List of video game industry people
Encyclopedia
Below is a list of notable people who work or have worked in the video game industry, on video or computer games.
The list is divided into different roles, but some people fit into more than one category. For example, Sid Meier
is both a game designer and programmer
. In these cases, the people appear in both sections.
See also: :Category:Video game programmers
See also: :Category:Video game producers
See also: List of video game musicians
The list is divided into different roles, but some people fit into more than one category. For example, Sid Meier
Sid Meier
Sidney K. "Sid" Meier is a Canadian programmer and designer of several popular computer strategy games, most notably Civilization. He has won accolades for his contributions to the computer games industry...
is both a game designer and programmer
Game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"...
. In these cases, the people appear in both sections.
Online gaming
- Richard BartleRichard BartleRichard Allan Bartle is a British writer, professor and game researcher, best known for being the co-creator of MUD1 and the author of the seminal Designing Virtual Worlds. He is one of the pioneers of the massively multiplayer online game industry.-Life and career:Bartle received a Ph.D...
: Wrote the first MUDMUDA MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
along with Roy TrubshawRoy TrubshawRoy Trubshaw was a programmer at the University of Essex who co-authored MUD1, the first MUD, with Richard Bartle on a DEC PDP-10. Both of them now work together at Multi-User Entertainment with Trubshaw being the company’s technical director.... - John D. Carmack: Developed an early online version of Doom which supported up to 4 players. Later Quake supported 16 players which helped popularize online gaming
- Don DaglowDon DaglowDon Daglow is an American computer game and video game designer, programmer and producer. He is best known for designing a series of pioneering simulation games and role-playing games, as well as the first computer baseball game and the first graphical MMORPG, all between 1971 and 1995...
: Designed first MMORPGMMORPGMassively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
with graphics, Neverwinter NightsNeverwinter NightsNeverwinter Nights , produced by BioWare and published by Infogrames , is a third-person perspective computer role-playing game that is based on third edition Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms rules. It was originally to be published by Interplay Entertainment, but the publisher's financial...
for AOLAOLAOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services... - John De MargheritiJohn De MargheritiJohn De Margheriti [born July 1962] is based in Australia and is the CEO of BigWorld Pty Limited and the parent company Micro Forté Pty Limited...
: CEO of BigWorld Pty Ltd makers of Massively Multiplayer Online Game Middleware (MMOG) technology - Elonka DuninElonka DuninElonka Dunin is an American game developer at Simutronics Corp. in St. Louis, Missouri, where she has worked since 1990. She is Chairperson Emerita and one of the founders of the International Game Developers Association's Online Games group, has contributed or been editor in chief on multiple...
: General Manager at SimutronicsSimutronicsSimutronics is an American online games company whose products include GemStone IV and DragonRealms. It was founded in 1987 by David Whatley, with husband and wife Tom & Susan Zelinski...
, senior editor of IGDA Online Games White Papers - Kelton FlinnKelton FlinnKelton Flinn is an American computer game designer who is a major pioneer in online games. He is a co-founder of the seminal online game company Kesmai, which they began in 1982...
: designer of 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...
and many other pioneering online games, co-founder of KesmaiKesmaiKesmai 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... - Richard GarriottRichard GarriottRichard Allen Garriott is a British-American video game developer and entrepreneur.He is also known as his alter egos Lord British in Ultima and General British in Tabula Rasa...
(a.k.a. Lord British): Creator of Ultima OnlineUltima OnlineUltima 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...
, Work on LineageLineage (computer game)Lineage is a medieval fantasy, massively multiplayer online role-playing game released in the United States in 1998 by the South Korean computer game developer NCsoft. It is most popular in Korea and is available in Chinese, Japanese, and English language versions...
, Lineage 2 (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...
, NCsoftNCsoftNCsoft is a South Korea-based online video game company, which has published massively multiplayer online role-playing games including Lineage, City of Heroes, Wildstar, Exteel, Guild Wars and Aion.-History:...
) - Raph KosterRaph KosterRaphael "Raph" Koster is an American entrepreneur, game designer, and author of A Theory of Fun for Game Design. Koster is widely recognized for his work as the lead designer of Ultima Online and the creative director behind Star Wars Galaxies...
: LegendMUDLegendMUDLegendMUD is a historically significant, award-winning MUD founded by a group of friends including virtual world designer Raph Koster. It opened publicly on February 14, 1994...
, Ultima OnlineUltima OnlineUltima 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...
, Star Wars: Galaxies. (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...
, Sony Online EntertainmentSony Online EntertainmentSony Online Entertainment is a game development and game publishing division of Sony that is best known for creating massively multiplayer online games, including EverQuest, EverQuest II, The Matrix Online, PlanetSide, Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, DC Universe...
) - Brad McQuaidBrad McQuaidBrad McQuaid is an American computer game designer who was the key designer of EverQuest, a highly successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game released in 1999...
: Co-Creator of EverQuestEverQuestEverQuest, often shortened to EQ, is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was released on the 16th of March, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost...
(Verant Interactive, Sony Online EntertainmentSony Online EntertainmentSony Online Entertainment is a game development and game publishing division of Sony that is best known for creating massively multiplayer online games, including EverQuest, EverQuest II, The Matrix Online, PlanetSide, Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, DC Universe...
