Feb 22, 2013 19:00:18

13-year-old mobile game developer launches startup

In 2012, news broke that a 12-year-old boy had developed a mobile game that was hugely popular in Ireland. Now, at age 13, the boy in question,

Jordan Casey, has founded a mobile game startup.

Casey Games
http://caseygameswebsite.blogspot.jp/

This 13-year-old boy runs his own mobile game startup | GamesBeat

http://venturebeat.com/2013/02/18/a-13-year-old-boy-is-running-his-own-mobile-game-startup/

Jordan began developing games at the age of 9. He became interested in the game when he saw a friend who played a game called

Club Penguin start a blog and website about the game, and began studying three languages: HTML, ActionScript 2.0, and CSS. When he got an iMac, he began thinking about creating an app. Since it was his first time creating something, he didn't want to create something too elaborate that would take years to develop, but he also didn't want to create a game that wasn't fun. Jordan came up with the idea of 'remaking retro games like Pac-Man and Space Invaders.' After watching many old games, he finally made some changes to Space Invaders and created 'Alien Ball vs Humans,' a game in which you become an alien and defeat humans, the opposite of Space Invaders.

Below is a trailer for the game 'Alien Ball vs Humans' that Jordan created when he was 12 years old.

Alien Ball VS Human Gameplay Trailer - YouTube


You can see how Jordan was interviewed at that time in the movie below.

12-year-old boy setting the pace in computer programming - YouTube


Alien Ball vs Humans was released commercially and became so popular that it reached the top of the charts in the Irish App Store. Jordan then developed several other games and began a project to create a virtual world for children called Food World . To create Food World, Jordan founded a startup called Casey Games and hired Aidan Blackett as his first employee.

Jordan's parents help him with the business, and his mother, Louise, checks his emails while he's at school. 'Right now, we have to balance his age and the fact that he's still in school, but once he's finished school, we'll be able to let him use his weekends and evenings to work on the business, so he'll have the freedom to enjoy it. And his happiness is our happiness,' she said. She sees Jordan attending various events and meeting wonderful people as 'life lessons,' and she wants to give him as much freedom as possible as long as it doesn't interfere with his studies.

Jordan has spoken at many events, including the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, TEDxDelhi , GameCity 7 , Bett 2013 , Smartphone & Tablet Games Summit , and Casual Connect Europe , and has been featured on Adobe's digital media blog . He has even appeared on Irish television, but he is still attending school.

By Holtsman

'I love seeing people playing the games I create and having fun,' says Jordan, who cites Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak , and game creator Markus Persson as people he admires. 'Right now, I can't set up a real office and I have to work as an indie, but when I grow up, I want to set up an office and expand my business. My goal is to create high-quality, fun games,' he told VentureBeat .