Famously wholesome co-op dwarf game Deep Rock Galactic has finally done it. The game inspired one player to become a miner, specifically an explosives miner, in real life.
I’ve followed Deep Rock Galactic for years and have always wondered if this would ever actually happen, so when Bulk-Detonator – or Mat, as he requested – shared his story with the game’s Reddit community, I about fell out of my chair. This is one of the white whales of my 11-year career in game journalism, and Mat’s story did not disappoint.
In his post, Mat explained that Deep Rock Galactic helped dig him out of a “dead-end job that barely provided for my family” by making a career in mining, or “rock drill training / explosive mining,” seem like a real, plausible thing. Huh, wouldn’t it be funny to do the video game thing IRL,” he thought.
Folks, he is doing the video game thing IRL, and it sounds pretty great.
Deep Rock Galactic is the sole reason I decided to become an explosives miner. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made. from r/DeepRockGalactic
I am a dwarf and I’m digging a hole
Speaking with GamesRadar+ on a video call straight from his work truck, Mat explains that, a few years ago, he was looking for machine work after getting fed up with an unfulfilling job at a plumbing store.
“My intention was to find some type of machine operator, maybe like crane work,” he says. “And I happened across a driller trainee position. I looked up the machines themselves, they looked pretty cool, and I applied. They took me in and here I am today. I’m still technically a driller trainee, but they’ve needed a lot of help out on the blasting crews, and they really like me out there. I actually have different crews that fight over who gets me on the job on any given day. That was about two years ago, and I’m going to be hopefully moving in on a driller position soon.”
There’s a lot of strange crossover … granted, we don’t have gunners.
Mat
“I just came into this blind and it ended up not only being a job that has been very good for me, but I’m incredibly passionate about it,” he adds. “You know, all my other jobs were just a job. This one, I was like, wow. I didn’t know this whole industry existed, and now I’m absolutely in love with it.”
Mat’s crew focuses on quarries where they might drill anywhere from 60 to 400 holes, some 5 feet to 120 feet down, which are then pumped full of a semi-liquid explosive that apparently “looks like pink frosting. Honestly, it’s the same consistency too.” They pipe in the boom frosting, cap the holes with stone, then trigger carefully wired detonators once the area is clear. The aim is to break down rock to make gravel which is used in things like concrete and asphalt. “We help make roads,” as Mat puts it. No jewels or precious minerals in sight, but it’s an important job.
There’s always danger when you have explosives in the workplace, but Mat says it’s honestly not that dangerous since it’s “all dangers that can be mitigated.” Even if a truck full of their explosive somehow caught fire, for instance, it wouldn’t lead to a dramatic Hollywood explosion since this stuff is “very well engineered” to only detonate under specific conditions. If anything, Mat says the bigger danger is staying aware of your surroundings, especially the weather conditions and the rock above you. I’m reminded of Deep Rock Galactic, where getting tunnel vision and only looking down can lead to trouble.
“You know, the more I do this job, I swear these guys over at [developer] Ghost Ship Games did some of their research with all this, this industry,” Mat responds. “There’s a lot of strange crossover. I mean, even the terminology, you know, our main explosive is called bulk and, of course, one of the big [Glyphid creatures] is the Bulk Detonator. You know, the engineers, the drillers. I mean, granted, we don’t have gunners. But even just small stuff, like, we do have spiders. The environment that we’re in, there’s little rock spiders that are crawling around. You know, they’re not big, 20-ton behemoths, but.”
There are, however, precious few big beards on the job site, which frankly seems like an OSHA violation. Mat, however, is holding it down with a glorious beard worthy of any dwarf, as his video shows. “I kept it because it started growing out and I got past the itchy stage,” he says, and yes, obviously I asked him about his beard. “I wanted to see how long I could get the beard, and now it’s become one of my favorite accessories. I put charms and everything when I’m out in my street clothes.”
Rock and stone
How do you go from playing a cool dwarf game to blowing up rocks in giant quarries? Mat says it made sense financially because it was basically “on-site, paid training,” and another part of him couldn’t get Deep Rock Galactic out of his head. “The small, little, insignificant decisions that I make seem to have some of the most positive impacts on my life,” he says.
Playing Deep Rock Galactic after a Star Citizen friend gifted it to him ended up being a significant decision. After Titanfall 2’s early demise, Mat was hungry for another game with a good grappling hook (a fellow enthusiast) and DRG kept coming up. He quickly fell in love with the game, splitting his time between all the roles based on what his crew needs, but, fittingly, with a soft spot for Driller.
Seeing these bearded little dwarves that just picked each other up and carried each other, I identified with that.
Mat
I make a point to buy all their DLCs now because, one, I got the game for free, but two, I think I’m upwards of like 900 hours with the game now, and I just, I don’t even use half the skins, but I mean, these guys have created such an amazing community, such a great game that not only is fun, but respects your time,” he says. “Even if you lose, you’re still having fun. So it’s like any little thing that I can do to help support these guys at Ghost Ship, I love doing it.”
“It’s been nothing but good interactions with the community,” he adds. Everybody’s always worried about being the new guy in a game. Oh, I’m going to bring the team down. Most Greybeards actually love having a new guy on the team, because it almost adds an extra challenge. And that ends up being the fun, showing the new guy the ropes and watching him grow. So it’s almost this feedback loop in the community of: bring in the new players, build them up, show them how to play, and then they will bring in newer players.”
Mat’s career shift is an extreme, amusingly direct example of how games can bleed into peoples’ lives, but the underlying message is common in this medium. Games can connect and inspire people in ways that positively affect them in real life. At this point, Mat says he wants to share his story so that “maybe it’ll help one person.” I also asked if he wanted to say anything to his fellow Deep Rock Galactic players or to the folks who make the game.
“I tell the community all the time how much I value that they helped me not only find this job, but just find an identity in myself,” he says. “I was kind of lost, and seeing these bearded little dwarves that just picked each other up and carried each other, I identified with that. Specifically to Ghost Ship Games, I hope they realize that they are like the shining example of how game developers should not only build a game, but interact with their community, listen to their community, and I cannot thank them enough for their silly little dwarf game.
“I am the happiest I have ever been in my life,” Mat concludes. “And everything that I have in my life right now is a direct result of getting this job, which is a result of Deep Rock Galactic. It’s improved my health. It’s improved my outlook. I’ve met so many people in my life now because I’m more outgoing. I cannot thank them enough. I really can’t.”
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