Rich Carless

Rich Carless started developing games on his Dad's ZX Spectrum when he was about 11. As most children of that golden era he became somewhat obsessed with games and the development of them.

He went on to University and completed a degree in Computer Science. Against the advice of his University lectures he turned down a lucrative career in industry to peruse his passion for games.

His first job was with Elite Systems (the company behind 80's classics like Commando). Here he met some of the most talented people he'd ever worked with. After working on several titles Rich moved onto another company based in Telford.

After a short spell in Telford at Extreme FX, Rich decided to start his own company with fellow developers. The company, Mecurial Studios, created a pioneering games engine. Alas we failed to secure funding to realise our full potential.

Finally he moved to Rage, which later became Swordfish Studios. Rich seemed to excel in the field of artificial intelligence. His crowning moment at Swordfish was single-handedly writing the AI systems for ColdWinter. The AI in ColdWinter was held in high regard when the game hit reviews.

After 10 years in the games industry and after massing a huge amount of experience Rich sadly could no longer continue with his passion. Even though we're told the games industry earns revenue in excess of the movie and music industry combined, none of that revenue seems to make down to the developers.

After attempting to scale the management ladder, Rich decided that it wasn't worth putting this much effort in for the scraps thrown his way.

Rich Carless left the industry in 2007. He now works in an investment bank. Yes perhaps not as exciting as developing games, however he can now afford to buy a house. And of course develop games in his own time. Best of both worlds.