Meet our team #6 - Martial Bossard, Lead Gameplay Programmer...

Hello, I’m Martial Bossard and I’m Lead Gameplay Programmer.

After an applied mathematics diploma, I started my professional life in the motor racing industry: Prost Grand Prix first hired me as an Engineer. 

Then I joined the video game industry : I’ve been working at Kalisto Entertainment for two years before founding Asobo Studio with 11 other people. It was ten years ago!

Why did you choose to join the video game industry?

I was very lucky to start in the industry at a point when anything was possible for anybody who was motivated enough. At that time, being something like a self-made man was enough. So I took the chance, even if I was a kind of newbie.

Tell us about your position at Asobo Studio, what is your role and your daily tasks...

I share my time between project management and programming.

The Lead Gameplay Programmer is a kind of link between the Gameplay Team and Asobo Studio’s whole team. From one side I have to collect all the required information we need to make a quality job within the time limit.

From the other side, I have to share with other teams all technical constraints.

Then I take in charge reporting about our production so that it can be tested and I collect feedback.

 I also deal with many programming domains such as motion dynamics,  physics,  AI, and camera control.

What motivates you in your job and what do you really like?

Luckily, lots of things! Especially the production cycles, from the very first experiments to the final debug time.

But what I enjoy the most is beeing part of this team. There are lots of talented people here, I feel blessed that I work with them all.

Can you tell us about your best souvenir from a development at Asobo Studio?

There are so many memorable moments ! It’s not that easy to choose. Maybe SuperFarm’s release because it was our very first game.

The first Ratatouille designs we received from Pixar are also very important to me, because I’m a big fan ! These documents were  tangible proof that we were part of the adventure.

Then, I also keep in mind Buzz Lightyear’s first moves we achieved thanks to the Kinect prototype, from the very beginning of Kinect Rush 's creation. It’s was basically just a jump but it was directly and  physically connected to the player’s moves. It was a brand new type of in-game interaction, it was very exciting!

If you had 3 things to tell us about Bordeaux and its area ?

ONLY THREE? OK let’s say :

• The beauty of the town itself and its surroundings (in the morning, what a delight to have a ride from home to the office, on the quays).
• The lifestyle: wine, food and sun…
• A rich cultural and natural heritage.

If you had a tip for us to discover Bordeaux areas it would be …

Bike, rollers… Take a ride, and visit the town by your own or with a tour guide...