July, 2007

Question: I'm glad to see that you're offering games via Steam now. Living in Alaska shipping costs are often crazily high and were I live there are no "Gaming" stores to speak of, so this is great for me. I would like to know if there's any plans to offer older titles via steam?

Sid: It’s definitely something we’re investigating. We do own the rights to some of my older titles and it would be great to be able to offer them online. We’ll keep you posted.

Question: Out of curiosity, how involved are you in the making of games at Firaxis these days? Do you still "get your hands dirty" so to speak, or are you primarily management?

Sid: I'm still very "hands-on". I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to be able to come to work every day and do what I love to do – program games. As a designer, I lead teams through the development of a game, but the management of the business is handled by other folks here – which is a good thing.

Question: What does Sid think of World of Warcraft?

Sid: I think WoW is an amazing game experience. My son is a huge fan and has been playing for a very long time. I’ve watched his WoW life evolve over the years and his network of friends grow and am impressed with how the game has spawned such a thriving community.

Question: My 14-year old is about to enter a public high school in the Baltimore County area, and his dream would be to one day work as a game designer for a company like Firaxis. As parents, should we strongly consider a Math, Science, & Computer Science magnet school? (His strengths are math and science as opposed to graphic design or illustration). Or would a strong high school be just fine with a stronger emphasis on where he goes to college?

Sid: I’ve found that the best game designers have a well rounded education that includes the necessary Math, Science, & Computer Science courses, but also focuses on history, literature, science and other core subjects that take their imaginations to many different places. The games I’ve made have been based on topics that have interested me since I was a kid – history, airplanes, pirates, railroads etc. – topics I studied in school, read about in books, saw in movies, and learned about through boardgames and card games. It is definitely important to have strong technical skills to be a designer, but you also have to have cool ideas for games – and those ideas will come from places outside of computer science. One of our young designers graduated from Stanford with a degree in History and Computer Science which was key to his success in designing Civ IV. Other designers have studied a variety of things and honed their programming/designing skills by creating prototypes of games as a hobby, or being a part of beta testing groups. The most important thing is that your son has a passion for playing games – and plays them often (after he finishes his homework of course!).

If you want to ask Sid a question, send an email to webmaster@firaxis.com. Put "Ask Sid" in the subject line. Please note that we cannot answer all questions submitted to this forum. Due to the quantity of "Ask Sid" emails we recieve, we ask that you please refrain from sending us new game ideas.