, Sigil Games) - John SmedleyJohn Smedley (developer)John Smedley was a computer game programmer, Product Development Director and is now President of Sony Online Entertainment since 2002.Smedley was involved with the creation and development of the original EverQuest and was co-founder of Verant Interactive, Inc., which became Sony Online...
: Co-Creator of EverQuestEverQuestEverQuest, often shortened to EQ, is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game that was released on the 16th of March, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost...
(Verant Interactive, Sony Online EntertainmentSony Online EntertainmentSony Online Entertainment is a game development and game publishing division of Sony that is best known for creating massively multiplayer online games, including EverQuest, EverQuest II, The Matrix Online, PlanetSide, Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, DC Universe...
) and president of Sony Online Entertainment - Jake SongJake SongJake Song, Korean Name Song Jae-kyeong , b. 1965 , is a South Korean programmer who is regarded as one of the greatest game developers in Korea. He played a major role in creating the MMORPG Lineage, an online game with huge following in Korea...
: Creator of LineageLineage (computer game)Lineage is a medieval fantasy, massively multiplayer online role-playing game released in the United States in 1998 by the South Korean computer game developer NCsoft. It is most popular in Korea and is available in Chinese, Japanese, and English language versions...
(NCsoftNCsoftNCsoft is a South Korea-based online video game company, which has published massively multiplayer online role-playing games including Lineage, City of Heroes, Wildstar, Exteel, Guild Wars and Aion.-History:...
) - Deborah ToddDeborah ToddDeborah Todd is an American game designer, writer, and producer who began her career in the entertainment industry in 1991 writing cartoons for MGM/UA's new Pink Panther Saturday morning cartoon series...
MMOG game designer, writer - Gordon WaltonGordon WaltonGordon Walton, Jr. is an American video game developer and executive producer who has worked with many North American online game companies, from Maxis to Electronic Arts to Sony Online to Bioware...
: Executive producer - Jordan WeismanJordan WeismanJordan Weisman is an American game designer, author, and serial entrepreneur who has founded four major game design companies, each in a different game genre and segment of the industry.-Biography:...
: Founder of 42 Entertainment42 Entertainment42 Entertainment is an American company based in Pasadena which specializes in creating and producing alternate reality games . The company was founded in 2003 as an independently-owned, creative content and interactive agency under the name 4orty 2wo Entertainment. The company started with a...
, co-creator of I Love Bees and The BeastThe Beast (game)The Beast was an alternate reality game created by a team at Microsoft to promote the Steven Spielberg film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. The Beast, which ran for twelve weeks in the spring and early summer of 2001, is one of the most influential early ARG games.-Defining ARG:An ARG is a game... - Will Wright: Creator of The Sims OnlineThe Sims OnlineThe 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...
(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...
)
Programming
- Michael AbrashMichael AbrashMichael Abrash is a technical writer specializing in optimization and 80x86 assembly language programming, a reputation cemented by his 1990 book Zen of Assembly Language Volume 1: Knowledge. The original 8086 processor, the focus of the book, was several generations behind the state of the art by...
: Pioneer of fast graphics routines & author of graphics programming texts - Danielle Bunten BerryDanielle Bunten BerryDanielle Bunten Berry , born Daniel Paul Bunten, and also known as Dan Bunten, was an American game designer and programmer, known for the 1983 game M.U.L.E. , and 1984's The Seven Cities of Gold.-Biography:Bunten was born in St Louis, Missouri, and moved to Little Rock, Arkansas as a...
: M.U.L.E.M.U.L.E.M.U.L.E. is a seminal multiplayer video game by Ozark Softscape. It was published in 1983 by Electronic Arts. It was originally written for the Atari 400/800, and was later ported to the Commodore 64, the Nintendo Entertainment System and the IBM PC Jr. Japanese versions also exist for the...
, Seven Cities of Gold and others - David BrabenDavid BrabenDavid John Braben is a British computer programmer, best known for co-writing Elite, a hugely popular and influential space trading computer game, in the early 1980s.-Life and work:...
: co-creator of Elite - Bill BudgeBill BudgeBill Budge is a computer game programmer and designer. His two main claims to fame are 1981's Raster Blaster and 1983's Pinball Construction Set. Both these games were released originally for the Apple II....
: Raster BlasterRaster BlasterRaster Blaster is a 1981 computer pinball game for the Apple II resembling the classic Firepower table.-Summary:This video game was written and designed by Bill Budge and published by BudgeCo. It showed a fullscreen high resolution display of a pinball game table...
and Pinball Construction SetPinball Construction SetPinball Construction Set is a computer game by Bill Budge published by Electronic Arts. It was released for the Apple II and Atari 800 in 1983 and was later ported to other platforms, such as the Commodore 64 and DOS .-Description:... - John D. Carmack: Wolfenstein 3DWolfenstein 3DWolfenstein 3D is a video game that is generally regarded by critics and gaming journalists as having both popularized the first-person shooter genre on the PC and created the basic archetype upon which all subsequent games of the same genre would be built. It was created by id Software and...
, Doom, Quake, co-founded id SoftwareId SoftwareId Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack... - Don DaglowDon DaglowDon Daglow is an American computer game and video game designer, programmer and producer. He is best known for designing a series of pioneering simulation games and role-playing games, as well as the first computer baseball game and the first graphical MMORPG, all between 1971 and 1995...
