Rami Ismail was born on October 30, 1988. He is a Dutch-Egyptian independent video game developer. He is also known as a spokesperson in the video game industry for topics such as diversity and supporting game developers from developing countries. In 2010, he helped start the studio Vlambeer with Jan Willem Nijman. Together, they created games including Ridiculous Fishing, Luftrausers, and Nuclear Throne.

Early life

Ismail was born in the Netherlands to an Egyptian father and a Dutch mother, and was raised as a Muslim.

Vlambeer

Ismail attended the Utrecht School of the Arts, where he met Jan Willem Nijman. The two worked together during a game development course and created a game they believed could be sold. When the school asked for ownership of the game, both left the school and started Vlambeer in 2010 so they could continue making games without such restrictions. Many of Vlambeer’s games received good reviews from critics, but the studio gained major attention after the 2013 mobile game Ridiculous Fishing became very popular. This game earned more than US$1 million in revenue within six months, which helped Vlambeer and both Ismail and Nijman financially.

Through Vlambeer, Ismail created presskit() and distribute(), free online tools that help independent game developers prepare and share press kits, marketing materials, demo versions of games, and other resources with members of the press.

Views

Ismail, a Muslim who often works with members of the video game industry outside Western and Asian countries, has discussed ways to connect with programmers in developing nations. He has strongly opposed policies such as the Trump travel ban, which made it harder for him to travel to the United States and also limited opportunities for programmers from developing countries to attend important industry events. In 2018, he criticized the travel ban again after several non-Western and non-Asian developers were unable to get visas to attend the Game Developers Conference in the United States. In January 2019, Ismail announced the creation of Gamedev.world, a game developer conference for independent developers from affected countries. He started the event with Sarah Elmaleh, Gwen Frey, Houssem Ben Amor, and Gabriel Dal Santo. Gamedev.world was designed to include developers from non-Western countries. The first conference took place online in June 2019, using virtual services. Presenters could speak in their native languages, and talks were translated into 30 languages. After the physical 2020 Game Developers Conference was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gamedev.world organized several charitable events to help developers who had lost non-refundable payments for attending the conference and needed help recovering their costs.

Accolades

Ismail and Nijman were listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 for Games in 2015. In 2018, Ismail received the Ambassador award from the Game Developers Choice Awards for his work to encourage diversity in video games and for helping support game developers in countries with fewer resources. Variety named Ismail one of the Most Influential in Videogames in 2018 for creating free tools for independent creators. GamesIndustry.biz also named Ismail one of its People of the Year for 2018 for his ongoing efforts to support game development in developing countries. In December 2018, Ismail was invited to the "Uitblinkerslunch," an annual event where King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima honor a few Dutch people who have achieved "extraordinary accomplishments."

Personal life

Ismail lives in the Netherlands. He lived with his wife, Adriel Wallick, who is also a game developer. They met through their work in video games. With the help of Bungie, they became engaged in a virtual way through the game Destiny in October 2016. They married in November 2017. They separated in August 2018 but remain friends. Ismail often gives talks at conventions and teaches game design at universities.

In August 2022, Ismail finished his flight training and became an officially licensed pilot. He says that playing Microsoft Flight Simulator helped him pass the examination.