SEX, DRUGS AND VIDEO GAMES! A Story From A Virgin Interactive Entertainment CEO In The 90’s
From the Managing Director of Virgin Interactive Entertainment Comes a ‘90s Behind-the-Scenes Story of a Team that Broke and Changed Rules Forever in the Video Game Industry.
Twenty years ago dominant global video game publisher Virgin Interactive Entertainment (VIE) were beloved by gamers for their fluffy Lion King platformer and the explosive action titles from Cannon Fodder to Command & Conquer. But behind the scenes lay a world of hedonism, excess, and disruption that makes The Wolf of Wall Street look like an Alan Bennett drama. Former VIE President Tim Chaney played a central role in those days of ‘adrenaline-fueled rampant risk,’ leading his team of young Britpop lads and ladettes to break the rules with little regard for the consequences — or the costs.
This will be the no-holds-barred story of how the backroom team at Virgin Interactive tore up the rulebook and matched ruthless game publishing with extreme pleasure – the trashed game launch venues, the complementary sachets of powder sent out to game reviewers, and the SIX video game trailers in a row banned by the Advertising Standards Authority. While standard form for rock and roll stars in the music business, the young videogame industry was still in only its second decade, and no one had seen or experienced the brash, reckless, force of VIE in its heyday. It may all seem a whirl two decades on, but Tim knows the people, facts and the dates, and relays the stories of other developers and publishers who can recall just what they got up to like Westwood Studios, Capcom Bethesda Softworks.
Visit tiny.cc/my90svirginstory
“The dealer, in his white Porsche, would come to our offices as requested and set up shop in the foyer. Clubs were closed for refurbishment, wrecked after launch events. I had to wade in and apologise to a bank manager after one of the secretaries sat astride on the photocopier without underwear and faxed the picture to the wrong number – Excerpt from Tim Chaney’s campaign on Kickstarter.
With plans to also adapt the raucous antics into a movie, this is a chance for you to get in on the ground floor and support Tim’s book as an early adopter on Kickstarter – you can even get a copy signed by Richard Branson.
“By 2015 video games were generating $74bn a year. We had a hand in helping that along. This book will rightly immortalize our unique legacy in this great industry of ours.” – Tim Chaney
“I would like to go to London and chop Tim Chaney off at the knees.” –Tom Dooley, Viacom COO