: '70s1970sFile:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
mainframe games BaseballBaseball (computer game)Baseball was one of the first-ever baseball computer games, and was created on a PDP-10 mainframe computer at Pomona College in 1971 by student Don Daglow. The game continued to be enhanced periodically through 1976...
, DungeonDungeon (computer game)Dungeon was one of the earliest computer role-playing games, running on PDP-10 mainframe computers manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation.-History:...
. Also did IntellivisionIntellivisionThe Intellivision is a video game console released by Mattel in 1979. Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. The word intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television"...
UtopiaUtopia (video game)Utopia is a video game, released on Intellivision in 1981 and often regarded as among the first sim games and god games. It is also regarded as setting the scene for the real-time strategy genre. It was designed and programmed by Don Daglow....
, first sim game - Richard GarriottRichard GarriottRichard Allen Garriott is a British-American video game developer and entrepreneur.He is also known as his alter egos Lord British in Ultima and General British in Tabula Rasa...
(a.k.a. Lord British): creator of the Ultima OnlineUltima OnlineUltima 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...
series, Tabula Rasa and founder of Origin SystemsOrigin SystemsOrigin Systems, Inc. was a computer game developer based in Austin, Texas that was active from 1983 to 2004... - Nasir GebelliNasir GebelliNasir Gebelli is an Iranian-American programmer and video game developer. Gebelli co-founded Sirius Software, created his own company Gebelli Software, and worked for Square .-Sirius Software:...
: famous for programming Square Co.Square Co.was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
's (Now Square-Enix) Final FantasyFinal Fantasyis a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
for the Famicom (NES) and a few other Square titles. A programming legend on the Apple II. - Rebecca HeinemanRebecca HeinemanRebecca Ann Heineman is an American video game programmer. A long-time veteran of the computer game industry , Heineman was a founding member of Interplay Productions, Logicware, Contraband Entertainment...
: Out of this worldAnother World (video game)Another World, also known as Out of This World in North America and Outer World in Japan, is a 1991 cinematic platformer designed and developed by Eric Chahi...
and Bards Tale - Wesley HuntressWesley HuntressWesley T. Huntress, Jr. is president of the Planetary Society in the United States and Director of the Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution. Huntress spent much of his career at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also teaching as a professor at the associated California Institute of...
: Rendezvous: A Space Shuttle Simulator and Wilderness: A Survival Adventure - Andre LamotheAndre LaMotheAndré LaMothe is a computer scientist, author and embedded systems developer. He was responsible for the development of hardware and software for artificial intelligence research and worked specifically on the sparse distributed memory project at NASA's Research Institute for Advanced Computer...
: Author of several game programming texts - Al LoweAl LoweAl Lowe is an American musician and game designer/programmer who developed several adventure games, mostly for Sierra On-Line. He is best known for his creation of Leisure Suit Larry and the long-running series it spawned....
: Leisure Suit LarryLeisure Suit LarryLeisure Suit Larry is a series of adventure games written by Al Lowe and published by Sierra from 1987 to 2009. The main character, whose full name is Larry Laffer, is a balding, dorky, double entendre-speaking, leisure suit-wearing "loser" in his 40s...
series - Jordan MechnerJordan MechnerJordan Mechner is an American video game designer, screenwriter, author, and filmmaker, best known for creating the Prince of Persia video game franchise.- Life and career :Mechner was born in New York City...
: Karateka and Prince of PersiaPrince of PersiaPrince of Persia is a platform game, originally developed by Jordan Mechner and released in 1989 for the Apple II, that represented a great leap forward in the quality of animation seen in video games....
series - Sid MeierSid MeierSidney K. "Sid" Meier is a Canadian programmer and designer of several popular computer strategy games, most notably Civilization. He has won accolades for his contributions to the computer games industry...
: Civilization series, Railroad TycoonRailroad TycoonSid Meier's Railroad Tycoon is a business simulation game. There are five versions; the original Railroad Tycoon , Railroad Tycoon Deluxe , Railroad Tycoon II , Railroad Tycoon 3 , and Sid Meier's Railroads! .Railroad Tycoon was written by game designer Sid Meier and published by MicroProse and...
, co-founder of Firaxis - Alan Miller: Original programmer for Atari 2600Atari 2600The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
, co-founded publishersVideo game publisherA video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
ActivisionActivisionActivision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
and Accolade - Jeff MinterJeff MinterJeff 'Yak' Minter is a British computer/video game designer and programmer. He is the founder of software house Llamasoft and his recent works include Neon , a non-game music visualization program that has been built into the Xbox 360 console, and the video games Space Giraffe , and Space Invaders...
: Founder of Llamasoft and programmer of most of their games - David MullichDavid MullichDavid Mullich is an American game producer and designer best known for creating the cult classic 1980 adventure game The Prisoner, producing the 1995 adaptation I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, and developing many games in the Heroes of Might and Magic franchise...
: The Prisoner and other Edu-WareEdu-WareEdu-Ware Services, Inc. was an educational and entertainment software publisher established in 1979 by Sherwin Steffin and Steven Pederson It was known for its adventure games, role-playing video games, and flight simulators for the Apple II family of computers.-History:Edu-Ware founders Sherwin...
games - Yuji NakaYuji Naka, is a video game designer and programmer, best known as the former head of Sonic Team, a group of Sega programmers/designers, where he was the lead programmer of the original Sonic the Hedgehog....
