Why would you do this?

Four months ago I quit my stable, well-paying job as a sysAdmin. I planned on using the savings I had been building up for the previous 7 years to support myself, all so I could pursue a dream.
So now at 30, instead of buying a house with my wife like a responsible adult, we've moved in with my parents and I've been working full time on a video game about pixelated humans beating the shit out of each other.

What would drive someone to this sort of madness?

My first PC game was DOOM. I was too young to have the coordination to use all of the controls, so my brother would 'drive' and I got to press the 'kill button'. 

I think I came to the realization that I.T was just a job, and games were exactly what I wanted to do with my life when I was travelling through Canada & the USA in 2013. Visiting Montreal, I was excited by the fact that I was in the same city as Eidos, Ubisoft and Bioware. 

Pictured: Canada. By Jonathunder - Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5185607

Pictured: Canada. 

By Jonathunder - Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5185607

It made me realize that I didn't want to just play games, I wanted build them. Unfortunately I didn't know the first thing about coding.

So, I decided to figure it out.

I started with GameMaker: Studio. In hindsight the language was pretty easy, but at the time it was probably the most frustrating 3 months of my life. I built some simple prototypes, then I decided on making ultra-violent 2D shooter that focused on blasting through walls and ruining buildings. It took a bit less than a year to build it in my spare time. 
One day I will totally finish that. Maybe.

At the end of 2015 I switched to Unity, learned C# and started building a new (far better) game. That game is Pit Fighter Tycoon. 

If I make money from it - awesome. If not, well... At least my young nephews think I'm cool.

I've always wanted to answer the question of 'Why are you making this game?' with a long explanation about how I'm following through on the dream design-document of my childhood. But, it never really works out like that.

What the Hell is Pit Fighter Tycoon?

Pit Fighter Tycoon is a simulation of intergalactic alien rivalry, where you abduct, genetically modify, drug and then force humans into gladiatorial fist fights.

Usually to the death. But more importantly, to make shitloads of cash. You're a tycoon after all!

Each Week you'll travel between the stars to visit different planets, and send your human slaves to fight and die in it's arenas!

Travel from planet to planet and entertain the alien masses!

Travel from planet to planet and entertain the alien masses!

Humans are soft and weak, which is why you'll need to perform weird barbaric surgeries on them to remove their squishy, useless organs and replace them with ones you've purchased on totally legit markets (*ahem*).

If training your humans in combat skills is taking too long, fill their bloodstreams with dangerous and addictive (but hopefully beneficial?) drugs! If their heart explodes, we will just replace it with a robotic one.

Watch your Human Slaves bleed and die in the arena for your profit margins!

Watch your Human Slaves bleed and die in the arena for your profit margins!

When you find yourself a champion, you'll want to clone them. Then make them better by messing with their genes. Stronger humans can compete in bigger fights, bringing you more money!

Get rich from the misery of your human slaves, crush your enemies and master this strategic management game to become the ultimate Pit Fighter Tycoon!

This game is being developed for PC, with a planned release on Steam! A demo will be released some in the coming weeks, so you can start practicing your management skills.