Dear Friends of Desura,
I can’t even explain to you how I feel about the upcoming release of The Cold War Era. It’s been a 20-year-long journey, finding my own way to create my first game and reaching the point at which people like you can play it.
I am no different from you. I’ve been playing different strategy games for years — it’s just by chance that it’s me who’s writing this message and you who’s reading it. But in reality we’re very similar. We visit the same forums, play the same great games, eat the same foods and watch the same TV shows. I’m sure we’ve probably even battled it out online in different strategy games. We both belong to the Strategy Gamer family.
Twenty years ago I played my first Civilization game. It was then that I became a gamer. Books and games are my passions. I never miss a game by my favorite developers, and I never miss a book by my favorite authors. I’ve played almost ALL strategy games on the market — I’ve been consumed in the worlds of hundreds of great games, the whole while never knowing I’d be able to share my experiences with anyone else, since I never had gamer friends. Well, things have changed for me. Now I can share the gaming experience with you as the designer of my own game!
It’s been three years since I decided to start actively working on my first game. You can’t even imagine how many things have happened since then! I could write a book about it, for sure. I was tricked, lied to and betrayed by many designers, programmers, marketing specialists and people who “always knew better.” Ladies and gentlemen, I can tell you, entering the game development business isn’t as easy as it seems. Well, I’ve passed this class and am ready for my graduation ceremony — The Cold War Era’s official release.
There are just a few days left before my company, Alina Digital, releases its first game. I don’t know how many copies will be sold or if I’ll even earn enough just to pay off my expenses, but you know what, I feel I have created something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
When I was a very young boy I planted three trees. Now they grow and burst with green leaves every summer. Years later, in high school I formed a rock band, and from that I have an album of my own songs. Later I opened a travel business with my partner and many tourists enjoyed using our service. After that I created my own Internet TV site, which hundreds of thousands of viewers liked and used frequently. Now I can finally say I’ve accomplished one more life goal… I did it! I’ve created my own PC game! I hope I’ll be as proud of it as I am of all the things I’ve accomplished in my life, and that I’ll make the people closest to me proud as well.
One Game, One Friend!
–Max Sprin.
