Gordon Walton
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
video game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
and executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
who has worked with many North American online game companies, from Maxis
Maxis
Maxis is an American company founded as an independent video game developer in 1987. It is currently a subsidiary of Electronic Arts . Maxis is the creator of one of the best-selling computer games of all time, The Sims and its first sequel, The Sims 2...
to Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
to Sony Online to Bioware
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer founded in February 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. BioWare is currently owned by American company Electronic Arts...
. Since 1977 he has personally developed over thirty games, and overseen development of hundreds more, working as a producer, vice-president or executive producer.
Biography
Walton was born on March 2, 1956 in Houston, TexasHouston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, to Conrad G. Walton, Sr., an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, and Rilda Akin, an artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. Roberta Agnes (Robin) Hensley and Evelyn Coleman (Eve) Lowey are his siblings. He attended Spring Woods High School
Spring Woods High School
Spring Woods High SchoolPrincipalLance StallworthSchool typePublic school LocationHouston, Texas, United StatesEnrollment2,200 studentsCampus surroundingsUrbanMascotTigersSchool colorsBlack, Gold...
in Houston, and then enlisted in the U.S. Army from 1974-1977, attaining the rank of Sergeant. He was stationed at Fort Ord
Fort Ord
Fort Ord was a U.S. Army post on Monterey Bay in California. It was established in 1917 as a maneuver area and field artillery target range and was closed in September 1994. Fort Ord was one of the most attractive locations of any U.S. Army post, because of its proximity to the beach and California...
, Fort Gordon
Fort Gordon
Fort Gordon, formerly known as Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established in 1917. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps and Signal Center and was once the home of "The Provost Marshal General School" . The fort is located in Richmond, Jefferson, McDuffie,...
, Fort Hood, Fort Chaffee
Fort Chaffee
Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center is in the northwest Arkansas region adjacent to the city of Fort Smith, located one mile southeast of Fort Smith Regional Airport. The Arkansas River flows eastward along the northern border of the post. Interstate 40 is five miles to the north on the...
, and Kaiserslautern, Germany. In 1977 he left the army to enroll at Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
, and continued serving in the U.S. National Guard until 1979. In 1981, he received his BS degree in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
. From 1990-1992 he also served briefly in the US Army Reserve
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
.
Game developer
He played his first computer game in 1977 on the PLATO system, and published his first computer game, Trek-X, in 1978 on the Commodore PETCommodore PET
The Commodore PET was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International...
2001. In 1984, he co-founded Applied Computing (later called Digital Illusions) with Don Gilman, and he was development manager for both Three-Sixty Pacific
Three-Sixty Pacific
Three-Sixty Pacific is a video game publisher and developer. Founded in the late 1980s by avid wargamers and military history enthusiasts.- Games :...
and Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
of America, Inc.
Though his work had been exclusively in the single-player game industry up until that point, in 1995 he joined the growing online game industry, managing games such as Air Warrior
Air Warrior
Air Warrior was an early multiplayer on-line air-combat simulator. A player is able to fly a simulated World War II aircraft, fighting with and against other players, each flying his own simulated aircraft. It was introduced in 1986 by Kelton Flinn and his company Kesmai. At this time the internet...
and Multiplayer Battletech at Kesmai
Kesmai
Kesmai was a pioneering game developer and online game publisher, founded in 1981 by Kelton Flinn and John Taylor. The company was best known for the combat flight sim Air Warrior on the GEnie online service, one of the first graphical MMOGs, launched in 1987...
. After Kesmai, Walton moved on to managing Ultima Online
Ultima Online
Ultima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 24, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
at Origin Systems
Origin Systems
Origin Systems, Inc. was a computer game developer based in Austin, Texas that was active from 1983 to 2004...
, and then at Sony Online Entertainment in Austin he worked on Star Wars Galaxies
Star Wars Galaxies
Star Wars Galaxies is a Star Wars themed MMORPG for Microsoft Windows developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts.-History:...
. At Maxis, he was executive producer on The Sims Online
The Sims Online
The Sims Online was a massively multiplayer online variation on Maxis's highly popular computer game The Sims. It was published by Electronic Arts and released on December 17, 2002 for Microsoft Windows. In March 2007, EA announced that the product would be re-branded as EA-Land and major...
