Behind the Scenes:
Director of Engineering, Semën Samusev
With Fableborne, we challenge mainstream esports and web3 gaming alike. To achieve our bold vision of accessible competitive experiences on mobile devices, having the best industry talent is paramount. Take a gander ‘Behind the Scenes’ and meet the team who is innovating the industry, here at Pixion Games.
Welcome to the interview with Semën Samusev (aka Sam), a seasoned gaming industry professional and the Director of Engineering at Pixion Games. Sam’s impressive career in server-side development has taken him to various countries, including Russia and the UK, where he has led and scaled backend teams and operated real-time multiplayer server infrastructure. With a lifelong love for both programming and video games, Sam brings a wealth of technical expertise and a passion for gaming to his work at Pixion Games. In addition to gaming, Sam has diverse interests, ranging from board games to extreme sports and spending time with his family. Join us as we delve into his unique insights and experiences in the gaming industry.
Hi Sam, we are thrilled to have you with us today! Could you walk us through your journey in the gaming industry, and how did you end up becoming the Director of Engineering at Pixion Games?
Having always had a strong passion for games and complex distributed systems, I have spent the last decade working in the gaming industry primarily as an engineer with a focus on developing highly loaded backends for multiplayer games. My most significant experience in this area comes from my eight-year tenure at ZeptoLab, where I progressed from Lead Developer to Head of the Backend Development department. In this role, I led a team of eleven developers and created scalable game backends capable of handling up to 80K requests per second, ensuring our products maintained a 99.99% uptime.
For the past two years, I have been serving as the Director of Engineering at Pixion Games, a company that combines the best aspects of the “free-to-play” gaming world with proven asset ownership from the blockchain industry. I find the concept of being able to trust traders and transitions with them when selling items on the market after farming them in MMOs like World of Warcraft for months incredibly attractive, which is what drew me to web3 game development and Pixion Games specifically.
Could you tell us more about your role and unique challenges in the development of Fableborne?
To put it simply, my primary responsibility as the Director of Engineering is to ensure that everything is working smoothly. This includes managing IT infrastructure, evaluating and adopting new technologies, and developing and supporting continuous integration and delivery processes to ensure the availability of our games. Occasionally, I also have the opportunity to write code on the backend to implement game features.
However, the biggest challenge in my role is finding the right balance and making trade-offs, as the gaming industry and technology are constantly evolving. Sometimes, to stay competitive, we must compromise on aspects of engineering practices, such as code quality or perfect system architecture. As a tech enthusiast, it can be challenging to accept that business needs take precedence over technological excellence.
What are some of your most memorable experiences working on Fableborne since the very beginning, and what have you learned from them?
When considering Fableborne from a technical perspective, I would say that there are two distinct aspects to it.
On one hand, Fableborne is a classical asynchronous PvP mobile game, meaning you don’t fight your opponents directly, and I have plenty of experience developing distributed backend systems for games like these. So, in that regard, there’s nothing particularly new for me.
On the other hand, Fableborne is also going to incorporate Blockchain technology, effectively making it a web3 product. This is a relatively new area for me, and one that has certainly been exciting and challenging to work on. The most memorable moments of the project have been related to exploring this new technology and figuring out how to make the most of its capabilities in the game, without sacrificing any of the fun for players.
How do you see Blockchain gaming trends evolving, and can you give an example of how Pixion Games plans to use Blockchain in Fableborne to address server-side issues?
I wouldn’t say that Blockchain technology helps solve any server-side issues. In fact, it actually adds complexity, much like any other third-party system that we need to integrate with. However, the true value of Blockchain lies in its utility for players and the ability to outsource trust. With Blockchain, players can have complete confidence that the game assets they own are truly theirs and can always be traded and never become useless. The concept of true digital ownership is the first and, in my opinion, most valuable aspect of Blockchain that we are planning to deliver to our players. Additionally, we’re looking into offering access to exclusive content and events, and we’re especially excited about the Pixion League, a competitive system, with the most interesting parts being on-chain.
How does client-side and server-side development differ in game development, and how do game servers enable multiplayer games? What unique challenges and opportunities are associated with these aspects of game development?
Client development involves creating the core gameplay experience, including what appears on the screen, how players can interact with the game, physics, visual effects, FPS optimization, and texture management to ensure they don’t consume too much memory on the device.
The server’s role comes into play when players need to interact with each other, enabling multiplayer and competition. However, competition often leads to an uncontrolled desire to win at all costs, making it a major goal of the server to prevent cheating and preserve the integrity of the game for honest players.
One of the main challenges of server-side development is to handle a rapidly increasing number of players as the game grows, while still ensuring smooth and seamless gameplay.
How does Pixion Games, known for its commitment to diversity and inclusivity in the workplace, foster such an environment?
Sure, I’d be happy to answer that. At Pixion Games, we believe that diversity is essential for creating a truly innovative and inclusive work environment. We are committed to fostering a culture that encourages and celebrates diversity in all its forms. One way we achieve this is by actively recruiting from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
We also provide a work environment that enables people from different countries and ethnicities to work remotely, which allows us to tap into a global talent pool. Additionally, we provide resources and support to our employees to help them feel included and valued. We believe that by embracing diversity, we can create better games that appeal to a broader audience and ultimately lead to a more successful and fulfilling workplace.
It’s truly great to work in such an environment. Now, apart from work and the team, we heard that you love video games, board games, sports and spending time with your daughter. Could you tell us a bit more about it?
Sure thing! I used to be a huge fan of board games, boasting a collection of over 80 kg ranging from trivial party games like Uno to iconic titles like Eclipse and StarCraft (with Brood War expansion, of course). While it’s now challenging to gather friends for a six-hour play session, the board games on my shelves still hold a special place in my heart.
Besides games, I enjoy a variety of physical activities, such as snowboarding, skiing, kitesurfing, and aggressive inline skating. Freeriding on a snowboard is my favourite, and I’ve even had an avalanche experience.
Regarding my family, I could talk about them for hours, but in short, I deeply love my wife and seven-year-old daughter, and cherish the time we spend together. One of my favourite activities is buying LEGO for my daughter, pretending it’s solely for her.
Only for her, of course! Lastly, where can our community find you on social media, and how can they connect with you to learn more about your work and Pixion Games?
Thanks for asking! I’m always happy to connect with fellow gamers and professionals in the industry. You can find me on Facebook at Semen Samusev and on LinkedIn. Feel free to reach out and connect with me, I’d be happy to chat more about my work at Pixion Games and the gaming industry as a whole.
Thank you for tuning into the fourth ‘Behind the Scenes’ with our Director of Engineering, Semën Samusev. We hope you enjoyed learning more about the people behind Fableborne at Pixion Games. Stay tuned for the next interview!
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Let’s embark on an exciting journey together, let’s #becomefableborne.
THE FABLEBORNE TEAM
