Albert Martin, one of the modders behind the eight-year Resident Evil 4 HD remaster project, has landed an industry job at a studio best known for its work remastering retro games.

“I’m really happy because I’m finally and for the first time in my life working in the videogame industry,” Martin wrote in a blog post. “Thank you, Joel, for having faith in me, and thank you, Stephen, for the opportunity in Nightdive Studios.”

It’s well deserved. The Resident Evil 4 HD Project was a mammoth task that Martin and co-creator Cris Morales started in 2014 in an attempt to overhaul the textures in the then-recent Resident Evil 4 Ultimate HD Edition re-release. In a NeoGaf thread from the time, Morales estimated that the job would take the two of them between one and two years.

That, obviously, proved to be an underestimate of fantastic proportions. But by the time the project was eventually released for free last year the team had effectively redone almost every single visual element in the original game including re-creating some textures from scratch by visiting and photographing the same locations as the original Capcom development team. Improvements were also made to the game’s 3D models, lighting, and visual effects.

Nightdive Studios specializes in doing similar remasters of old games. Past projects include enhanced editions of the Blade Runner adventure game and the original System Shock, and the studio is also working on a similar remaster of the sequel. Additionally, it also has a full remake of the original System Shock in development which is currently due for release on May 30th. 

According to an FAQ on the mod’s website, Albert was originally a layout designer for a publisher of scientific magazines, but started a two-year 3D animation and interactive applications course in 2021.

News of Martin’s industry job arrives just days before Capcom is due to release an (apparently very good) big-budget remake of Resident Evil 4 on March 24th. The modder says he’s excited to play it. “I’m not afraid the remake will replace the original,” he writes. “They are 2 different experiences.”