Mat Dickie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mat Dickie
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Dickie in 2018
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| Born | 1980/1981 (age 43–44) Brigg, North Lincolnshire, England
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| Other names | MDickie |
| Alma mater | University of Salford (BSc) |
| Occupation | Video game developer |
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Notable work
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Wrestling Revolution 3D, Wrestling Empire |
Mat Dickie (born 1980 or 1981), known professionally as MDickie, is an English independent video game developer and author. He is best known for his indie (meaning independently made) professional wrestling games. One of his most popular games is Wrestling Revolution for iOS and Android devices. This game was downloaded over 100,000 times in just two months after it launched in 2012.
Later, Wrestling Revolution reached over 10 million downloads. Its follow-up, Wrestling Revolution 3D, became a strong competitor to bigger games like WWE 2K on mobile phones and computers.
Mat Dickie started making games in 2000 for PCs. He took a break from game development in 2009 to work as an educator. He returned to making games in late 2011, focusing on mobile games. This led to the release of Wrestling Revolution in 2012. He retired again from full-time game making in 2018. However, in 2019, he announced a new wrestling game. This game, called Wrestling Empire, was released in early 2021 for the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices.
Many of Dickie's games are known for their unique controls and simple graphics. He has explained that the low-resolution and "low poly" (meaning fewer details) graphics help his games run smoothly. This allows him to "push a lot of boundaries" in terms of gameplay. The independent and low-budget style of his games has often made them very popular. Mat Dickie himself has jokingly said he is "single-handedly responsible for the worst games to ever be enjoyed by millions of people."
Contents
Early Life and Game Ideas
Mat Dickie was born in Brigg, a town in North Lincolnshire, England. His parents owned a small newsstand. He spent time there while they worked. To fight boredom, he would get creative. He made his own toys from the materials available in the shop.
He went to Brigg Primary School and then Franklin College. From a young age, he was interested in making games. He often drew out his ideas for games. Some of his early work was inspired by games he played as a child. These included WWF No Mercy, Super Fire Pro Wrestling, and WWF WrestleFest.
Dickie also enjoyed experimenting with Deluxe Paint on his Commodore Amiga computer. In 1998, he got a PC. This marked the real start of his journey into game development.
Mat Dickie's Game Development Career
PC Games (2000–2011)
Dickie began creating his first game after finding a program called DIV Game Studio. This program promised to make game development easy. He bought it from a local store and spent the summer of 2000 learning how to use it.
His first game, Hardy Boyz Stunt Challenge, came out in August 2000. In this game, players controlled one of the Hardy Boyz, who were wrestlers in the WWF (now called WWE). The game took two weeks to make. It was posted on a wrestling website and downloaded 15,000 times. The positive feedback encouraged him to keep making games. In November 2000, he created his own website to host his games.
In 2001, he moved to Manchester to study video games and computers. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Salford. That same year, he released his first complete game, Federation Online. This was a flash-based wrestling game.
In 2007, Dickie made his first big game that wasn't about wrestling. It was called Hard Time. This game was a prison simulator. Games for Windows Magazine named it the "Indie Game of the Month."
In early 2009, Dickie released The You Testament. This game was loosely based on the New Testament from the Bible. Players followed the life of Jesus Christ and his various miracles. He made this game in just three months. PC Gamer magazine called it the "best worst game ever." After this, he decided to take a break from game development. He felt it was hard to meet the growing expectations of players and critics.
Dickie then became a developer of educational software. He published his work on TES, a website for teachers. He wanted to make learning fun and improve education. However, he later realized that entertainment didn't play a big role in education. By 2017, his educational resources were used in 10,000 classrooms. He was even invited to the 2011 TES awards. He also became an author, writing a book about his game development journey. He wrote other books about religion and spirituality.
Mobile and Console Games (2012–Present)
In early 2012, Dickie was unemployed. He was also about to buy his first home and his first child was on the way. These big life changes motivated him to return to game development. He decided to focus on mobile games. Wrestling Revolution was his first major mobile game.
He also released mobile versions of his older PC games. These included Popscene in 2014, Wrecked, and Hard Time in 2017. His most successful game so far is Wrestling Revolution 3D. By 2017, it had reached 50 million downloads. It was the first sports game on Google Play to achieve this milestone.
In July 2018, Dickie announced he was retiring again from full-time game development. He mentioned "frightening intolerance" from online stores as one reason. In an interview, he also said that players' demands increased after big games like WWE 2K19 were released. Dickie stated he didn't want to compete directly with WWE games. Instead, he aimed to offer a "cheaper... lighter... [and] more creative alternative." He wanted to show that great games could still be made by "one man or a smaller team."
Wrestling Empire Game
In 2019, Dickie confirmed he was working on a new wrestling game. It was for the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices. This project was later revealed as Wrestling Empire. It was released on January 11, 2021. Dickie originally wanted to release it in 2020. This would have celebrated the 20th anniversary of WWF No Mercy and his 20th year as a game developer. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays. He could only finish about a third of what he planned for the game.
Because of the delay, Dickie decided to release Wrestling Empire in its unfinished state. He then added more features through regular updates. The game reminds players of wrestling games from the Nintendo 64 era. Dickie was inspired by those games, especially their focus on "gameplay over graphics." He believes this fits his goals as an independent developer.
Chris Scullion from Nintendo Life gave the game a 6/10 rating. He praised the detailed roster (list of characters), customization options, and career mode. However, he noted that the game engine was "laughably prone to botches." He felt players needed a "unhinged mindset to enjoy it." Overall, he found the game "overwhelmingly impressive, especially [considering] it was created by a single person."
Mat Dickie's Works
Video Games
Mat Dickie has created many video games across different platforms. Here are some of his notable titles:
PC Games
- Hardy Boyz Stunt Challenge (2000)
- Federation Online (2001)
- Wrestling MPire 2004 (2004)
- Wrestling Encore (2005)
- Hard Time (2006)
- The You Testament (2008)
- Wrestling Revolution 3D (2017)
- Wrestling Empire (2021)
Mobile Games
- Wrestling Revolution (2012)
- Booking Revolution (2013)
- Hard Time (2013)
- Popscene (2014)
- Wrestling Revolution 3D (2014)
- School Days (2015)
- Super City (2016)
- Extra Lives (2017)
- Wrestling Empire (2021)
Console Games
- Wrestling Empire (2021, Nintendo Switch)
- Old School (2023, Nintendo Switch)
Books
Mat Dickie has also written several books:
- Inspiration for the Interactive Generation (2009)
- Sportuality (2009)
- A-fear-ism: The Ignorance Of Atheism (2010)
See also
In Spanish: Mat Dickie para niños
