Brendan Greene, game-maker (PUBG, Prologue: Go Wayback!)
From My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin by Simon Parkin
May 26, 2026 · 1h 24m · Episode 162
About this episode
Brendan Greene discusses his journey from hobbyist to game designer and the impact of his work on the gaming industry.
Brendan Greene is a game designer whose work reshaped the landscape of competitive multiplayer video games. Raised on a barracks in County Kildare, he grew up in an army family with little more than an Atari 2600 for company. He studied Fine Art in college, taught himself web design, and spent years freelancing — even moving to Brazil — before rediscovering video games through the DayZ mod for Arma 2 . What began as hobbyist tinkering on Reddit forums became something much bigger when he created the Battle Royale mod in 2013, inspired by the cult Japanese film. Three years later, the mod became PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds . PUBG’s brutal, hundred-player survival format exploded into a global sensation, helping cement the battle royale genre as a dominant force in modern video games. Now, through PlayerUnknown Productions, he has returned to his fascination with emergent storytelling with Prologue: Go Wayback! , a game that challenges players to navigate nature’s unforgiving systems and carve their own path through the wilderness. Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at…
People in this episode
Host: Simon Parkin
Guest: Brendan Greene
Topics covered
- game design
- battle royale
- emergent storytelling
- competitive gaming
- video game history
Keywords
- Brendan Greene
- PUBG
- Prologue: Go Wayback!
- battle royale
- game design
- emergent storytelling
- video games
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: PlayerUnknown Productions
Products: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Books & works: Prologue: Go Wayback!
Places: County Kildare, Brazil
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