Our First 15 Years

Iron Galaxy is 15 years old. Happy birthday to us!

As this milestone was fast approaching, we asked some of the people who have been here since the beginning to talk about what our first 15 years have meant to them. We certainly can’t share all of that reminiscence. Some of those stories are too candid for the Internet. Other details are secured under iron-clad NDAs. But here are some of the more inspiring or amusing memories that made the cut.


Dave Lang: “When we started the company, Capcom gave us our first work (Adam Boyes worked for Capcom at that time), and from almost the beginning, we talked about doing Street Fighter III: Third Strike upres for consoles. I talked about this a lot with the first-year crew, and everyone kind of knew it would be the first project we owned from soup to nuts, and it was a pretty big deal for us. After a few false starts, we finally got our hands on the code. As I type this, I think I must be misremembering it because it seems impossible, but over a weekend, Darryl got the game sort of running on Xbox. Not everything was rendered correctly (or at all) but it was recognizably Third Strike and I just remember being overwhelmed with this feeling that we were going to absolutely eat that project for lunch, which we did.”

Mike O’Connor: “A lot has changed for both the company and me since I started. During my time here, I’ve gotten married and become a father. The company was small enough that when I got married, I invited the whole company… that wouldn’t be very feasible anymore unless you wanted a really big wedding. When my son was born, we didn’t have an official parental leave policy, but I appreciated that Dave told me to make sure I took enough time and didn’t try to rush back to work. And when we got stuck at the hospital for an extra ten days, Dave and Ramon stopped by to visit and brought us pizza (a welcome break from hospital food).”

Chris Keyser: “I think it was just me, Ramon, and Lang in Japan, but Nate might have been there as well. We were wandering the streets of Tokyo when some random person yelled "Dave Lang!" and ran up to us. Apparently Giant Bomb turned Lang into a B-list celebrity, which got him recognized on the streets of Tokyo. The guy was pretty cool and just chatted with us a bit. We told him we were looking for a bar to go to and he was like “Ah, I know a place!” He took us to this amazing underground cocktail bar. There were only a handful of people in there and the bartender would just look at people, ask them a few questions, and then make a custom drink for them. All the drinks were absolutely amazing. The guy was doing things I’ve never seen before like lighting basil on fire and infusing the smoke into the drinks. It was wild in the best way possible. My takeaway from the whole experience is that Lang is big in Japan.”

Dan Coleman: “When we first got started, we had hard phone lines in people’s offices because we all had them at Midway and we thought it made sense at the time. We got so many calls for Iron Galaxy to weld things that we stopped answering and turned the ringer down. One night OC (Mike O’Connor) and I were there late, and we set off the alarm silently when we were closing up. The alarm company called but we didn’t hear it. I think I remember seeing the red light on the phone blinking and not thinking much about it. Then the police came and us two industry nerds were trying to explain how we work at a video game studio. One dude hadn’t played since the Atari but the other dude’s kid played Nintendo so I guess he bought our story.”

Darryl Wisner: “To me, one of the fondest memories of IG is looking back and seeing everything that we’ve built together over the years. It still astonishes me to this day when comparing where we started to where we are now. Every step of the way thinking “It can’t get better than this” and later realizing “Well, I guess it can!” Now, across 3 physical locations and working on the best franchises in the industry, I continue to be humbled and amazed by all the work everyone here at IG has done to get us to where we are today. It certainly can’t get better than it is today.”

[Editor’s Note: It can.]

Ramon Franco: “Iron Galaxy opened my eyes to what has become one of my favorite genres in games: Fighting Games. Before I joined Iron Galaxy, fighting games were just games me and friends mashed our way through, not understanding any depth that came with them. Ever since we worked on Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition at IG, we started getting involved in that scene more and more, starting at Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament (UFGT) in Chicago and culminating at EVO when we brought Divekick to the event. That EVO we set up a booth to show the game and were able to get a tournament of around 325 players. The whole event was a big drive for us to get the game greenlit on Steam.”

