Two million views for the game De Luca Run. Luigi Sannino: “Without politics, just the desire to see my brother smile”

23-year-old engineering student created a Mario Bros parody starring politician Vincenzo De Luca, webstar in times of coronavirus (which he seems to have appreciated). It was supposed to be a video game for the autistic little brother, but the success reached France. “No to the demonization of video games, yes to creativity,” he tells Today. Meanwhile, prepare a new version.

Created in four days, online from five, over 2 million total visits. And two winning ingredients: the now full-blown viral potential of the tough Campania governor Vincenzo De Luca in times of coronavirus, and the computing talent of Luigi Sannino, 23-year-old from Volla (Naples), engineering student and programming champion. . . Thus was born the latest phenomenon of the Network: De Luca Run, the video game in which the president of the region catches masked and dodges ‘wild boars’, prime minister and members of the opposition. The right idea at the right time. But above all an exceptional ‘motive’: Luigi’s desire to see his 9-year-old brother Luca smile, who suffers from autism and is “passionate about live coverage” of the real, very real politician from southern Italy. “I started with his laugh and then I got to everyone – Today account – It was an unexpected success for me too. There is no political objective behind, only the intention to help Italians to alleviate such a complicated historical period ”. Mission complete.

In the video game, a parody version of the iconic Mario Bros, De Luca climbs onto flying saucers shaped like a pizza Margherita, dodges Giuseppe Conte determined to unleash the latest decree and, with each bonus, dispenses his cult pearls: “Who? no? Bringing the masks is a beast “,” This mask is good for Bunny the bunny “. The last battle, the one launched, is against Matteo Salvini, leader of the League. But few manage to get there, even though all of Italy is now playing. And not only. “I realized I had gone viral when a friend sent me the link from France,” says Luigi, who came across the servers on tilt: “I had to ask for additional traffic, unlimited in fact. Everything happened suddenly: initially the game had to be private, then I realized that I wanted to send an important message “. And that’s to fight the prevailing demonization of games. “Video games are often associated with violent behavior in children, but in many cases they are therapeutic: I saw it with my brother. They can stimulate creativity, leave an emotion, a laugh ”.

The solidarity operation of politicians who become “memes” on social networks in times of the coronavirus

Did you appreciate De Luca?

However, there is no propaganda purpose in the conception. Although it is inevitable to wonder about the double boom and boomerang effect of the ‘memorized’ politics of modern times. “Many have criticized me saying that it can work as a political campaign for De Luca, but it is not my purpose.

I did not vote for him and I want to distance myself from politics, but I consider the actions he has taken in this period of coronavirus positive. He was not wrong to be so severe. ” Severe, yes. In the limits of the grotesque, we would dare to say, to the point of becoming a true webstar. “Why do you like it so much? He is a bit of a Neapolitan character. He is charismatic. In Campania they like to see the man from the ‘cazzimma’ like him, a sheriff who dictates the law and wants to rule ”. And did the person concerned like the game? So it seems. “I got this rumor, but I’m not adding anything else because I don’t want to say things that are not verified.”

And Luigi Campania knows it well. Among his Facebook photos, there is space for old images denouncing urban decay, as well as for shots that speak of the ambition to break into information technologies. Cultivate a passion. The formative years elapsed between the components of the PC and the Comicon (international animation exhibition, ed), the adolescence in the technical institute, the high school thesis focused on the creation of a game and today the university studies in Computer Engineering. “I have six exams to go, but it’s hard for me to focus on college alone, so I started looking and getting results even at work.” “At this moment I sell my products to companies – he adds – that later modify them and launch them on the market. I do not sell my games directly to customers, in the past I tried, through Playstore and Android, but it does not go as well as with De Luca Run. That is also why I am working on a second version, more professional than the current one, which I created completely by myself and in a very short time, even if it is not a graphic. designer “.

And job offers have also arrived. “But I have not signed a contract yet, I am evaluating it.” “This success, however, made me understand that each failure has served me as a lesson,” he concludes. I read all the comments that come from users and negative comments can be counted on the fingers of one hand. It is a real satisfaction ”. And it is the confirmation of that adage that luck wants as a synthesis of talent that finds the right opportunity. In addition to showing how, at times, the crisis can be an opportunity, even in a dramatic moment like the one we are experiencing.