Seth Killian

Seth Killian.

"Current Man of Mystery. Formerly a designer at Sony Santa Monica and special advisor/community manager at Capcom US. He is one of the biggest names in the fighting game community, and the final boss of Divekick."

—Giant Bomb

Seth Killian is the former community manager at Capcom who ran the website Capcom-Unity.com and former lead game designer for the external group at Sony's Santa Monica Studio. Seth is also an established and respected Street Fighter commentator, with his most prominent appearance being the EVO 2010, 2011 and 2012 Super Street Fighter IV Finals featuring Daigo Umehara (2010 and 2011 Champion), Justin Wong, Ricki Ortiz, Fuudo (2011 Champion) and Infiltration (2012 Champion).

He went on to become lead designer at Sony Santa Monica, before leaving to join Radiant Entertainment in 2014. Seth’s also a co-founder of the Evolution Championship Series.

History

According to Seth, most of the summers of his youth were spent earning money in Street Fighter cash games, and he claims to have made an average of about $4000 a summer. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy, and used to teach it at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

One of the best known and enduring figures in the fighting game community (FGC), Seth was recruited away from teaching philosophy at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana to join Capcom for the Street Fighter IV project. While at Capcom, Seth breathed new life into many of his favorite childhood franchises, including Street Fighter IV and its sequels, the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise, and more.

On June 16, 2012, Seth announced on his blog that he was leaving Capcom.

On March 26, 2014, Seth announced publicly via Twitter that he left Sony Santa Monica on great terms.

On March 26, 2014, Seth announced publicly via Twitter that he left Sony Santa Monica on great terms. Later that same year, Seth joined Radiant Entertainment, a game studio staffed by well-known figures in the fighting game community, including the creators of Evolution Championship Series Tom Cannon and Tony Cannon. Radiant Entertainment is best known for Rising Thunder, a 2015 free-to-play, 2.5D robot fighting game that uses a simplified system of special moves being tied to just button inputs. The game was cancelled in 2016.

Seth Killian, together with Tom and Tony Cannon, joined Riot Games in 2016 when Radiant Entertainment was acquired by said company. The studio is currently working on a new fighting game based on Riot Games' League of Legends franchise.

Legacy

Seth Killian was one of the inspirations for Street Fighter IV series boss Seth, who was originally going to be named Cain; the name pays homage to Seth while still retaining the intended meaning (i.e. as a counterpart to Abel). In turn, Seth (and to some extent, his SFIV namesake) heavily inspired a character in the fighting game Divekick: the boss character S-Kill, whose desire for balance plays on Seth's major role in balancing the Street Fighter IV games.

Trivia

• He is fluent in German.
• His most famous quirk is his unique take on pronouncing Ryu's name, calling him "Roo".
• Among his pet phrases when commentating is "putting him(/her) on notice", which he uses whenever a player wins a round or punishes a particularly foolhardy move by his opponent. Another of his pet phrases is his softened version of 'mind****', which is "mentally guard-broken".
• When using an arcade stick to play fighting games, Seth plays "crosshand": he uses his left hand for the buttons, and his right hand is crossed over to use the control stick.
  • Seth is known to play one-handed: he only uses his right hand, his thumb and index fingers controls the stick while the rest of the fingers are on the buttons.

External Links

• S-Kill @ Capcom Unity
• Seth Killian on Twitter
• Capcom Database article