CHENNAI: Vaibhav Kinlekar, who is pursuing engineer and level designing in gaming simultaneously, has been into gaming since he was four. “My father used to play games in his free time and I used to stand beside him, observing the games closely. I used to be obsessed with and attracted to how the games worked.” With quite a few victories in local and online tournaments, Vaibhav ranks 450 in Asia and is one among the top 30 gamers in India.
Like every 90s kid, he played Super Mario and Aladdin, but the game that inspired Vaibhav to become a game developer was Age of Empires. Currently, he plays Dota and Dota 2, Dark Souls 3, Rocket League, Need For Speed and Pokemon.
Computer and games are an integral part of Vaibhav’s life. Despite being very interested in coding, he still wanted to pursue gaming, His family and friends were initially surprised at first when he decided to take up gaming as a profession. “When I explained to them that there was a course at the Backstage Pass Institute of Gaming and Technology (BPIGT), my parents gave me their support. BPIGT also has many courses in the different aspects of gaming, which has helped me a lot,” said Vaibhav.
Vaibhav wishes to pursue a technical degree in gaming so that he is well-versed in the field. “In future, I would love to work with a dynamic gaming studio which will use gaming as a learning tool rather than a pass time.” While he hasn’t developed a game yet, he is interested in modding for Dota and Dota 2.