Alex Balfanz | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | American |
Other names | badcc, badccvoid |
Occupation | Video game developer |
Years active | 2008-present |
Known for | Programmer and co-creator of the Roblox game Jailbreak |
Alex Balfanz, (born May 5, 1999) known online as badcc, is an American video game developer who is the programmer and co-creator of the Roblox game Jailbreak.
Born in 1999, Balfanz began to code games using Roblox Studio at the age of 9. [1] Balfanz's father worked as a programmer, which Balfanz cites as one of the main reasons for his early interest in coding. [2] He attended high school at the Trinity Preparatory School. [3] Prior to releasing Jailbreak, Balfanz had made several other games on Roblox, which he stated had made him "maybe a couple thousand" dollars. [3]
In January 2016, Balfanz and his business partner, who goes by "asimo3089", created the game Volt, an open-world game in which players complete minigames. [3]
In January 2017, Balfanz, along with asimo3089, uploaded Jailbreak, a cops-and-robbers game, to Roblox. On its first day of release, it reached 70,000 concurrent players, a number which Balfanz later said had shocked him. [1] It quickly became one of the most popular games on the platform, and made Balfanz a millionaire. [4] [3]
Balfanz attended Duke University, where he is able to pay off his college debt using funds from his games. [2] [5] Balfanz has also been a YouTuber since 2011, maintaining a channel with over 90,000 subscribers (and allegedly over 100,000 at one point) and seven million views. The content uploaded includes Roblox building and scripting content, custom musical pieces, and showcases of new Jailbreak content. [6]
Mattel, Inc. is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth and Elliot Handler in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. Mattel has a presence in 35 countries and territories; its products are sold in more than 150 countries. Mattel consists of three business segments: North America, International and American Girl.
Thomas Andrew Tallarico is an American video game music composer, sound designer, and television producer. Since the 1990s, he has helmed production for numerous video games through his self-titled company. He co-hosted the television series Electric Playground and Reviews on the Run from 1997 until 2006. In 2002, he created Video Games Live (VGL), a global video game music orchestra.
An advergame is a form of advertising in video games, in which the video game is developed by or in close collaboration with a corporate entity for purposes of advertising a brand-name product. While other video games may use in-game advertising, an advergame is differentiated by the Interactive Advertising Bureau as a "game specifically designed around [the] product or service being advertised". An advergame is considered a type of advertainment.
Roblox is an online game platform and game creation system developed by Roblox Corporation that allows users to program and play games created by themselves or other users. Created by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel in 2004 and released in 2006, the platform hosts user-created games of multiple genres coded in the programming language Lua. Early in Roblox's history, it was relatively small, both as a platform and as a company. Roblox began to grow rapidly in the second half of the 2010s, and this growth was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
David Baszucki, also known by his Roblox username david.baszucki, formerly builderman, is a Canadian-born American entrepreneur, engineer, and software developer. He is best known as the co-founder and CEO of Roblox Corporation. He previously co-founded and served as the CEO of Knowledge Revolution, which was acquired by MSC Software in December 1998.
Roblox Corporation is an American video game developer based in San Mateo, California. Founded in 2004 by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel, the company is the developer of Roblox, which was released in 2006. As of December 31, 2023, the company employs over 2,400 people.
John Patrick Douglass, better known as jacksfilms, is an American YouTuber, videographer, and sketch comedian, best known for his series Yesterday I Asked You and Your Grammar Sucks, in which he commentates on content sent by fans.
Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie, is a Swedish YouTuber known for his comedic videos. Kjellberg's popularity on YouTube and extensive media coverage has made him one of the most noted online personalities and content creators. He has been portrayed in media as a figurehead for YouTube, especially in the genre of gaming.
Jordan Maron, known online as CaptainSparklez, is an American YouTuber and Twitch streamer mainly known for his Minecraft videos. As of January 2024, his main YouTube channel has over 11.4 million subscribers.
Thomas George Cassell, known online as Syndicate, is an English YouTuber and Twitch streamer. Regarded as one of the earlier known gaming personalities, his videography consists of Let's Play videos on Call of Duty and Minecraft. Born in Manchester, Cassell had passion for a career in the gaming industry, which he started by purchasing gaming equipment using his money from McDonald's. On 3 September 2010, Cassell registered his gaming channel "TheSyndicateProject", where he found success and an online community. His prominence online was recognized by Call of Duty publisher Activision and multi-channel network (MCN) Machinima, where he signed to the network to monetize his content. Cassell's channel achieved substantial growth, passing one million subscribers in June 2012 and one billion views in late 2013. He further expanded his career into livestreaming on Twitch, hosting the same commentary over his gameplays. His Twitch channel became the first to reach one million followers in August 2014.
Seán William McLoughlin, better known publicly as jacksepticeye, is an Irish YouTuber whose videos focus on gaming, comedy and vlogging.
itch.io is a website for users to host, sell and download indie video games, indie role-playing games, game assets, comics, zines and music. Launched in March 2013 by Leaf Corcoran, the service hosts over 700,000 products as of April 2023.
Ryan's World is a children's YouTube channel for children aged 2–6 featuring Ryan Kaji along with his mother, father, and twin sisters.
Roblox Studio is a game creation system developed by Roblox Corporation. It allows users to create and publish Roblox games, which can then be played by other users. Games, officially referred to as "experiences" on the platform, are made with Luau, a derivative of the programming language Lua. Users are able to create purchasable content through one-time purchases, known as "game passes", as well as microtransactions which can be purchased more than once, known as "developer products" or "products". The majority of games produced using Roblox Studio are developed by minors, and a total of 20 million games per year are produced using it.
DavidWilliam Plummer is a Canadian-American programmer and entrepreneur. He created the Task Manager for Windows, the Space Cadet Pinball ports to Windows NT, Zip file support for Windows, HyperCache for the Amiga and many other software products. He has been issued six patents in the software engineering space. He is known for his YouTube channels, Dave's Garage and Dave's Attic.
Michael Arthur Sayman, is a Peruvian–Bolivian–American mobile application entrepreneur, software engineer, political activist, and author. He is best known for creating top-charting apps as a teenager to provide for his family during the Great Recession, as well as his subsequent work at Facebook. Described by Semana as "the most influential Latino in Silicon Valley", in 2019, Sayman was included on Forbes's 30 Under 30 list, and has additionally been featured at TED.
Megan Letter is an American YouTuber primarily known for her Roblox videos on her YouTube channel, MeganPlays. Prior to YouTube, Letter studied graphic design in college. In mid 2020, Letter and her husband Zach launched a game studio called Wonder Works and is currently the President of the studio. Letter also runs an online store, Stay Peachy.
Gamefam Studios is an American video game company. It primarily utilizes Roblox as a video game development platform, while also using Fortnite Creative and Minecraft as engines to create maps and minigames. It has produced content for brands such as Sonic the Hedgehog, the National Football League, Hot Wheels, Doctor Strange, Kung Fu Panda, Samsung, and Puma and staged virtual concerts for musicians such as The Chainsmokers and Saweetie.
People Make Games (PMG) is a British investigative video game journalism YouTube channel. The channel focuses on the developers and people who make video games. People Make Games has reported on topics such as video game crunch, outsourcing, and worker exploitation.