David Scott Jones (born October 1965) is a Scottish
video game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebases for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines, all of which fall ...
and
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
who co-founded
video game developer
A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...
s
DMA Design
Rockstar North Limited (formerly DMA Design Limited) is a British video game development company and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Edinburgh. The company was founded as DMA Design in Dundee in 1987 by David Jones (video game developer), D ...
(now Rockstar North) in 1987,
Realtime Worlds
Realtime Worlds Ltd. was a British video game developer based in Dundee, Scotland. The company was founded by David Jones in 2002. After developing ''Crackdown'' (2007) and '' APB: All Points Bulletin'' (2009), Realtime Worlds filed for admini ...
in 2002, and
Cloudgine
Cloudgine Limited was a British video game developer based in Edinburgh. Founded in 2012 by Dave Jones, it focuses on cloud technologies for video games. It was acquired by Epic Games in 2018 and integrated.
History
Cloudgine was founded ...
in 2012. Jones created ''
Lemmings
A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also include ...
'' and ''
Grand Theft Auto
''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones (video game developer), David Jones and Mike Dailly (game designer), Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan Hous ...
'', which both spawned many successful sequels. He also created the ''
Crackdown
Crackdown may refer to
* ''Crackdown'' (web series)
* ''Crackdown'' (video game series)
** ''Crackdown'' (video game)
** ''Crackdown 2
''Crackdown 2'' is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Ruffian Games and published by ...
'' franchise for the
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
consoles, and the open-ended
massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, alt ...
, ''
APB: All Points Bulletin''.
Biography
![David Jones - 2003](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/David_Jones_-_2003.jpg)
David Scott Jones was born in
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
in October 1965. His career started with the
indie game
An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...
''
Menace'', which he developed himself under the company name
DMA Design
Rockstar North Limited (formerly DMA Design Limited) is a British video game development company and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Edinburgh. The company was founded as DMA Design in Dundee in 1987 by David Jones (video game developer), D ...
and released in 1988. The game sold 15,000 copies and earned him £20,000, which he used to buy a car.
DMA Design expanded and went on to make a second game, ''Blood Money'', which Jones saw as a "further development" of the concept used in ''Menace''. DMA created a third game in 1991, ''
Lemmings
A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also include ...
'', which was commercially and critically successful, resulting in awards including winning European Game of the Year twice. Over the next two years ''Lemmings'' sold over 2 million copies, making Jones, 25 years old at release and married with a child, wealthy and famous.
DMA Design created several more games over the next few years, but Jones spent time on developing an idea for a fighting simulator set in a city; after the release of ''
Syndicate Wars'' (1996), the company revised the concept to set it in a "living city" and cross it with a driving game, resulting in the successful and controversial ''
Grand Theft Auto
''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones (video game developer), David Jones and Mike Dailly (game designer), Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan Hous ...
'', which in turn sparked an entire franchise.
In 2012 Jones revealed that much of the controversy surrounding ''Grand Theft Auto'' was engineered by their publicist. DMA Design was soon after acquired by
Gremlin Interactive
Gremlin Graphics Software Limited, later Gremlin Interactive Limited and ultimately Infogrames Studios Limited was a British software house based in Sheffield, working mostly in the home computer market. Like many software houses established in ...
, starting a chain of purchases that resulted in the studio becoming
Rockstar North
Rockstar North Limited (formerly DMA Design Limited) is a British video game development company and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Edinburgh. The company was founded as DMA Design in Dundee in 1987 by David Jones (video game developer), D ...
. Jones stayed with the company through 1999 and ''
Grand Theft Auto 2
''Grand Theft Auto 2'' is an action-adventure game, developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games in October 1999, for Microsoft Windows and the PlayStation, and the Dreamcast and Game Boy Color in 2000. It is the sequel to 1997's ' ...
'' before leaving.
In 2000 Jones founded and led the Dundee studio of
Rage Software
Rage Games (formerly Rage Software) was a British video game developer. Formed in Liverpool in 1992, its video games were marked by an emphasis on graphical effects with arcade gameplay.
Rage's first title '' Striker'' sold more than one mil ...
, Rage Games (Scotland) Limited, where he developed the PC title
Mobile Forces. Jones also co-founded
Denki
Denki is an interactive television and console game developer based in Dundee, Scotland. The company is the developer of over 180 console and interactive television games, covering a range of platforms. Denki has worked extensively in the dig ...
who developed
Go Go Beckham for Rage. Rage ceased trading after bankruptcy.
In 2002 Jones founded
Realtime Worlds
Realtime Worlds Ltd. was a British video game developer based in Dundee, Scotland. The company was founded by David Jones in 2002. After developing ''Crackdown'' (2007) and '' APB: All Points Bulletin'' (2009), Realtime Worlds filed for admini ...