: Sonic the HedgehogSonic the Hedgehog seriesSonic the Hedgehog is the best selling video game series released by Sega starring and named after its mascot character, Sonic the Hedgehog...
and other SegaSega, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
games - Frédérick RaynalFrédérick RaynalFrédérick Raynal is a French video game designer and programmer, notable for his game developments in Infogrames, Adeline Software International and No Cliché. He is married to Yaël Barroz, a fellow game designer, with whom he has two children....
, best known for Alone in the DarkAlone in the DarkAlone in the Dark is the title of several works of fiction:*Alone in the Dark, a series of video games*Alone in the Dark , a 1992 video game and the first in the series...
and the Little Big AdventureLittle Big AdventureLittle Big Adventure is an action-adventure game developed by Adeline Software International and first released at the end of 1994. It was published in Europe by Electronic Arts and in North America, Asia and Oceania under the name Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure by Activision. Over 400,000 copies...
series. - John RomeroJohn RomeroAlfonso John Romero is a game designer, programmer, and developer in the video game industry. He is best known as a co-founder of id Software and was a designer for many of their games, including Wolfenstein 3D, Dangerous Dave, Doom and Quake...
: Game programmer since 1979. Best known for Commander KeenCommander KeenCommander Keen is a series of video games developed by id Software in the early 1990s. The series focuses on the adventures of Billy Blaze, an 8-year old boy who travels through space and assumes the identity "Commander Keen". The series was successful at replicating the side-scrolling action of...
, Doom, Quake. - Jim SachsJames D. SachsJames D. Sachs is a retired United States Air Force veteran, game artist and game programmer.Sachs was the lead artist on the groundbreaking Amiga computer game Defender of the Crown from Cinemaware . He is also the author of the Commodore 64 game Saucer Attack, which was heavily pirated...
: Programmer of Saucer AttackSaucer AttackSaucer Attack is a computer game for the Commodore 64, created by James D. Sachs.-Summary:The game is a shoot 'em up where the player's job is to protect Washington, D.C. from invading flying saucers. The game screen presents a beautifully drawn backdrop of Washington, with various landmarks such...
and other home computerHome computerHome computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
era games - Chris SawyerChris SawyerChris Sawyer is a Scottish computer game developer who is best known for designing and programming Transport Tycoon and the RollerCoaster Tycoon series.-Career:...
: Programmer and designer Roller Coaster Tycoon series and other games - Ken SilvermanKen SilvermanKen Silverman is a game programmer, best known for writing the Build engine used in Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Blood, and more than a dozen other games in the mid- to late-1990s...
: Author of the Build engineBuild engineThe Build engine is a first-person shooter engine created by Ken Silverman for 3D Realms. Like the Doom engine, the Build engine represents its world on a two-dimensional grid using closed 2D shapes called sectors, and uses simple flat objects called sprites to populate the world geometry with...
game engineGame engineA game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers... - Tim SweeneyTim Sweeney (game developer)Tim Sweeney, born in 1970, is a computer game programmer and the founder of Epic Games, being best known for his work on ZZT and the Unreal Engine....
: founded Epic GamesEpic GamesEpic Games, Inc., also known as Epic and formerly Epic MegaGames, is an American video game development company based in Cary, North Carolina. Its most recent success has been the Gears of War series of games, although it is also known for its Unreal Engine technology. It is the parent company of...
, Unreal seriesUnreal seriesUnreal is a series of first-person shooter video games developed by Epic Games. The series is also known for its exhibition of the Unreal Engine that powers the games and is available for other developers to license...
and the Unreal engineUnreal EngineThe Unreal Engine is a game engine developed by Epic Games, first illustrated in the 1998 first-person shooter game Unreal. Although primarily developed for first-person shooters, it has been successfully used in a variety of other genres, including stealth, MMORPGs and RPGs... - Anne WestfallAnne WestfallAnne Westfall is an influential game programmer of the 1980s. She is the wife of fellow game programmer, game designer and entrepreneur Jon Freeman.-Career:...
: Programmer of the Archon series of games - Will Wright: programmer of first games in SimCitySimCitySimCity is a critically acclaimed city-building simulation video game, first released in 1989, and designed by Will Wright. SimCity was Maxis' first product, which has since been ported into various personal computers and game consoles, and spawned several sequels including SimCity 2000 in 1994,...
series and co-founder of MaxisMaxisMaxis 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... - Corrinne YuCorrinne Yu-Biography:Corrinne Yu is Principal Engine Architect on Microsoft's Halo team, and first-party Halo games Lead. Yu is the first and only female Technical Lead of the whole of Microsoft Game Studios and was a founding member of Microsoft's Direct 3D Advisory Board. Previously she participated in...
: HaloHalo (series)Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
lead and principal engine architect (Microsoft Halo team), Gearbox SoftwareGearbox SoftwareGearbox Software, LLC is an American video game development company based in Plano, Texas.-History:Gearbox Software was founded in January 1999 by five members of the content team from the defunct developer Rebel Boat Rocker: Randy Pitchford, Brian Martel, Stephen Bahl, Landon Montgomery, and Rob...
