Developer Introduction - Marcus2389

Ciao a tutti, Marco here! If you have lurked around CoH 1 or CoH 2 communities in the last fifteen years you may know me already, I go by Marcus2389. 

Marco (aka Marcus2389) has been an active community member since the release of Company of Heroes in 2006.

I’m 33 years old, Italian, I love video games since I was kid, playing Prince of Persia and Commander Keen on my old Intel i386. However, it's when I started playing Company of Heroes in 2006 that I realized I truly found my favorite one and, since then, I dreamed of working at Relic to help make the next iteration of the franchise.  

What hooked me on Company of Heroes was that "magic sauce" I could not experience in any other RTS game — a mix between cinematic warfare ala “Save Private Ryan”, stunning graphics and audio and epic moments I could talk hours and hours about with my friends. It all started from the Campaign experience and 2vs2 against the AI and it slowly evolved into ranked games and being at the top of the 2vs2 leaderboad. What made everything more exciting was meeting other players from all over the world and building friendships that could last throughout the years despite the distance and not seeing each other in person. 

And in all honesty, that wasn't nearly enough. Since I started playing Company of Heroes, I helped create the CoH2.org fansite, organized and shoutcasted various tournaments including Sunday Night Fights, I helped pitch the Observer Mode feature for CoH 2 and I constantly offered my help and support to improve core combat and Gameplay Design.  

Ultimately, I envisioned communities as part of the development process already in 2012, by working tirelessly to maintain lines of communication between Relic and players, all to improve various game aspects like combat, maps, features, and DLCs. 

Marco (aka Marcus2389) playing the CoH 2 Pre-Alpha for the first time during Eurogamer Expo London in 2012.

Growing up I took a path that led me to Software Development first and to Project Management later and, right before joining Relic, I was working as an IT Project Manager in Rome. 

My passion for video games never faded and I always thought that nothing is impossible in life, if you always do your best and that you catch the right train when it passes. 

In 2017 Relic proposed that I join the CoH-Dev Closed Group. I was incredibly happy to fly to Vancouver and start helping the team with CoH 3, the first Relic video game to feature community member support right from the very beginning. During the years I have been part of this process and I truly felt my feedback was listened to, appreciated and also integrated in the game! 

From left to right: Relic Designers Brock, Matt P. together with community members Simon (aka Aimstrong), Miguel (aka DevM) and Marco (aka Marcus2389) during an early CoH 3 meeting in Vancouver in 2017.
 

2021 was the year I caught the train that passes once in a lifetime — back in June I was offered to join the Gameplay Team and help shape CoH 3, not just as a community member, but as a Relic Developer! Since then, it has been an incredible rollercoaster for me: getting a VISA, managing my job in Italy, setting up everything to move 9,000 kilometers and start a completely new life. It was hard to catch that train but ultimately, I can say it was worth it! 

I am so grateful to all the people I have met during these 15 years, and I cannot wait to help cook up some of that “magic sauce” for Company of Heroes and future Relic games! 

Grazie di tutto! 

Marco 

(P.S. Check out some highlights from my time in the community!)

Marcus vs VonIvan in Operation Charlie Fox

Marcus casting with A_E a CoH3 Pre-Alpha series featuring DevM vs Aimstrong