ZNES Creator Didn’t Know His Emulator Was a Phenomenon — Until EA Tried to Hire Him
They thought a few thousand would use it; instead, it went viral, turning a quiet experiment into a phenomenon with high-stakes consequences.
If you grew up playing SNES classics on a creaky 90s PC, you probably used ZSNES. It was the go-to emulator back then: simple interface, ran like a dream, even on modest hardware. The twist? The guy who made it, a programmer who went by the handle 'zsKnight', had no idea it was that huge until Electronic Arts tried to hire him. That is not a joke.
The low-key legend who didn't Google himself
In a rare chat with Zophar (yes, that Zophar's Domain), zsKnight admitted he operated in a bubble while building ZSNES. He didn't search for his own work, didn't comb through forums beyond his site's message board, and didn't read reviews. He just kept coding. He figured maybe a few thousand people were using it. Maybe tens of thousands. Whatever the number was, it wasn't his focus.
"I actually did not know how popular ZSNES was until I left the project."
The only real hint he had: a steady stream of emails, a couple dozen a day. Even that didn't fully register, because his goal wasn't fame or hype. It was making a great emulator and making it run well. Mission accomplished.
How EA made it real
The penny finally dropped when someone at EA contacted him specifically because of ZSNES and asked if he wanted to work there. He said sure, showed up to the interview, and realized everyone knew him as 'zsKnight'. Not just knew of him — knew him. One person even told him they were at EA because of his work. He credits a particular person at the publisher for the outreach, though the name is hard to catch in the interview.
You've been saying it wrong (guilty)
One delightful detail: he's Canadian, so it's technically pronounced 'zed-SNES'. If you've been saying 'zee-SNES' all these years, same. Sorry, Canada.
Why he's talking now
After years off the radar, he's back in the spotlight thanks to a new project: Retro Endurance 8bit, which hit Steam Early Access earlier this year. It mashes together a pile of unique, retro-style mini-games and shuffles them WarioWare-style. If you&aposre a retro fan with warm memories of ZSNES, it looks like pure comfort food.
The interview itself is with another early emulation legend, and PC Gamer already pulled a few highlights. But the best part is still that very human realization: the creator of one of the most beloved emulators ever didn't truly grasp its reach until he walked into EA and everyone already knew his name.