Brian Douglas launches mobile extraction

Former Treyarch level designer Brian Douglas has self-funded and released a mobile extraction shooter after months of failed attempts to raise capital for a PC project. Douglas, who worked on Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2, borrowed $10,000 from his parents to build Android game Rift Raider Extraction in just seven weeks.

Douglas left Treyarch in 2014. He was laid off from Free Range Games in March 2025 and has been working as a solo founder since. Before turning to mobile, he spent six months trying to fund a PC/console project codenamed Project Lich.

The Funding Struggle

Douglas built a vertical slice for Project Lich alone before bringing in a small team of industry contacts to help pitch it. The process proved difficult. He told Mobilegamer.biz that it was easy to see which investor groups used AI to vet pitches and which took notice. After about six months of rejection, he gave up on the project, at least for the short term. The team remains on standby via Discord, hopeful of returning to it or another project together.

A Swift Mobile Pivot

With no funding secured, Douglas pivoted to a much smaller, faster idea. He used Unreal Blueprints, Photoshop, and modified assets from the Unreal Fab Store to build Rift Raider Extraction from concept to ship in seven weeks. The game launched on Android.

Douglas explained the platform choice was partly out of necessity. Android's larger share of the mobile market also factored into the decision. An iOS version is incoming.

Game Performance and Monetisation

The game is monetised through in-app purchases for currency and cooldown tokens, an opt-in rewarded video ad, and interstitial ads. Douglas said he turned on interstitial ads only after feeling the game was in the right state to support them confidently.

He is also in early stages of a branded tie-in with an unnamed comic book series, pending a signed deal. The game has surpassed 8,000 downloads, though technical issues have reduced the active player count to around 1,200. For a game built so quickly, these stats are promising.

Douglas highlighted the success of app store optimisation efforts. Organically, the game draws about 1,500 page views a day with a 12% store conversion rate. This organic growth is a key metric for any developer tracking their project's standings in a crowded market.

Future Plans

Douglas continues to apply for design jobs at studios but has been told he's overqualified for mid-range and senior roles. He remains committed to his mobile project. He has said he is eager to see Rift Raider Extraction become a success and will happily continue to support it, adding he does not consider it a hobbyist project - it is front and centre on his CV.

His experience follows a trend of tool-assisted mobile projects from solo developers, including Deniz Sancar's 38-0-0 and Josh Pavey's 38-0, both built with Claude Code. Retired pro tennis player Iain Atkinson also used Claude Code for his tennis management sim, Tennis Tycoon. Douglas has separately insisted Rift Raider Extraction was built without AI.