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William David Volk
Born (1956-12-16) December 16, 1956 (age 68) [1]
New York City
Occupation(s)Business Development, Game Design/Production
Years active1979 - continue

William David Volk (born December 16, 1956) is an American mobile game developer and publisher, based in New York City, who has worked in the industry for the past four decades. notably as the vice president of technology for Activision in the early 1990s.[2] Over the Years Volk has founded, co-founded and contributed to several companies, including ZipProof, The Bonus Mobile Entertainment (co-founded that with Sherri Cuono). His accomplishments include the creation of CD-ROM entertainment project, The Manhole, highly acclaimed “Return to Zork”, few of the primary Mac games, M.A.D.E game engine and development with award winning The Climate Trail.

Personal Life and Education

Born in New York City, Volk grew up on Long Island and worked at his father’s parking garage and Brands Bicycles, during High School. In 1979, Volk went to the University of Pennsylvania to study graduation with a BA in Physics and Astronomy. He later carried out graduate work in Physics, Astronomy and Computer Engineering at the University of Maryland in 1980 and the University of New Hampshire in 1982. He got his unofficial start in video games in Maryland while looking for a Christmas break job.[3]

Work

Early Work: Starting with Avalon Hill

Volk encountered his first video game development experience earlier at UPenn, in 1978.[4] Where he attended a microprocessor applications class and ended up creating a version of Lunar Lander for the Cromenco microcomputer.[4][3]

A year later, in 1979, Volk began his career at the age of 22, in a well-established board game company, Avalon Hill (now a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.) as a playtester.[5][6][3] Working in the quality assurance and testing division, from 1979 to 1982, he created his own titles including Conflict 2500, Voyager I: Sabotage of the Robot Ship and Controller. Games that saw decent success on the Apple II, Atari, TRS-80 and Commodore PET.[7][4][3]

1985 – 1988: Co-founded Mac software publisher

In 1983, he left Avalon Hill Game Co. and ran the West Coast programming group Rising Star in California. There he created a CAD system, called ValDraw, for QX10 & Z80 personal computers that ran in a 60KB address space.[7][4]

Volk worked within Rising Star until 1985 when co-founded Mac software publisher Aegis Development with Dave Barrett, Michelle Mehterian, and John Skeel.[4][3] Where he created a few of the primary Mac games, “The Pyramid of Peril”[8] followed afterward within the year by the “Mac Challenger”[7][9][4] Over the next couple of years in Aegis, Volk as VP of Development continued to thrive and work with emerging systems such as the Commodore Amiga.[3] Amid this time, Volk also authored the "Draw" and "Draw Plus" drafting programs for the Commodore Amiga.

1988 – 1994: In Activision creating “Return to Zork”

In 1988 he moved to Activision as a Director of Technology, eventually becoming the VP of Technology in 1991.[7][4][5] At Activision, he was head of the team that produced the first entertainment CD-ROM title, The Manhole (based on the Cyan HyperCard Mac game title), in 1989.[7][4][3] Volk created the game engine behind the highly acclaimed “Return to Zork”[7] as well as much of its innovative user interface design under his technical direction.[10][5] While at Activision, he invented and was awarded U.S. Patent #5,095,509 on March 10, 1992,[11] which enabled IBM personal computers to reproduce digitally sampled audio.

During his time with Activision, he designed the (M.A.D.E) game engine.[7] M.A.D.E. was originally created for the DOS version of The Manhole and was used on the DOS Floppy and CD-ROM versions, the NEC 9801 version and Fujitsu’s FM Towns version[7] as well as Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2,[7] for the Return to Zork and Rodney's Funscreen.[12]

1994 – 2016: From Lightspan to PlayScreen LLC

In 1994, Volk left Activision and was recruited to run development for Lightspan Inc. (now a subsidiary of PLATO Inc.), an educational multimedia company, originally used the Apple/British Telcom set-top box.[3] At the end of 1995, he was assigned to work on a platform supporting high quality video playback. He shifted his focus[7] [WK2] to the Sony PlayStation and helped to launch the first titles running on the PlayStation by the summer of 1996. With the assistance of Volk, his team produced more than 110 titles [26], also Lightspan was able to launch a successful IPO in 2000.[3]

Volk explains. “I had done several children's games at Activision - The Manhole, Rodney's Funscreen. Richard Scarry and I wanted to do something for education since I had children of my own.”[4]

Volk’s following move was outside of mainstream video games. Volk co-founded and served as CTO of Save.com (currently Redplum.com)[13] in 1999, where he and his team developed the first online-coupon system with barcodes.[6][3][13] He founded ZipProof in 2000, which allowed for web-based proofing of designs, and served as CTO and Chairman.[4][3]

After working at James Cameron's Earthship TV, with Sherri Cuono, in 2000 and 2001 and at Teknik Digital Arts Inc in 2003, Volk co-founded Bonus Mobile Entertainment, a mobile game developer, with Sherri Cuono in 2004. where he served as CEO and co-designed a multiplayer mobile game titled The Dozens which was licensed from the card game of the same name created by the Wayans Brothers.[4][5][6] Whereas at BME, he also created the ringtone brand known as Rude Tones.[6] He also taught a game design class at The Art Institute of California, San Diego as a Guest Lecturer in 2007.[4][14][3]

In 2006, they left Bonus Mobile and founded a new company MyNuMo LLC, “a web portal that allows independent artists access to the mobile market for ringtones, wallpapers, and videos”. In Nov 2010, Encinitas, California-based PlayScreen LLC acquired the assets of MyNuMo LLC. Volk served as vice president and Chief Creative Officer at PlayScreen.[15] Volk is credited with creating the concept for iWhack, the first iPhone game released (July 2007), before there was even an app store. MyNuMo re-created some of the most popular web apps for the App Store.[5] Volk also co-designed several original titles at MyNuMo including Pigs A Pop'N, Bailout Bonanza, Bounce Trap, Word Carnivale" and "Stick Figure Movie Trivia". Bocce Ball was the first Playscreen title in January of 2011.[4][14][3]

2016 – 2021: Award winning “The Climate Trail”

In November 2015, Volk became the CMO of Tricerat Inc, an enterprise software company, while still being a member of PlayScreen, LLC. Volk continued to consult with Tricerat until 2017 and was the project manager of the Print Reliably app released in 2017. Followed by Volk served as the Chief Futurist of Forward Realty, LLC.

