He thanked the fans by sharing some words of wisdom that helped him through troubled times and abusive feedback: “If you don’t like the story life is telling you, tell life a different story.” He blew past 100,000 subscribers in February of last year, and upon doing so received a silver plaque. The proof is in the pudding when it comes to Dickie’s work, and his growing YouTube channel is no exception. He has been called the “video game equivalent to Tommy Wiseau,” “the worst developer of all time,” and someone who is “in on the idea that he knows his games are kind of bad.” However, upon playing even 10 minutes of Dickie’s latest effort, it should become quickly apparent to the average gamer that nothing could be further from the truth. However, many of these reviews focus less on the nuts and bolts of his games and more on unfounded rhetoric and labeling.
Despite having reached tens of millions of people from all over the globe with PC and mobile efforts, Dickie has endured some scathing reviews for otherwise successful games in the traditional sense. The road to Wrestling Empire has not been easy for the English developer, who also goes by MDickie, the eponymous name of his one-man shop. For independent video game developer Mat Dickie, a 20-year journey has landed him and his signature series Wrestling Empire on the Nintendo Switch, bringing a familiar style of game home on a console that’s not only perfect for it, but whose developer served as the inspiration for a career that has spanned more than 50 published games.