(studio wide) Director of platform technology, ION StormIon stormIon storm may refer to:* Ion Storm, a defunct games software company.* An interplanetary coronal mass ejection , a disruption of the fast and slow solar winds, often called "ion storm", "solar storm" or "space storm"...
(studio wide) Director of Technology, PreyPrey (video game)Prey is a first-person shooter video game developed by Human Head Studios , and published by 2K Games. The Xbox 360 version was ported by Venom Games. The game was initially released in North America and Europe on 11 July 2006...
engine lead programmer at 3D Realms3D Realms3D Realms is a current video game publisher and former video game developer based in Garland, Texas, United States, established in 1987...
See also: :Category:Video game programmers
Producing
- Thor Alexander (MetaplaceMetaplaceMetaplace was a software platform intended to democratize the development of virtual worlds. The platform is developed by Areae , the company established by Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies designer Raph Koster...
) - Joel BretonJoel BretonJoel Maximilian Breton is an international video game producer, video game designer, D.J. and entrepreneur. Joel is also known as an international super producer and he is best known for producing award winning video games including Bomberman Live, Unreal, Duke Nukem, and Pirates of the...
(Bomberman LiveBomberman LiveBomberman Live is a downloadable video game for the Xbox Live Arcade, developed by Backbone Entertainment. Live is an original version of the classic game Bomberman, an arcade-style maze-based video game originally developed by Hudson Soft. The game was officially announced on May 16, 2007 and...
, Pirates of the CaribbeanPirates of the CaribbeanPirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a series of films, a theme park ride, and spinoff novels as well as numerous video games and other publications. The franchise originates with the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, which opened at Disneyland in...
, Duke Nukem: Land of the BabesDuke Nukem: Land of the BabesDuke Nukem: Land of The Babes is a third-person shooter video game in the Duke Nukem series of video games. This game is a direct sequel to the 1998 title, Duke Nukem: Time to Kill.-Plot:...
) - Mark CernyMark CernyMark Cerny is a video game industry figure who has worked as a game designer, programmer, producer and business executive. As president of Cerny Games, which he founded in 1998, he now acts as a consultant in the video game industry. In 2004, he was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award...
(Jak and DaxterJak and DaxterJak and Daxter is a critically acclaimed video game franchise created by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 2.The series consists of four main games and two spin-offs,though they are also considered to be part of the main series...
series, Spyro the Dragon seriesSpyro the Dragon (series)Spyro the Dragon is a platform and action game series starring the video game character Spyro, which was originally published by Sony Computer Entertainment and developed by Insomniac Games for the PlayStation....
and Ratchet and Clank) - Brad FreggerBrad FreggerBrad Fregger is an American entrepreneur, author and former game producer publisher, and book publisher.Fregger was involved in the computer and video game industry at its inception...
(HackerHacker (computer game)Hacker is a 1985 computer game by Activision. It was designed by Steve Cartwright, produced by Brad Fregger and was released for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari XL/XE, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Macintosh, MS-DOS, MSX and ZX Spectrum...
and numerous others) - Sam HouserSam HouserSam Houser is an English video game producer and developer. He is the co-founder and president of Rockstar Games and one of the creative driving forces behind the games in the Grand Theft Auto-franchise, being director and producer since the third game...
(the Grand Theft AutoGrand Theft Auto (series)Grand Theft Auto is a multi-award-winning British video game series created in the United Kingdom by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke. It is primarily developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games...
series, BullyBully (video game)Bully, also known as Canis Canem Edit for the PAL PlayStation 2 version, is an open world video game released by Rockstar Vancouver for the PlayStation 2 on 17 October 2006 in North America, and 25 October 2006 in the United Kingdom...
, The WarriorsThe Warriors (video game)The Warriors is a beat 'em up video game published by Rockstar Games. It was released on October 17, 2005 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and February 12, 2007 for PlayStation Portable. The game is based on the 1979 film, The Warriors...
, Max Payne 2Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max PayneMax Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a third-person shooter video game developed by Remedy Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and Rockstar Vienna for the Xbox & PlayStation 2 and published by Rockstar Games. The game is a direct sequel to Max Payne and is followed by Max Payne 3...
and others) - Keiji InafuneKeiji Inafuneis a video game producer and illustrator. He was the former head of Research & Development and Online Business and Global Head of Production at Capcom, best known as the illustrator and co-designer of the character Mega Man, as well as the producer of the Onimusha and Dead Rising video game series...
(MegamanMega Man (character)Mega Man, known as in Japan, is a cybernetic video game character, and the main protagonist of what has been referred to as the original Mega Man series developed by Capcom since 1987. The pixel art for the character was created by the designer of the original game in the series, credited under...
character designer, producer of Dead RisingDead Risingis an action-adventure, survivor horror video game, developed by Capcom and produced by Keiji Inafune. It was released on August 8, 2006 exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game console. The game was a commercial success. It has been introduced into the Xbox 360 "Platinum Hits" lineup, and a cell...
and Onimusha) - Mike Jaret (Postal (video game series)Postal (video game series)Postal is a computer game franchise developed by Running With Scissors known for its excessive violence and controversial content. Each game is set in a different genre, Postal is isometric, Postal² is a first-person shooter and Postal III will be a third-person shooter...
