Introducing Our Team – Meet Gonçalo de Jesus

Say ‘hello’ to our new team member Gonçalo!

Gonçalo fell in love with video games at a young age and here he is now! The Junior Developer shares his first steps in the game development world, his biggest influences and even his non-video game related hobbies. 

Tell us a bit about yourself and why you became a developer.

I became a developer “by accident”, actually.
I got into video game development with the idea of becoming a game and narrative designer; because Portugal’s video game industry isn’t greatly evolved, I soon enough realised that I needed to learn how to make myself useful in more than one or two development areas. As such, I focused on programming (and trust me, the world only benefits from me choosing programming over visual art!) as a way to support my game and narrative concepts. Not long after, I found myself not only using my programming skills as support, but also becoming quite fond of them as my main weapon. I fell in love with problem-solving and putting everything together with what others describe as – and I myself sometimes believe it too – magic.

You have a degree in video games! What made you pursue this academic path?

Growing up, I’d always have a different idea of my future every year; one year I wanted to become a psychologist, the next I wanted to follow a military path, but something that I constantly found myself coming back to was video games. When I was a kid, I got Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault‘s Director’s Edition, which contained a bunch of extras, such as concept art and development videos – a bundle of behind-the-scenes content. This fascinated me at the time and it’s a passion I’ve carried ever since, and I believe it greatly influenced my journey.

When you’re not playing around with Unity and code what do you do for fun?

When I’m not making video games, you can usually find me watching movies and TV shows. I’m also a huge fan of sports in general (both watching and playing), and more specifically football, handball, and ice hockey. I occasionally go on day-long walking trails with my friends and love a controlled amount of nature.

Fun Facts:

If you could participate in the creation of any video game ever made, which one would you like to work on?

Definitely NieR:Automata. I not only regard it as one of my favourite games, I also dare to call it the best game ever made to date, in my opinion. A complex narrative, a huge, open and detailed game world, and an original soundtrack spanning over three discs (plus numerous bonus discs with, for example, unreleased tracks and 8-bit and piano versions) are only a few of the aspects that will forever attract me to this masterpiece. To be a part of the development process for this game would be an absolute dream.

If you could live in a fictional universe, which one would you pick?

I would pick In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, by Neutral Milk Hotel. Throughout the album, a surrealistic universe is described, in which two-headed boys are fed radio wires and tomatoes, cars repair and clean themselves on non-euclidean bridges in the clouds, among many other abstract concepts. Though it sounds extremely weird, it’s a profound trip into the human subconscious and most certainly a universe I’d like to explore.

Which TV series could you rewatch over and over again?

I’d go with How I Met Your Mother. Though it’s not my favourite series, it’s arguably one of the best series in terms of “rewatchability”. Its numerous episodes gave us multiple universally recognised tropes, quotes, and inside jokes, and its one-episode-at-a-time structure makes up the perfect “come back to this series whenever you feel like it” environment that, like me, a lot of people appreciate.

Working at Exaud is more than just a job. Want to come along for the ride? We’re always looking for great people to join us. Check our current openings here and meet other members of Exaud’s team.