Zander Brumbaugh

In the rapidly growing world of gaming, few names are rising as quickly as Zander Brumbaugh. At just 22 years old, he is already making waves as a technologist, author, researcher, and startup founder. Born in Seattle, Washington, Zander had a passion for videogames and how systems worked, leading him into development very quickly. He started playing Roblox projects when he was around 12, and shortly after even started to create his own games on Roblox. His games soon caught the attention of the players and became very popular. While developing games, Zander enrolled at the University of Washington at just age 17. He even taught a course at the university called “Coding in Video Game Development,” focusing specifically on Roblox’s engine. And if that wasn’t enough, Zander wrote a book named Coding Roblox Games Made Easy. This book walks new and intermediate developers through the process of creating, publishing, and monetizing games on Roblox. It continues to be well received by both developers and educators.

While building games was a passion for him, Zander did not stop there. In 2023, he founded Gamebeast, a low-code platform with LiveOps and data analytics tools for user-generated content game developers. The platform is designed to let developers modify games live (without interrupting sessions), run data experiments, monitor metrics, and make informed decisions on engagement and monetization. Developers primarily use Gamebeast for Roblox games, trying to improve game experiences and smoother game play. In late 2024, Gamebeast raised $3.7 million in funding, from various corporations. The capital is still being used to expand the product, support more platforms, and strengthen the system.

Zander’s mission is rooted in sharing his passion of developing with everyone, wanting to give creators the same opportunities and tools that big corporations have. Rather than just making games, he’s enabling ordinary creators to build better games. His journey demonstrates how a deep passion and experience for a certain game, like Roblox, can possibly blossom into an amazing business venture. Zander’s mindset and story inspires so many creators to think beyond just building and playing games, but stepping out of your comfort zone to chase that possible venture. Yes, Zander is a technologist, author, researcher, and startup founder, but above all, he is an exciting entrepreneur.