) - Hideo KojimaHideo Kojimais a Japanese game director originally employed at Konami. He is currently the director of Kojima Productions and was promoted to Vice President of Konami Digital Entertainment in early 2011...
(Metal GearMetal GearMetal Gear is a series of video games.Metal Gear may also refer to:*Metal Gear , bipedal tanks appearing in the Metal Gear series-Metal Gear video game series:...
, Zone of the EndersZone of the EndersThe soundtrack to Zone of the Enders was released April 25, 2001 on the album Zone of the Enders Z.O.E Original Soundtrack by Konami Music Entertainment. Almost all the music was composed by the trio , and . Also, composed "Global 2 " and , "City ". The theme song "KISS ME SUNLIGHTS" was composed...
) - Ken Levine (BioShockBioshockBioShock is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Boston and designed by Ken Levine. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on August 21, 2007 in North America, and three days later in Europe and Australia. It became available on Steam on August 21, 2007...
, System Shock 2System Shock 2System Shock 2 is a 1999 first-person action role-playing video game, designed by Ken Levine for Microsoft Windows. The title is a sequel to the 1994 PC game System Shock, and was co-developed by Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios...
) - Jade RaymondJade RaymondJade Raymond is a French Canadian video game executive currently working as the Managing Director of Ubisoft Toronto.- Biography :...
(Assassin's CreedAssassin's CreedAssassin's Creed is an award-winning historical third person, stealth action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The bulk of the game takes place during the Third Crusade, with the plot revolving around a sect known as the Secret Order of...
) - John RomeroJohn RomeroAlfonso John Romero is a game designer, programmer, and developer in the video game industry. He is best known as a co-founder of id Software and was a designer for many of their games, including Wolfenstein 3D, Dangerous Dave, Doom and Quake...
(Executive producer and designer of Heretic, HexenHexenHexen is a first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software, published by id Software, and distributed by GT Interactive beginning on September 30, 1995. It is the sequel to 1994's Heretic, and the second game in the Serpent Riders series...
) - Hironobu SakaguchiHironobu Sakaguchiis a Japanese game designer, game director and game producer. He is world famous as the creator of the Final Fantasy series, and has had a long career in gaming with over 100 million units of video games sold worldwide...
(Final FantasyFinal Fantasyis a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
series) - Bruce ShelleyBruce ShelleyBruce Campbell Shelley is a computer game designer who helped design Sid Meier's Civilization and Railroad Tycoon with MicroProse and the 1997 hit real-time strategy game Age of Empires with Ensemble Studios. He is currently working with Zynga, best known for Farmville, and had helped develop...
(Age of Empires) - Warren SpectorWarren SpectorWarren Spector is a role-playing game designer and a video game designer. He is known for having worked to merge elements of role-playing games and first-person shooters. He currently resides in Austin, Texas with his wife, fantasy writer Caroline L. Spector...
(ThiefThief (series)Thief is a series of stealth video games in which the player takes the role of Garrett, a thief in a fantasy/steampunk world resembling a cross between the Late Middle Ages and the Victorian era, with more advanced technologies interspersed...
, Deus ExDeus ExDeus Ex is an action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive in 2000, which combines gameplay elements of first-person shooters with those of role-playing video games...
) - Daniel StahlDaniel StahlDaniel Stahl is an American game designer best known for creating German-style board games. In 2002, his game Pirate's Cove was published by Amigo Spiele in Europe and then in the United States by Days of Wonder.A former member of the ImagiNation Network, He became a webmaster in 1994 and later...
(Star Trek OnlineStar Trek OnlineStar Trek Online, often abbreviated as STO, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Cryptic Studios based on the popular Star Trek series created by Gene Roddenberry. The game is set in the 25th century, 30 years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis...
, Champions OnlineChampions OnlineChampions Online is a free-to-play superhero-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game by former City of Heroes/Villains developer Cryptic Studios based on the Champions license. The game's rules and setting are loosely based on the HERO System ruleset...
) - Yu SuzukiYu Suzukiis a Japanese game designer and producer who has spent his entire career with Sega Enterprises. Often referred to as Sega's answer to Shigeru Miyamoto, he has been responsible for the creation of many of Sega's most important arcade games such as Hang-On, Out Run, After Burner II, Virtua Fighter,...
(Virtua Fighter series, ShenmueShenmueis a 1999 open-world adventure video game developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. Suzuki coined a genre title, "FREE" , for the game, based on the interactivity and freedom he wanted to give to the player...
) - Dave D. TaylorDave D. TaylorDave D. Taylor is an American game programmer, best known as a former id Software employee and noted for his work promoting Linux gaming.In 1993 he graduated from University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering....
(Abuse)
See also: :Category:Video game producers
Art and animation
- Jordan MechnerJordan MechnerJordan Mechner is an American video game designer, screenwriter, author, and filmmaker, best known for creating the Prince of Persia video game franchise.- Life and career :Mechner was born in New York City...
: Introduced realistic movement to video games with Prince of PersiaPrince of PersiaPrince of Persia is a platform game, originally developed by Jordan Mechner and released in 1989 for the Apple II, that represented a great leap forward in the quality of animation seen in video games.... - Jim SachsJames D. SachsJames D. Sachs is a retired United States Air Force veteran, game artist and game programmer.Sachs was the lead artist on the groundbreaking Amiga computer game Defender of the Crown from Cinemaware . He is also the author of the Commodore 64 game Saucer Attack, which was heavily pirated...
