Meet the PlayCanvas team: Vaios Kalpias-Illias

"I used to play basketball. Before all this, I considered doing it for a living."

Vaios comes from Athens, Greece (if his name wasn't giving anything away) and he is a Senior Engineer here at PlayCanvas.

How did you get into the video games industry?

I wanted to get into the video games industry since I was a teenager. So I studied Computer Science at the University of Piraeus where I researched everything I could about graphics and game development and then I got an MSE in Computer Science from the University Of Pennsylvania. I was very fortunate to get a job as a Junior Programmer at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, where I met Dave and Will and I've been working on games and game related tools ever since!

Can you briefly describe your role at PlayCanvas?

My work at PlayCanvas includes implementing and documenting new features for the Engine, the Designer and the backend, improving user workflows, fixing bugs and creating game demos whenever I can. We're a small team so we all contribute our ideas of what we should be working on based on our experience working on other engines and games.

What is your favorite aspect of PlayCanvas' service?

The fact that I can work on my game anywhere from any device. I'm not limited by the operating system and I don't have to worry about source control or where to store all my assets. Everything is on the cloud and I can instantly share my work with others or invite them to my project to work with me, without going through the whole process of downloading and installing tools first.

Where do you see web based gaming in the future?

I think game development is moving towards people working together from all around the world. This used to be a big barrier before - for example, as a programmer with not a lot of artistic talent, I was limited to downloading free models and textures from the Internet. If I wanted to make something unique and pretty I had to find an artist. Then I would have to give that artist access to some repository and explain to them how the whole source control thing works. The artist would have to compile and run the game in their machine or I would have to be there physically to do it for them. You can see where this is going... With PlayCanvas you simply don't think about that stuff anymore. PlayCanvas empowers people from all around the world to work with whomever they want, instantly.

How is PlayCanvas going to change the way people make games?

One of the main reasons why developers would want to develop games that work in the browser is the fact that their game would be more accessible by everybody. One of the reasons why people avoided making games for the Web was that they were limited to simplistic games that may not have appealed to their taste. I believe that WebGL and game-related web technologies in general have become more and more reliable in every device and as tools get better developers will be empowered to make any kind of game they want. I think that eventually most games will be playable in the browser so PlayCanvas is moving in the right direction.

Can you describe one interesting thing about yourself?

I used to play basketball during the period between elementary school and university and before all this I considered doing it for a living. I even played in the major leagues for a while! (well I sat on the bench that is...)

The Quick Fire round (this is where things get a little interesting)

Zelda or Final fantasy?

Unfortunately I haven't played either of them!

COD or Battlefield?

Same as above! I'm not a big FPS guy.

Mario or Sonic?

Mario! It was one of the first games I played!

Favorite game of all time?

Grim Fandango! Viva la revolution!

Greatest Gaming Achievement?

Finishing Killzone 2 on a single Sunday while sitting on the floor in front of my sofa for the duration of the game.