Above Jack’s Surfboards, indie game creator Brian Fargo holds court amid his Kickstarter riches

Posted byby Dean Takahashi
August 7, 2013
Updated June 18, 2025
6 min

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — The offices above Jack’s Surfboards here are an unlikely place for a video game developer, especially one who has been around for decades like Brian Fargo. But the darkened offices above the surf shop are as good a place as any to stage a revolution in games. The place is just a short walk from one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

“It’s a video game company, and you can design them anywhere,” Fargo said in an interview with GamesBeat. “So we might as well set up in a place where my people want to be. My guys can walk on the beach or go surfing at lunch.”

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.