The guy responsible for the whole battle engine in Total War since Rome 1 had 'never worked writing game code' when he got the assignment

Total War: Rome Remastered
(Image credit: Creative Assembly)

Ever felt lost at sea in the first days of a new job? I'll admit it—my first weeks at PC Gamer, I had no idea what I was doing (some might say that's still the case). I was just trying to keep my head above water and not publish anything libellous, or at least nothing both libellous and unfunny.

But my experience doesn't have a patch on Scott Pitkethly, battle architect at Creative Assembly. In a chat with PC Gamer, Pitkethly said his start at the studio—all the way back in 1999—was very much sink-or-swim. First, the studio put him to work on sports games, which he couldn't care less about. Then when he finally got to make a Total War? Well, he had literally never worked writing game code before.

(Image credit: Sega)

But Pitkethly must have had some affinity for the art anyway, because Rome: Total War came out and quickly became one of the most beloved entries in the series—so much so that it earned itself a remaster back in 2021. The engine for the game even ended up being put to use in the BBC's Time Commanders (though it turns out that show was all built on a big lie).

As for Pitkethly? "I've been here on every project since really. Except the one everyone says is their favorite, Medieval 2, I didn't actually work on [that]." Ah well, at least no one's making him develop sports games anymore.

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Joshua Wolens
News Writer

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

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