. He worked on the MMOG Star Wars: The Old Republic
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Star Wars: The Old Republic, abbreviated as TOR or SWTOR, is an upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game based in the Star Wars universe. Currently in development by BioWare Austin and a supplemental team at BioWare Edmonton, the game was first announced on October 21, 2008, at an...
at Bioware's studio in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
until January 2011. He is now employed at the social gaming company Playdom
Playdom
Playdom is an online social network game developer popular on Facebook and on MySpace; it is currently the largest social game developer on MySpace and one of the larger ones on Facebook. The company was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area by University of California, Berkeley graduates Ling Xiao...
.
He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences such as E-3, GDC
GDC
GDC may refer to:*Gadolinium-doped ceria, a ceramic electrolyte used in solid oxide fuel cells*Game Developers Conference, a popular annual video game conference*General Development Corporation*General Dental Council*Gross Dealer Concession...
, and the Austin Games Conference, and attained fame in 2003 for a talk entitled, "Ten Great Reasons You Don't want to Make a Massively Multiplayer Game." He is also active in the AIAS and IGDA, and has been on the steering committee of the IGDA's Online Games SIG.
Walton currently lives in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
with his wife, Laura Ann Miskines Walton, and children John and Katherine.
Selected projects
The following is a brief list of games which Walton either managed, produced, or developed:- Star Wars: Galaxies - Jump to Light Speed (2004), LucasArtsLucasArtsLucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
- The SimsThe SimsThe Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Its development was led by game designer Will Wright, also known for developing SimCity...
(2003), Electronic ArtsElectronic ArtsElectronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
Inc. - The Sims Online (2002), Electronic Arts Inc.
- Ultima Online: Third DawnUltima Online: Third DawnUltima Online: Third Dawn, released in 2001, introduced 3D models to the Ultima Online MMORPG franchise. While the game still maintained its scaled, overhead view, the character animation was much smoother...
(2001), Electronic Arts Inc. - Ultima Online: RenaissanceUltima Online: RenaissanceUltima Online: Renaissance is the second expansion to the popular Ultima Online MMORPG. Released on May 4, 2000, it added content, fixed bugs, and made gameplay changes in response to common player complaints....
(2000), Electronic Arts Inc. - Air WarriorAir WarriorAir Warrior was an early multiplayer on-line air-combat simulator. A player is able to fly a simulated World War II aircraft, fighting with and against other players, each flying his own simulated aircraft. It was introduced in 1986 by Kelton Flinn and his company Kesmai. At this time the internet...
II (1997), iEntertainment NetworkIEntertainment NetworkiEntertainment Network is an online gaming company which operates IamGame, WarBirds, Helbreath, and the The Legend of Mir 3.... - Air Warrior III (1997), iEntertainment Network
- Harpoon Classic '97Harpoon (computer game)Harpoon is a series of realistic air and naval computer wargames based upon Larry Bond's miniatures game of the same name. Players can choose between either the Blue or Red side in simulated naval combat situation, which includes local conflicts as well as simulated Cold War confrontations between...
(1996), iEntertainment Network - HarpoonHarpoon (computer game)Harpoon is a series of realistic air and naval computer wargames based upon Larry Bond's miniatures game of the same name. Players can choose between either the Blue or Red side in simulated naval combat situation, which includes local conflicts as well as simulated Cold War confrontations between...
(1989), Three Sixty Pacific - PT-109PT-109 (video game)PT-109 is a computer game developed by Digital Illusions and Spectrum HoloByte in 1987 for the MacIntosh and MS-DOS-compatible computers. This naval simulation game is roughly based on the events involving the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109.-Plot:...
(1987), Spectrum Holobyte, Inc. - Sub Battle Simulator (1987), EpyxEpyxEpyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before renaming the company to match in 1983...
, Inc. - Orbiter (1986), Spectrum HolobyteSpectrum HoloByteSpectrum HoloByte, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher originally based in Alameda, California.The company was founded in 1983 and was most famous for its simulation games, notably the Falcon series of flight simulators and Vette!, a driving simulator from 1989...
, Inc. - Shard of SpringShard of SpringShard of Spring is a computer role-playing game by Strategic Simulations, Inc., released in 1986. It was followed by the sequel titled Demon's Winter in 1988.- Story :...
(1989) Stragic Simulations Inc (SSI) - Reader RabbitReader RabbitReader Rabbit is an edutainment software franchise created in 1986 by The Learning Company. This series currently makes up the greater part of a franchise of grade-based and subject-based titles, where the games for infancy through second grade feature Reader Rabbit...
- NFL ChallengeNFL ChallengeNFL Challenge was a computer game, released in 1985 by XOR Software. It was notable for being one of the stronger football simulations of its time, with statistical models to not only the NFL season, but also the outcome of a single football game...
, (1987) XOr - The Playroom