“If we can survive that, we can survive anything.“

March 17, 2026 - 23:31

At a time of widespread layoffs and studio closures, veteran game designer Don Daglow offered a powerful message of resilience at last week's Game Developers Conference. Receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award, the 73-year-old pioneer reflected on a career spanning over five decades, from creating the first interactive baseball game in 1971 to designing the first graphical MMO.

"Industries rise and fall and rise again," Daglow told the audience. "I’ve been laid off. I’ve been fired. I’ve built great things with great people and then watched them be torn down." He channeled this history into a rallying cry for the future, leading the crowd in a chant of "Let’s build something great!"

In a subsequent conversation, Daglow pointed to two sources for his enduring optimism. The first was his parents, who maintained a positive outlook after losing their careers during the Great Depression. The second was his direct experience surviving the catastrophic video game industry crash of 1983, when the console market collapsed entirely.

"The console business completely collapsed," Daglow recalled, admitting he initially believed his career was over. That crash was followed by a historic rebirth with the arrival of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Drawing a parallel to today's challenges, Daglow stated, "If we can survive that, we can survive anything."

His perspective serves as a reminder of the industry's cyclical nature and its capacity for recovery, urging current developers to retain their passion through both triumph and disaster.