: Created new standard for quality of art with the release of the AmigaAmigaThe Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
game Defender of the CrownDefender of the CrownDefender of the Crown is a strategy computer game designed by Kellyn Beck. It was Cinemaware's first game, and was originally released for the Commodore Amiga in 1986, setting a new standard for graphic quality in home computer games....
Music and sound
- Nobuo UematsuNobuo Uematsuis a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
: composer for many Final FantasyFinal Fantasyis a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
titles - Frank KlepackiFrank KlepackiFrank Klepacki is an American musician, video game music composer and sound director best known for his work on the Command & Conquer series. Having learned to play drums as a child, he joined Westwood Studios as a composer when he was only 17 years old...
: composer on many titles such as "Command & Conquer: Red Alert" - Martin GalwayMartin GalwayMartin Galway is one of the best known composers of music for the Commodore 64 sound chip, the SID soundchip, and for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum...
: composer for Commodore 64Commodore 64The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
's legendary SIDMOS Technology SIDThe MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID is the built-in Programmable Sound Generator chip of Commodore's CBM-II, Commodore 64, Commodore 128 and Commodore MAX Machine home computers...
sound chip - Rob HubbardRob HubbardRob Hubbard is a music composer best known for his composition of computer game theme music, especially for microcomputers of the 1980s such as the Commodore 64...
: composer for Commodore 64Commodore 64The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595... - Richard JosephRichard JosephRichard Joseph was a British computer game composer, musician and sound specialist. He had a career spanning some 20 years starting in the early days of gaming on the C64 and the Amiga and onto succeeding formats through to the present day.After being diagnosed with lung cancer, he died on 4 March...
: Bafta winning sound specialist and composer for AmigaAmigaThe Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
and most popular formats since 1986. - Koji KondoKoji Kondois a Japanese video game composer and sound director who has been employed at Nintendo since 1984. He is best known for scoring numerous titles in the Mario and The Legend of Zelda series.-Early life:...
: composer for Super Mario Bros.Super Mario Bros.is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
and ZeldaThe Legend of Zelda series, occasionally called Legend of Zelda or simply Zelda, is a high fantasy action-adventure video game series created by Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is developed and published by Nintendo, with some portable installments outsourced to Flagship/Capcom, Vanpool, and...
series - Yasunori MitsudaYasunori Mitsudais a Japanese video game composer, sound programmer, and musician. He has composed music for or worked on over 35 games, and has contributed to over 15 other albums...
: composer for many SquareSquare Co.was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
games, beginning with Chrono TriggerChrono Triggeris a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...
in 1995 - Martin O'DonnellMartin O'DonnellMartin "Marty" O'Donnell is an American composer known for his work on video game developer Bungie's series, such as Myth, Oni, and Halo...
: Award-winning lead composer and audio designer for BungieBungieBungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of...
's HaloHalo (series)Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
games - Robert PrinceRobert PrinceRobert Prince, also known as Bobby Prince, is a composer and sound designer. He has worked as an independent contractor for several gaming companies, most notably id Software and Apogee/3D Realms....
: composer for many of id SoftwareId SoftwareId Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
's games including the Commander KeenCommander KeenCommander Keen is a series of video games developed by id Software in the early 1990s. The series focuses on the adventures of Billy Blaze, an 8-year old boy who travels through space and assumes the identity "Commander Keen". The series was successful at replicating the side-scrolling action of...
series and Doom series - George Sanger: a.k.a. The Fat Man, composer on many titles such as "Wing Commander"
- Adam DiTroia composer and sound designer for games such as Taxi 3 Extreme Rush, Space Chimps DS, Looney Tunes Duck Amuck, Kuma War 2, and many others.
See also: List of video game musicians
Technology
- Ralph Baer: Inventor of the Magnavox OdysseyMagnavox OdysseyThe Magnavox Odyssey is the world's first home video game console. It was first demonstrated on May 24, 1972 and released in August of that year, predating the Atari Pong home consoles by three years....
, the first video game consoleVideo game consoleA video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game... - John D. Carmack: Pioneered numerous techniques to 3D programming, developed techniques that gave birth to the first-person shooterFirst-person shooterFirst-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
genre, co-founded id SoftwareId SoftwareId Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack... - Ken SilvermanKen SilvermanKen Silverman is a game programmer, best known for writing the Build engine used in Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Blood, and more than a dozen other games in the mid- to late-1990s...
: creator of the Build EngineBuild engineThe Build engine is a first-person shooter engine created by Ken Silverman for 3D Realms. Like the Doom engine, the Build engine represents its world on a two-dimensional grid using closed 2D shapes called sectors, and uses simple flat objects called sprites to populate the world geometry with...
used to develop Duke Nukem 3DDuke Nukem 3DDuke Nukem 3D is a first-person shooter computer game developed by 3D Realms and published by GT Interactive Software. The full version was released for the PC . It is a sequel to the platform games Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II published by Apogee...
, Blood, Shadow WarriorShadow WarriorShadow Warrior, often known by its initials SW, is a first-person shooter computer game developed by 3D Realms and released on May 13, 1997 by GT Interactive. Shadow Warrior was developed using Ken Silverman's Build engine and improved on 3D Realms' previous Build engine game, Duke Nukem 3D...
