Mobstar celebrates five years of murder, money and politics

(26.02.2008, 21:37:43) Mobstar is one of the most successful mafia-themed browser games there is. Being launched in 2003 it is now celebrating it's fifth birthday. We've had the chance to speak to Steven Bakker from United Games to find out about his experiences in half a decade. He also brought along some special anniversary money suitcases giving you the chance to start off with an extra budget!

Galaxy-News: Hi Steven, please introduce yourself to our readers.

Steven: Hi! First of all, thanks for the interview.
My name is Steven, I am 21 years old and I live in Utrecht, Netherlands. I am what they call a real game freak, in particular online text-based MMO’s.

Galaxy-News: Mobstar has been founded it 2003 and is now celebrating it’s fifth birthday. Congratulations! When did you start working for UnitedGames?

Steve: I started working at UnitedGames in April 2005, so that is almost 3 years already. How I got at UnitedGames is a funny story. I was working in a supermarket as floor manager but in my spare time I was admin on Mobstar. On day the owners of UnitedGames just asked me if I was interested in a job as community manager. I think you understand my decision was quickly made!

Galaxy-News: What does your daily work as a Community Manager look like? What are you responsible for?

Steven: At the moment I am responsible for 4 games, Mobstar, Dgame, Fight of Ages and Mobstar Massacre. I make sure all our players receive proper support. We have a team of almost 100 volunteers spread over the Helpdesk members, Moderators and Admins. Besides that I am always looking for new interesting games for UnitedGames. For example, Dgame was made by a 13 year old boy. We managed to support him with his development and payment system and now he has a cool game running.

Galaxy-News: How did Mobstar evolve since it started?

Steven: The evolvement of Mobstar was unbelievable. In January 2003 2 students started working on their school project ‘Mobstar’. They got their inspiration from the biggest mafia game back than, Mafia.org. They were able to create a very addictive online mafia game with very little features. In the beginning of 2004 Mobstar was flooded with new member, the to 2000 in one month! For the 2 students the game was soon to big to handle, since they had to finish their studies. That’s when UnitedGames bought Mobstar from them. UnitedGames redesigned the whole game and made very much new features such as the stockmarket, real estate, missions, bulletfactory hostage and now, the newest feature, Texas Hold’em Poker.

Galaxy-News: What was the biggest change in the Mobstar universe?

Steven: The biggest change was the change of ownership. The game was just to big for those 2 students. UnitedGames was able to give it the time that was needed to succeed.

Galaxy-News: What changes and features are you proud of?

Steven: I guess all the features that we have worked on in the last few years are very cool. The best part is brainstorming until late in the night, with a nice cold beer. The fun and creativity that you experience in such a brainstorm session is unbelievable. When I have to choose the best feature I guess this will be the Real Estate. You, as Mafiosi, are able to build a real estate empire. The fun thing is that other players can hire the houses or rooms that you have made.

Galaxy-News: What are future development plans and in how far is the community able to influence these plans?

Steven: We are now working on a Texas Hold’em Tournament. In December of 2007 we introduced Texas Hold’em Poker to Mobstar. People were so enthusiastic about it that a few days after the release we got request for a tournament feature. And so we started building it in February.

Galaxy-News: I heard you brought along a little gift for our readers?

Steven: I did! Everyone who signs up an account on Mobstar via Galaxy-News will receive a special fifth anniversary Money Suitcase. You will find 50.000 euro to start your gangster live the easy way!

Galaxy-News: Thanks for the interview and all the best for the next five years!

Autor: Redaktion

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Mobstar interview

(23.08.2007, 11:43:27) Mobstar was één van de eerste online maffia games die je in je browser kon spelen. Het spel geniet grootse bekendheid en het werd voor ons tijd voor een interview met Steven Bakker, programmeur bij United Games.