Ward Dehairs

I was born in 1994 in Sint-Truiden, Belgium. I have a degree in theoretical physics. I am mostly interested in physics, math, computer simulation, science fiction, and of course, video games.

My first real contact with game development happened at the beginning of my studies in physics, when I had to make a text-based game for an entry-level programming course. I enjoyed the work so much that I decided to work on new projects during my spare time. I learned a lot from each and finished one game after the other. It wasn’t until my last year majoring in physics that I realized I might want to make a career out of game development.

After an unusually short experience with a PhD project, I found my way to a game development job at KU Leuven. My job was to make, expand, and fix games for scientific purposes, in particular to package hearing tests and exercises in child-friendly games. This job came to an end after 14 months as the pressing need for game development in the department was met, and the funding went to more in-depth C++ development.

After KU Leuven, I joined a small startup in Ghent by the name of Creative Therapy. My job there was to build software and games for a specialized pressure/led matrix mat designed for use with physical therapy. So-called exer-games are used to replace traditional therapy sessions, allowing for a more interactive and motivating approach for patients and especially children. This helps them to keep up their therapy at home and over months of time.

While working at Creative Therapy I was sent out as consultant for multiple companies, including Spentys and mict. After 4 years working there and long consideration I decided to leave the company to take this consultancy into my own hands.

This led me to found Negotiator Studios on July 13, 2023. The name came as a bit of a joke, referencing the long negotations about names and titles I would have with my colleagues working on Diode Arena.

Since then I have continued working as a consultant and spent my spare time developing different games and tools related to game development.