So somebody was telling us you were in the military…

Halper: I did military training. I used to work with Lockheed Martin, making training programs for the military. I also worked on a coastguard training project and the military saw the benefits of that. But you start to think about how to make these things interesting for soldiers who like to play videogames, so I’m used to thinking about it in that way. Then I got into games as a hobby, and then I got kind of addicted.

Starting with Battlefield 1942?

Halper: Yeah, that got me. Then I started Trauma Studios with Frank [DeLise, the game’s producer], and then we moved on to research and development on Battlefield 2.

And then DICE bought Trauma…

Halper: Yeah, we did the feature set, the commander system and the artillery strikes on Battlefield 2, but then we got bought by DICE. And we didn’t want to move out of New York, because a lot of talented people live in New York, so we formed a new studio.

So how’s working with THQ?

Halper: Great, man. In 2005 we started out with 14 people, now we’ve got about 60 or 70. And we can talk to all of THQ’s other development teams, so we can get their input. Like Relic have got a really good balance team, or if Volition or Cranky Pants have artists with some downtime they might help us out.