Minh ‘Gooseman’ Le’s Quest to Finish Tactical Intervention

Minh Le being interviewed

Right after his graduation, a young and passionate Minh ‘Gooseman’ Le joined Valve to continue his work on Counter-Strike related projects, after those had made him and his nickname legendary around the world. But after seeing his ideas being put on the shelf one too many times, Le decided it was time to leave and focus on his own projects instead. A couple of years later the first version of Tactical Intervention surfaced and rumors about Le’s newest project slowly started spreading. He continued to work on Tactical Intervention for the following years, programming his ideas in the Source engine on his own and occasionally showing it off to friends for feedback. The game has been in development for nine years now and might soon see the light of day.

I sat down with Le to look back at his journey and struggles as an indie game developer, balancing fan’s desires with his own vision, and how he remained motivated throughout the entire journey.

Going down the indie path

Developing Tactical Intervention has taken an impressive physical and financial toll on Le. Not only did he fund the the project initially, but even now Le spends nights at the Fix Korea office on a fold-out bed surrounded by fitness equipment.

At that time Minh had spent a little more than $1.5 million dollars of his own money on the project. “After I burned through that, I partnered with Fix Korea hoping to secure more funding,” Le says. He left his home in Canada and moved to Korea after meeting Fix Korea’s CEO Inho Choi, to whom he successfully pitched Tactical Intervention. “I really liked the game, but had no idea Minh was such a popular developer,” Choi admits.

Despite the hardship, Le seems to radiate more energy than ever. He explains:

Seeing the project come together and start to resemble the vision I had when I started it keeps me constantly motivated. Being able to play it with others is a big motivational tool as it lets me see what features are working. The fact that I’ve invested so much time and money in the project keeps me interested in finishing it too. I’ve accrued a huge debt over the last 7 years.

The personal struggle Le has faced, together with hard work of the small rag tag team of developers trying to turn his vision into the next FPS hit, gives the project a strong indie vibe. “I’d definitely say it’s an indie title,” Le concurs. “For the majority of the development we haven’t been properly funded. The initial four years were financed from my personal savings.”

Dogs and car chases

Looking up interviews with Le on Google brings forth several results and videos where he demonstrates Tactical Intervention’s features and mechanics. The featured car chase missions have gotten so much attention that it seems to have become the sole focus for many among the game’s online community. It’s something that brings Le both a feeling of happiness, and bit of a dilemma.