biography Thaddeus "Thad" Andrew Powers, the oldest of three sons, was born to Jonathan Powers Sr. and Senator Cynthia Powers in Manhattan, New York. Shortly after Thad was born, his brother Jonathan Powers Jr. came into the world, followed by his brother Matthew. It was clear at a young age that Thad wasn't exactly the child his parents wanted. This was more evident as he grew up - his younger brother was given everything in life: support, love, even more allowance. Thad had to work for everything, and was still given nothing. Being the son of a real estate tycoon and a New York Senator, Thad was expected to do certain things. He was expected to go into the careers his parents had, and he was expected to become a rich and powerful human being. Neither of these things happened, because there was only one son of the three who was destined to follow in the footsteps of their parents, and that certainly wasn't going to be Thad.

In fact, Thad fell in love with computers at a young age, and took a liking to doing that. No trips to the gun club with his father would ever get Thad to become a bleeding heart, though Thad did learn how to make weapons because of it. No, Thad was a genius who preferred technology to people, because technology would never let you down, and technology never chose someone else over you. Mostly because technology was not a human, but that was neither here nor there. As far as the Powers were concerned, their eldest son was a monster, not living up to their expectations. So what happened next? The day Thad graduated high school, his parents 'disowned' him -- at least that was what they told him, to their friends and other socialites, they were just told that Thad was going out on his own, that he was just looking to see what else was out there. His parents gave him access to his larger than life trust fund, so that people wouldn't think that they just let their poor son out into the world on his own (heaven forbid he try to work for anything he had), and shut the door in his face.

Thad's collegiate career wasn't anything to write home about, but he did have a decent time. He graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in with a degree in Bachelors of Science in Game Design & Development in 1999, and soon landed a job in New York working for Rockstar Games' NYC branch in that same year. He was there for a few years until deciding he wanted to try to land a job somewhere a little far away from New York and ended up getting a Game Programmer position at Irrational Games in 2005. So, it was time to start new.

Moving to Massachusetts was a big step for him, as he had never really lived anywhere outside of New York, but it was important for Thad to get himself out that state. No matter what he did, his parents were still trying to run his life, still trying to get him to be back in the fold and follow their rules, and that just wasn't something Thad was interested in. So it was off to Massachusetts, in a town outside of Boston, called Quincy. It was off to Irrational Games, to see what he could do. So, Thad started in the company on the first Bioshock game, and Thad stayed with Irrational through the release of Bioshock Infinite and through ending of the company in 2014. During this, Thad attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology and got his Masters in Electrical Engineering, graduating in 2013, and started in on his Doctorate in Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, also at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As Irrational Games closed their doors in 2014, Thad was stuck for a bit trying to figure out what he would do with his life. It didn't take long for him to figure out that he wanted to stay in technology and gaming to the best of his ability, but why couldn't he just open up his own company? And so, that was exactly what Thad did. As much he tried to get away from being like his parents, in a small way Thad had become exactly like them -- at least in the determination of a company type of a deal. Thad started Beetle Industries, a tech startup company that would not only work on developing games for computers, console, and mobile devices, but also working on developing new technologies as a whole. It was ambitious, and well, downright stupid, to have a company that dipped their toes into so many different industries, but Thad didn't particularly care. For him, all of his interests were now under one roof, so why would that ever be a bad thing?

Industry insiders had predicted that Beetle Industries was going to shut down within six months of opening after turning no profit. Not only did the company prove them wrong, but they moved from a small office building in Beacon Hill to the ever-growing Innovation District, getting a three floor office space. But never one to be 'bored', Thad also helped a friend open up a gaming bar, also located near the Innovation District, called In Another Castle.The best way to keep himself entertained was to keep himself busy as can be, and thus Thad found that if he put himself in a bunch of places at once, things would never bore him. He gave first look of the games his company was developing to In Another Castle, and helped to develop technology for it, giving the gaming bar anything that it might need. It was a way to help build up the Innovation District to people outside of the stuffy technology startup culture, and many seemed open to it. The first year and a half of life outside of a AAA gaming company was interesting for Thad, but sometimes in more negative ways than most.

While he was working on starting a new life in Boston, away from his parents that were not the fondest of him, his parents had started to become more ruthless in their tactics to try to keep Thad and his youngest brother Matt under control. Somewhere along the line, the Powers had decided that keeping their sons in line meant hiring hitmen if they didn't go with the plan. 2016 ended up being a year where Thad not only had to fight for his life, but he ended up killing his brother Jonathan in self-defense in August, having only just lost his father to a heart attack in February earlier that year. By the end of the year, Thad and Matt worked together to bring up all the information on their parents that they had, and sent their mother to jail, officially wiping their hands clean of her. Due to the experience, Thad and Matt grew closer as brothers than they had before, and what they went through that year is something they don't talk about much, but they know they couldn't have survived it without each other.

Thad did his best to pick up and carry on with his life. Losing half of the family to death was a huge blow, even if he didn't want to admit to it. But he knew this was for the best, because as he didn't want to admit it, but it lifted a weight that had been on his shoulders for years. It had made Thad feel more free in his life. He wasn't being watched anymore, he wasn't being followed, his life was no longer in danger. To Thad, that was the ultimate gift. So, he moved on with his life. He moved forward. And to celebrate, by December of 2016, Beetle Industries bought out the entire building they were in. Because to Thad, the best way to move forward was to move up.

Thad is, as always, just working on technology and seeing where it will take him -- if anything, everything that Thad has gone through has proven to him that technology really is the future, that if humans are doing to advance and be better they have to acknowledge that he needs to hang out with humans and try not to be completely disappointed by them, he could at least do his best to help improve his life and the lives of others through technology.

personal life Because of how busy Thad has kept his life, he's never really had a time for relationships. Truthfully, it's because Thad was never really good at meeting women in the first place. Sure, he had a few dates here and there, but meeting women in person was a bit of an anxiety inducing moment, and so for most of his life, Thad has remained mostly single. He's had one or two ex-girlfriends in his past, but mostly he's remained great friends with them, and has even helped them find other dates from time to time. He finds that there are times that he's a much better friend to women than he is a boyfriend, given how busy he is (and how not everyone really understands the inner workings of his brain like he does).

When it comes to dating, he prefers online dating, because he feels he can be more bold behind a screen, changing his personality a little bit to fit the woman he might try to to be courting. He tries to be charming and looks up to people that he believes are better than him, so at times he'll look to his more handsome friends and try to take a page out of their book from now and then. Not saying that it works, but sometimes it's not the worst of a result. Thad has learned a lot about himself through this process, and oddly enough has found that he's more confident this way than he expected himself to be. But given the way his life is, Thad is more prone to flings than anything else.

In other aspects of his life, Thad at times has struggled with depression and anxiety, as well as weight issues. He sees a therapist and a personal trainer weekly to help him with these things, so that he doesn't fall into a spiral similar to one he experienced in 2010 through 2012. Because of this, he doesn't like to drink much, he partakes in a drink or two, but remains mostly sober and does not partake in any drugs (though he doesn't mind when people do those around him, he's never been one to preach to people).