Lyndon Jones, Technical Director celebrates ten years at d3t!
8th Aug 2023
This July, our Technical Director, Lyndon Jones reached a monumental landmark of being at d3t for ten years! To mark this achievement, we caught up with Lyndon to talk about his time at the d3t studio.
How did your career begin and how did you get your job at d3t?
After completing my Masters degree in Physics, I was at a crossroads of deciding between entering the workforce or continuing academia and getting a PhD in Nuclear Physics. I saw an advert for a small start-up studio named d3t and realised that my STEM background had a lot of crossover with games programming. I was interviewed by the whole studio (all 4 people at the time!) and started working right after my graduation.
How has d3t changed during your time at the studio?
Our fundamental offering has not changed, we continue to work with clients on their games and assist them to deliver their vision. d3t has grown enormously over the last ten years, from 5 members of the team to now over 200 in my 10 years here. Initially we as a studio focused on Engineering, but we have now grown to also include Production, Art, Design and QA. In doing so this has allowed us to get involved with larger projects with the biggest named IPs in the industry.
During my time, d3t has also had four different offices, from a small, single room to our current state-of-the-art three storey building with hybrid working capabilities. The results of which has created quite a different working environment compared to 10 years ago. Since 2020 we’ve embraced remote/hybrid working, which has honestly been a fantastic addition to everyone’s work-life balance.
What is it like working at d3t?
d3t is such an amazing place to work. A lot of people have talked previously about the great benefits such as flexitime and clubs/activities, but as a Technical Director I’m much more persuaded by working on interesting projects, which we certainly have and is the main reason as to why I have been here ten years!
Work-for-hire means that we aren’t tied in to a single franchise or genre. Whether it’s Puzzle, Racing, FPS or RPG, we get to be involved with all types of projects!
What has been your most memorable moment working at the studio?
For me it was the first time d3t held a studio garden party since Covid. It was excellent to see so many people face-to-face for the first time in two years!
What was the first game that you worked on?
Lemmings Touch
What’s your favourite game to date that you’ve played/worked on?
Burnout Paradise Remastered or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
How has the wider games industry changed during your time at d3t?
A lot has changed in the ten years. We were at the tail end of the PS3/Xbox 360 generation with exclusively boxed products, now we are in the digital and XSX/PS5 generation…the rise and fall of Stadia, the resurgence of portable gaming via Switch/Steamdeck, VR, Raytracing, Live Service/Battlepasses…a lot of change!
Do you have any tips for people looking to get into the games industry?
Be Curious! Whatever your discipline, keep on top of industry trends/news, demonstrate your passion in an area, play games from a game developers’ viewpoint, pick a studio that allows you to thrive, and get your foot in the door!