About the Book
Making it HUGE in Video Games recounts the astonishing journey of an unassuming, middle-of-the-bell-curve young man, rising from mundane beginnings to scale the dizzying heights of artistic distinction and financial success in the worldwide video game industry. This is the story of Chance Thomas, a moderately talented musician who struggled and grew to compose original scores for some of the most well-known entertainment properties in the world. Detailed personal accounts and instructive side bars carry listeners across the jagged peaks and valleys of an absolutely achievable career in video games. World-famous IP's get personal treatment here--The Lord of the Rings, Marvel, Avatar, Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer, DOTA 2, King Kong, The Settlers, and many more. Listeners will discover unvarnished true stories about starting out, pitching and pursuing gigs, negotiating contracts, composing and producing scores, multinational corporations and personalities, funny anecdotes, daunting challenges, glorious successes, and instructive failures. Autobiographical details throughout provide intimate perspective, vibrant color, and inspiration. The book is written in a comfortable, conversational style. Think of this as a career guidebook wrapped around a personal retrospective; a professional how-to manual woven into a memoir.
About the Author :
Chance Thomas has been a trailblazer in the video game industry since the 1990s, pushing the bleeding edge of music soundscapes from 8-bit chiptunes into gorgeous symphonic orchestral scores, and from endlessly repeating loops into adaptive and massively generative musicscapes. Chance has composed original video game music for some of the most valuable entertainment properties in the world, including Avatar, Marvel, The Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, King Kong, Warhammer, DOTA 2, Might & Magic, and many more. Additionally, his music has underscored critical acclaim and blockbuster success in film and television, including an Oscar, an Emmy, and billions of dollars in sales worldwide. In 1998, he launched HUGEsound to provide world-class music and sound for video games. With dozens of successful titles, HUGEsound grew until its acquisition by a large investment firm for exponential expansion. The new HUGEsound Post Production became a state-of-the-art playground for creative artists, well on its way to national distinction. In 2018, a massive Ponzi scheme was uncovered at the investment firm and HUGEsound was lost to the courts. With help from family, friends, and peers, Chance bounced back with HUGEsound Records and composed the magnum opus of his career, The Settlers: New Allies. This was the largest known procedural music score in history, unfolding across 16,327 music files. The music adapts to each player's individual style, reacts to game play, and delivers a thematic experience without being repetitive. Chance also authored the landmark textbook, Composing Music for Games: The Art, Technology and Business of Video Game Scoring. Alex Knox is a classically trained actor, equally comfortable as a leading man and a comedic character performer. In addition to a long list of theater credits, he has appeared in commercials, hosted a web series ("Science Talks with Alex Knox"), and, as an improv performer, entertained thousands of guests at Southern California's theme parks. Alex wrote No Static at All, a one-man play about seeking spiritual enlightenment through the music of Steely Dan, and has performed the show to sold-out houses in New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles. He is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and the Yale School of Drama. Alex Knox is a classically trained actor, equally comfortable as a leading man and a comedic character performer. In addition to a long list of theater credits, he has appeared in commercials, hosted a web series ("Science Talks with Alex Knox"), and, as an improv performer, entertained thousands of guests at Southern California's theme parks. Alex wrote No Static at All, a one-man play about seeking spiritual enlightenment through the music of Steely Dan, and has performed the show to sold-out houses in New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles. He is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and the Yale School of Drama.