, who developed ''
Crackdown
Crackdown may refer to
* ''Crackdown'' (web series)
* ''Crackdown'' (video game series)
** ''Crackdown'' (video game)
** ''Crackdown 2
''Crackdown 2'' is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Ruffian Games and published by ...
'' (2007) and ''
APB: All Points Bulletin'' (2010). Despite receiving funding of $100m Realtime Worlds entered liquidation in 2010 after the disappointing critical and commercial reception to APB.
Jones was the
keynote
A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...
speaker for the
World Cyber Games
The World Cyber Games (WCG) is an international esports competition with multi-game titles in which hundreds of esports athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions also known as Esports Olympics. WCG events attempt to ...
in 2004 where he said that he considered mainstream multiplatform gaming to be the next big thing, and for the 2009 Develop Conference in Brighton.
In 2012 David Jones started work on
ChronoBlade, a
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
action-RPG game, with
Stieg Hedlund
Stieg Hedlund (born 1965) is a computer and video game designer, artist, and writer with over 25 years of experience. He has worked on more than 30 games in the video game industry. He is best known for his work in action RPGs, and has also wo ...
as part of San Francisco-based development team nWay.
In 2012 he co-founded
Cloudgine
Cloudgine Limited was a British video game developer based in Edinburgh. Founded in 2012 by Dave Jones, it focuses on cloud technologies for video games. It was acquired by Epic Games in 2018 and integrated.
History
Cloudgine was founded ...
, a games development company focusing on cloud computing.
In the same year Jones founded
Reagent Games, serving as Creative Director, to lead the development of
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
title ''
Crackdown 3
''Crackdown 3'' is an action-adventure video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Microsoft Studios for Windows and Xbox One. It continues the series nearly nine years after the release of 2010's Xbox 360 video game ''Crackdown 2''. Or ...
''.
In December 2017, Cloudgine was acquired by
Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, M ...
; with this, Jones became Director, Cloud Strategy for Epic Games, and resigned from Reagent Games.
Works
* ''
Menace'' (1988)
* ''
Blood Money
Blood money may refer to:
* Blood money (restitution), money paid to the family of a murder victim
Films
* Blood Money (1917 film), ''Blood Money'' (1917 film), a film starring Harry Carey
* Blood Money (1921 film), ''Blood Money'' (1921 film ...
'' (1989)
* ''
Lemmings
A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also include ...
'' (1991)
* ''
Oh No! More Lemmings
''Oh No! More Lemmings'' is an expansion pack to the puzzle video game ''Lemmings'' by DMA Design. It contains 100 unique single-player levels and six new music tracks. The Amiga version also includes 10 two-player levels. The game requires eit ...
'' (1991)
* ''
Lemmings 2: The Tribes'' (1993)
* ''
Holiday Lemmings'' (1993)
* ''
Hired Guns'' (1993)
* ''
The Lemmings Chronicles'' (1994)
* ''
Grand Theft Auto
''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones (video game developer), David Jones and Mike Dailly (game designer), Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan Hous ...
'' (1997)
* ''
Body Harvest
''Body Harvest'' is an action-adventure video game for the Nintendo 64 video game console, developed by DMA Design. It was intended to be a Nintendo 64 launch title, but was delayed due to its original publisher, Nintendo, having issues with th ...
'' (1998)
* ''
Space Station Silicon Valley
''Space Station Silicon Valley'' is a platform video game developed by DMA Design and published by Take-Two Interactive. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in October 1998. An adaption of the game for Game Boy Color was developed by ...
'' (1998)
* ''
Tanktics
''Tanktics: Computer Game of Armored Combat on the Eastern Front'', also named ''Wargy I'', is a 1976 two-player tank battle video game by Chris Crawford. It was Crawford's first video game; it was initially sold directly by him, and was publis ...
'' (1999)
* ''
Grand Theft Auto 2
''Grand Theft Auto 2'' is an action-adventure game, developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games in October 1999, for Microsoft Windows and the PlayStation, and the Dreamcast and Game Boy Color in 2000. It is the sequel to 1997's ' ...
'' (1999)
* ''
Mobile Forces'' (2002)
* ''
Crackdown
Crackdown may refer to
* ''Crackdown'' (web series)
* ''Crackdown'' (video game series)
** ''Crackdown'' (video game)
** ''Crackdown 2
''Crackdown 2'' is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Ruffian Games and published by ...
'' (2007)
* ''
APB: All Points Bulletin'' (2010)
* ''
Crackdown 3
''Crackdown 3'' is an action-adventure video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Microsoft Studios for Windows and Xbox One. It continues the series nearly nine years after the release of 2010's Xbox 360 video game ''Crackdown 2''. Or ...
'' (2019)
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, David
1966 births
Realtime Worlds
British video game programmers
Living people
Alumni of Abertay University
British technology company founders
British video game designers
People from Dundee