after the re-organization!) Game Developers' Conference, Austin Game Conference, and the Texas Independent Game Conference - either meeting with clients or making new friends. He has done a lot of speaking engagements at colleges and game conferences, and he sits on a few advisory boards that he is proud of. He believes that you should get involved with fixing the industry if you want to make it a better place.
Also Known As
Websites
Games CreditedThe Outfit (2006), THQ Inc.
The Hobbit (2003), Sierra Entertainment, Inc., Vivendi Universal Games, Inc.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman (2002), THQ Inc.
Darklight Conflict (1997), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Wing Commander: Prophecy (1997), Electronic Arts, Inc.
Privateer 2: The Darkening (1996), ORIGIN Systems, Inc.
Abuse (1995), Crack dot Com
Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire (1995), Pony Canyon, Inc.
Metal Morph (1994), FCI
Ultima VII: The Black Gate (1994), FCI, Pony Canyon, Inc.
