Luis Machado

I’ve always been into games, from the days of 1001 free browser mini games to my obsession with competitive games like LoL, Counter-Strike and Overwatch, my proudest gaming achievement was having reached Top 500 in Europe on OW1. Outside of games, I’m known for constantly adding more hobbies to my collection, from sports like volleyball, badminton, squash, tennis to playing guitar, photography, D&D and meeting my reading goals for the year. But above all, I love traveling and making friends all over the world, which then leads to me hosting them at my place or visiting them a week later.

_favourite Game

Hades

_favourite BOOK

Death's End by Liu Cixin

_Currently learning

How to play tennis, but also I’m practicing guitar playing more now in preparation for playing at an open mic night for the first time ever!

Questions & Answers

Earliest gaming memory?

Answer

I remember playing Pokémon Sapphire on my GBA SP and being stuck on the first town for a whole month, until my cousin spent 5 seconds changing the clock in the room upstairs and unlocked a whole world of fun for me. Let’s just say I haven’t gotten much better at game “puzzles” over the years.

What was the game that triggered you looking at games as a career

Answer

Counter-Strike 1.6 – when I was in middle school I got together with some friends to create a server for us to play with each other and as the years went on it became more and more popular. A few years later, it had become one of the largest CS community servers in Portugal and I was helping out setting up a bunch of different game modes for the server.

What did you study at School or Uni that you feel was valuable for a career in games?

Answer

I studied Games Technology in Uni and the biggest highlight was getting to make games with other people from Week 1 of the course. Going through the whole production cycle of a game was very valuable and taught me some really important lessons about teamwork and scope!

Game that has inspired you the most?

Answer

Overwatch – when that game came out it took over my life for a few years. At launch, besides being one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had in gaming, it also brought together people from so many different backgrounds as it perfectly balanced the fun in both casual and competitive play.

What is the first game you worked on?

Answer

NFS Unbound

Games you’re the proudest to have worked on?

Answer

NFS Unbound was a very bold statement for the franchise and I’m super happy I could be a part of it! I got to take some real ownership over features like the cops and I feel like I grew and learnt a ton during its whole development cycle.

If you weren’t making games?

Answer

I’d either be a tour guide who’s moving country every few years or I’d settle down and become a philosophy teacher for high school students.

Top 3 games of all time?

Answer

#1 - Hades #2 - Baldur’s Gate 3 #3 - Counter-Strike.

Hardest Game Boss?

Answer

The Elite Four lineup in any Pokémon game.