‍Andrew Massari: “It’s kind of wild to see how we’ve grown from that “rinky dink indie outfit” to a grown-up game studio. To me, one of the greatest benefits of working at IG is that we get to work with so many amazing partners, and learn from what they do well, and then put our own spin on it. Over time, I’ve watched us grow and adapt with each of our projects, learning from them and getting better all the time. We may never have been perfect, but each day we’re a day closer to it. For all the change in the last 15 years, those core tenets of respect, responsibility, and quality haven’t budged.”

Chad Newhouse: “When I first joined Iron Galaxy in 2010, I had no idea of the crazy ride I’d be on. It was a scrappy startup, and I would be the only artist in an engineering-focused company that was 2,000 miles away. That day I knew two things. First, I joined a company full of good friends and people I loved working with on previous projects. Second, the people at IG are some of the brightest and most trustworthy people I have had the pleasure of knowing. Both characteristics still ring true today! I remember my first week, Dave Lang decided he would come and work out of my house to “get to know me” more! I really think he came out to check up on what an artist does, or maybe to see that I was actually working. Whatever the reason, it was a great time! I knew then that this was a company I wanted to be at for the long haul.”

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‍Chelsea Blasko: “I remember the first time we had a milestone to deliver during my tenure. At that point, milestone days could stretch past normal working hours and I was used to staying until the very end with my team. After a while, Dave asked me what I was still doing there. I responded that the build hadn’t gone out, so I was sticking around until it did. He asked, “What are you going to do to help? You can’t fix any bugs. Get out of here.” He was right. I couldn’t be of much help beyond morale boosting at that moment. However, leaving my team was such a foreign concept to me. I left the studio feeling incredibly guilty, but it taught me a great lesson and showed me that just because staying was industry norm, we didn’t have to follow nonsensical standards at Iron Galaxy. We could forge a better path.”

‍Sujatha Nagarajan: “I still remember Dave Lang stating "We are definitely not a 'normal' games company, so bring any questions you may have" during the open house interview day that I was in. It certainly is not, and I would say it has strived over the years to maintain this status quo and in keeping the core culture stronger. On an individual level, the most important improvement that I see within myself is my ability to speak up confidently. My voice previously was soft and timid, although in my mind it definitely was not. The most noticeable aspect that shows IG evolution, and is my personal favorite, is to see the office growing from a single common bathroom to multiple with stalls that consider inclusivity.”

‍Kurt Tillmans: “I’ve made friends for life, and I would do it all again tomorrow.”

Chris LaCalamita: “When I joined Iron Galaxy in 2011, the absence of mandatory crunch, emphasis on work-life balance, and peer to peer equality across the organization stood out as core pillars, spearheaded by Dave, and upheld by the team. This combined with picking up frequent short-term projects, fostered a small-town indie studio vibe, which I loved! Fast forward to 2023, we've grown tremendously. We not only hired more people but created entirely new departments. While I in some ways miss the multifaceted roles I used to play when we were a smaller organization, I far more appreciate the contributions, diversity, and friendships that have come with this growth. Witnessing our new team members and departments thrive, while simultaneously gelling with IG’s core values, makes for exciting studio prospects, and an organizational culture I continue to be proud of.”

Joe Palmer: “I've basically worked at IG my whole adult life. So, I've evolved a lot. In my career, I've grown from a green engineer to someone who can mentor others while leading discipline groups and projects. I've grown in my own confidence, in my place, in the industry and as a contributor to the company. As a man, I'm married now. I have a 1-year-old, so becoming a husband and a father is a big evolution for me.”

It makes perfect sense to check in with some of the Original Galaxians at a time like this, but today belongs to us all. We’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to our growth over the years. Without our people, partners, friends, family, and the players of our games, we would not be where we are today. And we’re just getting started. If you’d like to be a part of Iron Galaxy’s next 15 years, visit our website to learn more about us and what to expect on the journey ahead.

Happy Birthday, Iron Galaxy.