David Doak

Lore & Background

Originally from Belfast, he later moved to England, where he studied at Oxford University on biochemistry specialty and worked as a research scientist. Doak began his video game career working with Rare where he helped develop the critically acclaimed GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64. His facial likeness and name were used for a non-player character in GoldenEye 007, a scientist named Dr. Doak. Several of the guards also bear his likeness. Doak left Rare in 1998 to co-found Free Radical Design with Steve Ellis, Karl Hilton, and others (Graeme Norgate was not a co-founder). From there he worked on the video game series TimeSplitters and two other video games called Haze and Second Sight. Doak left Free Radical in 2009, before the studio was acquired by Crytek and renamed Crytek UK (it later became Deep Silver Dambuster Studios after Crytek UK's remnants were acquired). He set up his own Nottingham-based studio, Zinkyzonk, which would develop games for Facebook. A later, separate studio called Pumpkin Beach was also founded. Zinkyzonk released its first game, Gangsta Zombies, on 11 July 2010 in partnership with Jolt Online Gaming. The company was dissolved in April 2013. Since 2016, Doak lectures at Norwich University of the Arts. On 19 May 2021, Deep Silver announced the reformation of Free Radical Design with David Doak and Steve Ellis as studio heads to make a new TimeSplitters game. On 11 December 2023, the reformed Free Radical Design was closed down, and the new TimeSplitters game has been cancelled as a result. On 9 April 2026, Doak and Steve Ellis released Beyond Words, a video game mixing Scrabble with roguelike elements. Doak listed Defender's arcade version, Laser Squad on the ZX Spectrum, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Missile Command's arcade version, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, Peter Pack Rat's arcade version, The Secret of Monkey Island, Space Duel, Super Bomberman, Super Mario Kart, and XPilot as his favorite games in 2000.

In Their Own Story

The cursor hovers over the 'New Game' screen, the pixelated squirrel grinning with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. In the quiet of the development studio years ago, David Doak typed out dialogue that would make Nintendo's censors blanch and players howl—knowing this character was a tightrope walk between cult genius and corporate cancellation. The room smelled of stale coffee and ambition as he finalized a script where a squirrel could lose his fur from alcohol poisoning, a world deliberately carved out of the polished, sanitized landscape around it.

Reader's Guide

It is unclear whether Doak had any involvement with the Conker franchise.

Did You Know?

• David Doak's facial likeness and name were used for a scientist named Dr. Doak in GoldenEye 007.
• Doak co-founded Free Radical Design in 1998 with Steve Ellis, Karl Hilton, and others (Graeme Norgate was not a co-founder).
• Doak's studio Zinkyzonk released its first game, Gangsta Zombies, on 11 July 2010.
• Doak has been lecturing at Norwich University of the Arts since 2016.
• On 9 April 2026, Doak and Steve Ellis released Beyond Words, a game mixing Scrabble with roguelike elements.