Volk is the founder of Deep State Games[5] and in October 2019 William Volk produced and published The Climate Trail, a post-climate apocalypse game based on the classic educational video game The Oregon Trail.[2] Worked with environmental writer and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben and music composed by George Sanger (musician).[2] In 2020 a climate e-book based on ClimateCommunication.org and quizzes were added. The Climate Trail was awarded by the “Serious Play Conference'' in the Games for Good / Social Entrepreneurship / Non-Profit Games category, in 2020.[16]

2021 - Current work: Shiba Inu (SHIB)

Shiba Inu has partnered with game creator William David Volk to consult on its play-to-earn NFT game.[17][18] Shytoshi Kusama published article on Medium, “The Future of Gaming: Shib”, on November 26, declared their future title “Oshiverse” with Volk.[5][19][20]

Games

Year Title Publisher Credits
1981 Voyager I Avalon Hill Programmer
1981 Conflict 2500 Avalon Hill Game Design
1982 Space Station Zulu Avalon Hill Playtesters
1982 Controller Avalon Hill Programmed by
1983 Universe Omnitrend 3-D Graphics Subroutines
1985 The Pyramid of Peril Aegis Development Written by
1985 Mac Challenger Aegis Development
1989 The Manhole Activision Game System Development
1990 The Manhole: New and Enhanced Activision Game Programming
1990 Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye Activision Special Thanks To
1992 Ultimate Air Combat Activision Special Thanks To
1992 Rodney's Funscreen Activision Engineering by
1992 Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 Activision Programming
1993 Return to Zork Activision Technical Direction
1994 Richard Scarry's Best Neighborhood Disc Ever! Activision System Software
1998 A Mars Moose Adventure: Lightspan, Inc. Director, Software Technology
WalkAbout 3 - World Sports Day
Cosmic Quest 2 - Fairy Tale Island
WalkAbout 2 - The Shakespeare Festival
2004 The Dozens Bonus Mobile Entertainment Co-designer
2007 iWhack MyNuMo Co-designer
2008 Pigs A Pop'n MyNuMo Co-designer
2008 Bounce Trap MyNuMo
2009 Bailout Bonanza PlayScreen LLC
2012 Word Carnivale PlayScreen LLC Co-designer
2015 Blackjack Anywhere PlayScreen LLC
2019 The Climate Trail Deep State Games   Developer[21]
2021 Word Topics Olde Skuul Entertainment, Inc.
Future Shibu Inu Game Shiba Inu

References

  1. ^ https://hyperleap.com/topic/William_David_Volk
  2. ^ a b c "The Climate Trail, the game where you must escape a climate catastrophe". Yale Climate Connections. 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m BrettBloggerApril 12, Tyler; 2012 (2012-04-12). "William Volk: Veteran Game Developer, Mobile Pioneer". Game Developer. Retrieved 2022-04-11. {{cite web}}: |last2= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m WallisBloggerApril 19, Alistair; 2007 (2007-04-19). "Playing Catch Up: Conflict 2500's William Volk". Game Developer. Retrieved 2022-04-11. {{cite web}}: |last2= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Kusama, Shytoshi (2021-11-26). "The Future of Gaming Is Shib". Medium. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  6. ^ a b c d "William Volk – PGConnects – Hong Kong". Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Laraque, J. A. (2010-10-07). "The Interview: William D. Volk". Obsolete Gamer. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  8. ^ "Pyramid of Peril - Macintosh Garden". macintoshgarden.org. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  9. ^ "Mac-Challenger - Macintosh Garden". macintoshgarden.org. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  10. ^ "» Return to Zork The Digital Antiquarian". Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  11. ^ 5095509, Volk, William D., "United States Patent: 5095509 - Audio reproduction utilizing a bilevel switching speaker drive signal", issued March 10, 1992 
  12. ^ "William David Volk". frontend. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  13. ^ a b WO2001016853A1, Ettinger, Bruce & Volk, William, "Interactive coupon distribution system", issued 2001-03-08 
  14. ^ a b "Decoding the Secret of iPhone Game Popularity, With William Volk, Playscreen - socaltech.com". www.socaltech.com. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  15. ^ "The McLean Group – The McLean Group". mcleanllc.com. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  16. ^ "2020 Award Winners « Serious Play Conference". Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  17. ^ "SHIB Partners With Former Activision Developer To Create NFT Game". www.gfinityesports.com. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  18. ^ "Shiba Inu signs NDA with 'top studio' to develop metaverse game". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  19. ^ "Shiba Inu Collaborates With former Activision Vice President, William David Volk, To Create SHIB NFT Game". Times Tabloid. 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  20. ^ "Shiba Inu collaborates with William David Volk, former vice president of Activision, to develop the "Play-to-Earn" NFT game". Aliens. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  21. ^ "Word Topics - Puzzles & Trivia - Apps on Google Play". play.google.com. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
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