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- Israeli Indie #12: Defcon Zero: Frontlines of Tomorrow
Israeli Indie #12: Defcon Zero: Frontlines of Tomorrow
Defcon Zero: Frontlines of Tomorrow is a bold new RTS built with the spirit of the Command and Conquer series, but powered by Unreal Engine. Its Steam page exploded with thousands of wishlists. And what did Tim Campbell, one of the genre’s biggest names, think of it?
Defcon Zero: Frontlines of Tomorrow is an extraordinary and ambitious RTS project currently rising from the Israeli indie scene. It blends grounded sci-fi warfare, massive battles, cinematic storytelling and the unmistakable feel of the strategy classics so many grew up on, such as Red Alert, Generals, Warcraft. The project has already made a strong impression, with 9,000 wishlists on their brand new Steam page within less than a month, and caught the attention of Tim Campbell, an RTS veteran who worked at both Westwood Studios and Blizzard Entertainment.
TriArts was founded by Almog Shmueli (CEO, Game Director), Amir Rahom (Creative Director, Game Producer), Elai Zuberman (CTO) who leads the technical aspects in Unreal Engine, and Michael Pozdaev (COO) who is in charge of company operations, and who they also describe as “the glue behind the team, keeping everything and everyone together.” |  TriArts founders: Amir, Michael, Elai and Almog. |
Defcon Zero: Frontlines of Tomorrow
Their backgrounds are very different, but all 12 members in the team share the same core passion: They are lifelong RTS players who grew up on the genre and carry both a deep understanding of what makes a classic campaign-driven RTS game great, and a uniquely Israeli perspective shaped by lived experience around conflict and war. Together, these qualities create a strong foundation for the world and systems of Defcon Zero.
To understand how Defcon Zero became one of the RTS genre’s most promising initiatives, we spoke with Almog and Amir.
Wishlist Defcon Zero: Frontlines of Tomorrow on Steam
יש לנו ערוץ חדש ביוטיוב מבית היוצר של הניוזלטר! לכל מי שאוהבים משחקים, טכנולוגיה יוצרים ישראלים ואת החיבור ביניהם בואו לעשות סאב, לייק ושיתוף, יהיה מטורף |
Almog Shmueli, Amir Rahom of TriArts
Almog, known to many as UnderCover, is a well-established DJ with hundreds of thousands of followers, performing on major stages and helping produce some of Israel’s biggest festivals. Amir is a well-known YouTuber, influencer, and commentator in the Israeli gaming scene. Today, both of them have shifted their day-to-day toward game development. |  Almog performing as UnderCover |
“I was making PsyTrance music for 12 years, born and raised in the Israeli psychedelic trance scene,” Almog says. “But when COVID came I realized I wanted to make an old childhood dream come true and make an RTS game. I started learning game development and 3D art, and a while after that I left the company I worked for to take it one step further. Days later I met Michael and Amir, we started this company and started making things happen.”