Figatner Industries

One person in the Seattle area, making software and games and standing behind them.

Building

I've been trying to keep the computer on since the 1980s.

I learned on a Radio Shack Color Computer 2 hooked up to the family TV in Brooklyn, typing programs out of a magazine. I had no tape drive, so if the computer went off, the work went with it.

Then I swore I'd never be a programmer, and spent fifteen years as a lawyer, ending up as head lawyer for Microsoft Game Studios. I loved helping those people make games. I just didn't love it as much as actually making stuff.

So in 2014 I set up shop at my local Starbucks in Taipei and started building. Eighteen games and a pile of open-source libraries later, I formed this company for the part that comes after building: standing behind what's been built, in writing, so it keeps working for the people who rely on it.

  • Build what I want to use.Golem Docs exists because I wanted one editor that opens every kind of document.
  • Build in the open.The source is public, so you can read it, and keep it if I stop.
  • Build with ai, and stay in charge.People set the goals and judge the results. I write about that a lot.
  • Build to last.Your files stay yours, in formats that outlive any one app.

Games

Eighteen of them, most playable in your browser.

pixi-viewport

A 2D camera for pixi.js, maintained since 2017.

More open source

Small pieces pulled out of the games so other people could use them.

Promises

Four promises, in the company's operating agreement

  1. What you keep is yours.You can always get it out in open or documented formats. It's never sold, never used for advertising, and never used to train AI models without your permission.
  2. It works for you.The software keeps working for the people using it, with your data on your own devices wherever a product's design allows.
  3. The source stays open.Applications are published under open-source licenses, and the code stays available if the company stops working on a product.
  4. No sudden endings.You get reasonable notice before a product or service you rely on ends, and a way to take your data with you.

Yearly report

Every year the company publishes how it did on these promises, where it fell short, and what comes next. The first report goes here after the first fiscal year closes.

Sister sites