Story Time:
Square One: 2002-2015

In 2012, my dad brought home our first computer/PC. On it, was steam, flight simulator and a little thing called Unity. He showed me all three and Unity took my attention immediately. The idea of being able to create a whole digital world and manufacture my own games and stories was a hit to young Harry’s mind. From there I’d come home from school and instead of playing games I’d create them, obviously I still got my share of playing games too. But making games was always a side hobby, and always just as fun as playing games.

I created a game in 2015 based on one of my favourite franchises Halo© and showed it to my computer science teacher Mr. Cookson. He loved it and told me I should pursue Game Development as a possible career. Up until that point I hadn’t ever really consider being paid to make games before, it was always something I did for the love of it and the idea of being paid to do something so fun was mind blowing.

Freeze!! 2020-2023

And so, the future path was set, I studied it at A level (17-18y) all the way up until LOCKDOWN froze the world. Unfortunately, was rejected from my university of chose at first, even though I had been making games from a young age, I didn’t use any of it as portfolio, I only used my A level work as I considered that to be more ‘Professional’. Luckily this allowed me to secure a job with a pretty large retail company. For a few years I just worked and created games in my spear time. It is here wearing I arguably made some of the best, most productive and workflow efficient work. With so much free time on my hands and money coming in it allowed me to find a flow and produce a wide range of material. Some that I would later return to and adapt later on. It was in this time I also got into Hiking. I travelled across England, Scotland and Wales. I even saved enough money to travel all around Australia. It was during this time I had some of the highest highs and the lowest lows.

To understand how we got here, I must introduce myself formally:

Hi, I’m Harry Williams, I’m from small-ish town called Stalybridge in the outskirts of Manchester, England. Early life was admittedly privileged and peaceful with only the weather to worry about. However, with not much to do up in the hills, Video games played a pretty large part of my childhood. From PlayStation 2’s Simpsons Hit and Run at my childminders to Wolfenstein on the Xbox 360, games played a huge role. But it wasn’t always games, since I can remember I’ve been interested in film and media. I would always do stop motion animation with my Lego and toys, Comic strips on the iPad, Comic Drawings. I even created a comic book series at my primary school called Todd The Frog, and he was quite a hit to my class of 20 year 5’s I must say. My parents tell me from a young age I was always directing them on how to perform “The Tiger Came for Tea” in a small tent in the middle of my living room so it does make sense. Plus, I’m sure it gave them a break too. The conclusion, I was always destined to be a creative. But it wasn’t until 2012 that my future would be set…

First Attempts: 2015-2020

Origins Story: 2012-2015

These times really put life into perspective for me, that allowed me to come back to England with a narrowed focus and task, go to University. Learn the right way of doing things… and network. Meet like minded people and collect the best and brightest and accompany me on this adventure. And that’s exactly what happened. I used my Containment material and it got me straight into Uni. From there I met some amazing, driven people, learnt a completely new Engine from scratch, Unreal Engine, was able to build a foundational community around FiringPin, finally released my personal project, Containment and produced a plethora University projects that strengthened our knowledge.

University Time!! 2024-2026

Traveling 2023-2024

Between 2022 and 2024 I was able to travel to quite a few countries, being pent up in lockdown made me itch to go traveling. I went to France, Madeira, Antalya and finally a large trip to Australia. these were my first taste of freedom as an adult, and it was intoxicating. I indulged myself in it and learnt so much about self-reliance and resilience. Memories and feelings, I had on these trips will last me a life time, and motivated me to work hard for myself to I could maybe one day afford a lifestyle like this. I believe this morphed and changed my young mind and set me on my path of constant learning and improvement.

Back To The Real World! 2026-

This brings us right back up to date, 2026, finish university. Now, I’m left with two options: Attempt to into the industry, which is pretty turbulent right now and not even the mega successful companies are comfortable and secure right now. Or, do I stick with FiringPin and create unique games that capture an audience but also risk it not succeeding.

After speaking to many people inside the industry and outside it, I truly believe that FiringPin might have a chance, we’ll start off small, not biting more than we can chew and produce good quality fun games and gain the trust of our community, and over years It will hopefully grow. If not, then at least I’ll have some good portfolio work which might help me get a industry job even better.

Either way, 2026-2027 is going to be a year of trying, a year of dedication and consistency. Using the three years I’ve learnt at University and the 21 years of life I’ve learnt and channelling it into a single channel. The future is scary, but I’m excited to see where it takes us, question is, are you down for the ride?

Story Time: Square One: 2002-2015