Niels ’t Hooft (1980) is a writer, journalist and editor-in-chief who has been immersed in the wonderful world of gaming for two decades, more than half of which in a professional fashion. He is convinced that gaming will soon influence all aspects of business and personal life. Insight into what makes games tick will be essential for anyone in communication, marketing, product development, management and anywhere else.

As a journalist, Niels has written extensively about people, technology, entertainment and games for publications as varied as quality newspaper NRC Handelsblad and Power Unlimited, the number one games magazine. Other clients include Bright, Items and nrc.next, for which he writes a bi-weekly column. He has delved deep into topics like the history of games, Dutch game development and the effects of games on players.

He founded GameSen, the first major Dutch games website, and n3, a print magazine about Nintendo. Currently he is the founder and editor-in-chief of games website Bashers.nl, “for gamers that look ahead”.

He is writing a book about the Dutch games development industry and its place in the ‘ludic age’, a concept popularized by American games researcher Eric Zimmerman. The idea of the ludic age is that games are this century’s dominant cultural form, which will shape all parts of our lives and help us solve complex systemic problems like global warming and the financial crisis.

Beyond his journalism, Niels is personally involved in the production side of games, which gives him an in-depth knowledge of both the form and the field. He worked as game designer, story builder and copywriter for game companies like Submarine, Monkeybizniz, Ranj and Hubbub. He also worked at Nintendo of Europe as the main Dutch translator for the popular Wii system. He is currently consulting the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice, and is working with Two Tribes, SonicPicnic and Monobanda on new game projects.

As a writer, Niels published two novels at publishing house Querido: Toiletten and Sneeuwdorp. A third novel has long been in the works and will hopefully be finished soon.

Niels has spoken at Ignite, Gamelab, Items Live and De Waag, among others.