Draft:RobertBarkow
Robert Barkow | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 November 1997
[1] |
| Other names | "Rob" |
| Occupation | Video game developer |
| Employer | Valve Corporation |
| Website | robertbarkow.com |
Robert "Rob" Barkow (born 20 November 1997) is a video game developer from the United States. He is best known for being a Steam developer at Valve Corporation and developing the PC game Ruinic on their platform Steam, which began as an experimental game engine and was later developed into its own game under the same title. [2][3] Barkow specializes in user interface and feature development at Valve Corporation.
Barkow is an avid supporter of Direct Storage technology released by Microsoft and the game Ruinic is one of few implementing the technology. According to Barkow, the technology can cut loading times to around two seconds or less; which he shared benchmarks at a live conference through Game Dev League with other game developers.[4]
Early life and education
[edit]Barkow was born in Brooklyn, New York. He played many fantasy role-playing video games while growing up. Barkow started programming on an Windows personal computer that his parents purchased him as a child around age ten, and shortly after gained interest in video game development and started programming his own small games and applications. His game Zathexus and the website Zathexus.com was sold to a Chinese gaming company for a repurposed use and an undisclosed amount.[5]
Video game career
[edit]After leaving high school, Barkow signed to Valve Corporation for video game development on their platform Steam, his main areas of expertise being user interface and feature development.[6]
In April 2022, Barkow announced Direct Storage implementation on the PC game Ruinic, being one of the first titles to implement the new technology on Steam at a live conference through Game Dev League.
Views on the video game industry
[edit]In 2022, Barkow stated that the future of fast-loading games is here, and Direct Storage is going to change the future of the video game industry by bringing a new era of fast loading and decompression of game assets. Directly quoted from an interview of Barkow: "It drastically speeds up loading and decompression of game assets, improves resumption of paused games, and eliminates various I/O bottlenecks within systems. Since game developers have to integrate the API into future games, it'll be a while before we can experience it,".[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Barkow, Robert. "Steam Developer: Robert Barkow". Steam. Valve. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ Barkow, Robert. "Ruinic". IGDB. Twitch. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ Barkow, Robert. "Robert Barkow". IGDB. Twitch. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ a b Barkow, Robert (1 April 2022). "Game Developer Robert Barkow Says the Future of Fast-Loading Games Is Here". Yahoo. No. Now. Yahoo. Cision. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ Barkow, Robert. "Robert Barkow - Portfolio". Robert Barkow. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ Barkow, Robert (12 February 2020). "Creating His Own World: Robert Barkow". Town Mag. Town Mag. Retrieved 15 February 2023.