Phil Fish facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Phil Fish
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Fish at GAMMA 3D in 2008
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Philippe Poisson
1984 (age 40–41) |
| Occupation | Game designer |
| Employer | Polytron Corporation |
| Known for | Fez |
Philippe Poisson (born 1984), known as Phil Fish, is a French Canadian former indie game designer. He is most famous for creating the 2012 platform game Fez. Phil grew up in Quebec, where playing Nintendo games as a kid later inspired his own game designs.
He studied game design at the Montreal National Animation and Design Centre. Before starting his own company, Polytron, in 2008, he worked at big game companies like Ubisoft and Artificial Mind and Movement. Phil was also a founder of Kokoromi, a group that explores new and experimental game ideas. He also helped organize the yearly GAMMA games events in Montreal.
While Fez was being made, Phil also worked on other games at Polytron, like SuperHyperCube and Power Pill, which were not released. Fez finally came out in April 2012 after a long five-year journey to create it. It received lots of praise from players and critics. The final parts of its creation were shown in the 2012 movie Indie Game: The Movie, which helped Phil become quite famous, which is rare for game creators.
After some difficult online experiences, Phil announced twice over the next two years that he was leaving game development. He said he felt mistreated by the game industry for a long time. Polytron later released the game Panoramical in 2015. Phil then returned with Kokoromi to release SuperHyperCube in 2016.
Phil Fish's Early Life and Career
Phil Fish was born Philippe Poisson in Montreal in 1984. He grew up in Quebec, where his parents shared their love for art and games with him. Phil's dad even translated The Legend of Zelda into French so they could play it together. Phil says these early memories were very important and later influenced his game Fez. He finished his studies in Design and Digital Art for Video Games in 2004.
Phil started his career at the video game company Ubisoft. He worked there as a level designer on a game called Open Season. At first, he was excited about the job. But he soon became unhappy with the very large teams and the working conditions. Phil later said it was "the worst experience of [his] life." He was eventually fired from the company.
In May 2006, Phil won an award for Best Cut-Scene at the NAD Center Awards. Later that year, he started working as a level designer at Artificial Mind and Movement. There, he designed levels for games based on movies, including The Golden Compass.
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Phil is one of the people who started Kokoromi. This group creates and promotes experimental video games. In November 2006, Phil organized an event called GAMMA 01 Audio Feed. It featured games that used live sound. He also planned similar events, GAMMA 256 in 2007 and GAMMA 3D in 2008, in Montreal. Phil was even invited to give a talk about GAMMA 01 at the 2007 Game Developers Conference.
Creating Polytron and Fez
Phil started working with Shawn McGrath, another indie game creator. Shawn had an idea for a puzzle game that showed 2D views of a 3D space. Phil created the art for this project. However, they had different ideas about the game, and their partnership ended. Phil wanted the game to be more of a platform game.
Phil kept working on the game in his free time. He added the idea of voxels, which are like 3D pixels. This meant a 2D pixel could be seen from four different sides. This game became Fez. The game's design, story, and art all came from this unique game mechanic. Phil found a programmer named Renaud Bédard online, and Renaud became the game's programmer.
Fez was first announced in July 2007. It was nominated for two awards at the 2008 Game Developers Conference Independent Games Festival. Phil's employer at the time, Artificial Mind and Movement, would not let him take time off to go to the festival. So, Phil quit his job. He said this moment in January 2008 was "when I became indie." The game got a lot of attention at the festival. This led Phil to start his own company, Polytron Corporation, with a government loan.
Later, Polytron ran out of money and was almost going to close. But a nearby company called Trapdoor offered to help Polytron. They did this without taking over the rights to Fez. Phil said this partnership saved the game. Fez was delayed many times over the next few years, which made it quite famous for its long development.
In late 2009, Polytron showed an iPhone game called Power Pill. This game featured a special pill that traveled through human bodies. It used the iPhone's multi-touch screen. While working on Fez, Phil also brought back an old game idea called SuperHyperCube. This game used Wiimote motion capture and 3D navigation. Phil thought the game would work even better with the new Kinect motion tracking system. The updated game was a finalist at Indiecade 2011.
Phil Fish and Fez were a big part of the 2012 movie Indie Game: The Movie. Through this film, Phil became famous, which is unusual for game designers. The movie tells the stories of several indie game creators as they make their games. Phil is shown getting ready for the Fez booth at PAX East in March 2011. The movie also shows Phil dealing with a legal problem with a former business partner. This problem put the game's release at risk. The film also shows how much Phil personally cared about the game.
Near the end of making Fez, Phil felt "burnt out" and that his health had suffered. Fez was released on April 13, 2012. It sold 200,000 copies during its first year, when it was only available on Xbox Live Arcade. Video game review sites said the game received "generally favorable" reviews for the Xbox 360 version. The 2013 PC version received "universal acclaim," meaning almost everyone loved it.
While it was being made, Fez won several awards. It won the 2012 GDC Independent Games Festival's Seamus McNally Grand Prize. It also won Best in Show and Best Story/World Design at Indiecade 2011. And it won the Excellence in Visual Art award at the 2008 GDC Independent Games Festival. Eurogamer gave Fez a perfect score and called the "perfect, wordless sci-fi parable" their 2012 Game of the Year. The game sold one million copies by the end of 2013. Phil announced that the game would eventually be available on most other video game platforms.
After Fez
A sequel to Fez was announced in June 2013 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. About a month later, an argument happened online between Phil Fish and a journalist. This led to Phil canceling the Fez sequel and announcing he was leaving the game industry. Phil said the industry was too negative. The news came as a surprise to the rest of the Polytron team.
In June 2014, Phil announced Polytron Partners. This was a new effort by Polytron to help fund and support other indie game projects, like a publisher. Their first game was Panoramical, an "interactive musical landscape anthology" game.
Phil was one of the first people affected by the Gamergate issue. His personal and company information was hacked and released publicly in August 2014. Phil responded by saying that his company and the Fez game were for sale.
Even after saying twice that he was leaving the video game industry, Phil stayed connected with Kokoromi. Together, they finished SuperHyperCube in late 2016. It was one of the first games for PlayStation VR. He also designed the start-up animations for the Analogue Super Nt console in 2017.
In a 2023 interview, Phil talked about canceling Fez 2 and leaving the industry. He said that canceling the game had less to do with the online argument and more with him not wanting to make a sequel. He called the online argument an "out" because he was frustrated. He had suddenly become a public figure from Indie Game: The Movie. He also felt pressured to build on his success by making a sequel he didn't care about. Phil said that Fez 2 only had very basic concept art, which made the decision to cancel it easy. Phil also hinted that he might be working on a new project that is not a video game.
Phil Fish's Works
- SuperHyperCube (2016, Kokoromi, as designer)
- Fez (2012, Polytron, as designer)
- Power Pill (unreleased, as designer)
- The Golden Compass (2007, Artificial Mind and Movement, as assistant level designer)
- Open Season (2006, Ubisoft, as level designer)