, Redneck RampageRedneck RampageRedneck Rampage is a 1997 first-person shooter game designed by Xatrix Entertainment and published by Interplay. The game features songs by Mojo Nixon, Reverend Horton Heat, Beat Farmers and other Psychobilly artists. As the name implies, Redneck Rampage has many hillbilly elements in it...
among others - Tim SweeneyTim Sweeney (game developer)Tim Sweeney, born in 1970, is a computer game programmer and the founder of Epic Games, being best known for his work on ZZT and the Unreal Engine....
: Founder of Epic GamesEpic GamesEpic Games, Inc., also known as Epic and formerly Epic MegaGames, is an American video game development company based in Cary, North Carolina. Its most recent success has been the Gears of War series of games, although it is also known for its Unreal Engine technology. It is the parent company of...
and programmer of the Unreal EngineUnreal EngineThe Unreal Engine is a game engine developed by Epic Games, first illustrated in the 1998 first-person shooter game Unreal. Although primarily developed for first-person shooters, it has been successfully used in a variety of other genres, including stealth, MMORPGs and RPGs... - Masayuki UemuraMasayuki Uemurais a Japanese game hardware designer. Due to the bombing of Japan during World War II, his family was forced to move to Kyoto. Having little money, he was forced to make his own toys. His toys became more and more complex and he wanted to learn more, so he went to industrial college...
: Inventor of the Nintendo Entertainment SystemNintendo Entertainment SystemThe Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
and Super Nintendo Entertainment SystemSuper Nintendo Entertainment SystemThe Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short... - Gunpei Yokoi: Inventor of the Game and Watch, Game BoyGame BoyThe , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
and WonderSwanWonderSwanwas a line of handheld game consoles produced in Japan by Bandai between 1999 and 2003. It was developed by the late Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto and Bandai...
Company officers
- J. Allard: XboxXboxThe Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
Officer President - Marc BlankMarc BlankMarc Blank is an American game developer and software engineer. He is best known as part of the team that created one of the first hit text adventure computer games, Zork....
: Co-founder of InfocomInfocomInfocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone.... - Nolan BushnellNolan BushnellNolan K. Bushnell is an American engineer and entrepreneur who founded both Atari, Inc and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza-Time Theaters chain...
: Founder of AtariAtariAtari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in... - Doug CarlstonDoug CarlstonDoug Carlston is the founder and current CEO of Tawala Systems based in San Rafael, California. He was previously CEO, chairman, and co-founder of Brøderbund Software, a major software publishing firm that produced such hit titles as Myst, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and Prince of...
: Co-founder of Broderbund - David GordonDavid Gordon (software entrepreneur)David Gordon was an American computer game publisher who founded Programma International and Datamost....
: Founder of Programma InternationalProgramma InternationalProgramma International was one of the first personal computer software publishers. Established in the late 1970s by David Gordon, it published a line of approximately 300 game, programming utility, and office productivity products for the Apple II, Commodore PET, TRS-80 and other personal computer... - Hal HalpinHal HalpinHal Halpin is an American computer game executive and entrepreneur, and is the president and founder of the Entertainment Consumers Association .- Background :...
: President of ECAEntertainment Consumers AssociationEntertainment Consumers Association is a United States-based non-partisan, non-government, non-profit organization dedicated to the interests of individuals who play computer and video games in the United States and Canada.-History:Mr... - Trip HawkinsTrip HawkinsWilliam M. 'Trip' Hawkins III is a Silicon Valley American entrepreneur and founder of Electronic Arts, The 3DO Company and Digital Chocolate....
: Founder of 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... - Sam HouserSam HouserSam Houser is an English video game producer and developer. He is the co-founder and president of Rockstar Games and one of the creative driving forces behind the games in the Grand Theft Auto-franchise, being director and producer since the third game...
: Co-founder and President of Rockstar GamesRockstar GamesRockstar Games is a major video game developer and publisher based in New York City, owned by Take-Two Interactive following its purchase of UK video game publisher BMG Interactive. The brand is mostly known for Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A... - Satoru IwataSatoru Iwatais the fourth president of Nintendo, succeeding the long-standing previous president of the company, Hiroshi Yamauchi in 2002. He was responsible in great part for defining Nintendo's strategy both before and during the release of its Nintendo GameCube video game console in 2001, a vision which...
: President of Nintendo - Paul JaquaysPaul JaquaysPaul Jaquays is a game designer and artist of table-top role-playing games and video games.Some of his notable works include the Dungeons & Dragons modules "Dark Tower" and "Caverns of Thracia" for Judges Guild; development and design of conversions on games such as Pac-Man and Donkey Kong for...
: Started the game design unit at ColecoColecoColeco is an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as "Connecticut Leather Company". It became a highly successful toy company in the 1980s, known for its mass-produced version of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar and... - Ken KutaragiKen Kutaragiis the former Chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment , the video game division of Sony Corporation. He is known as "The Father of the PlayStation", and its successors and spinoffs, including the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and the PlayStation 3.Before this...
: President of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. - Doug Lowenstein: Founder and former President of the Entertainment Software AssociationEntertainment Software AssociationThe Entertainment Software Association is the trade association of the video game industry in the United States. It was formed in April 1994 as the Interactive Digital Software Association and renamed on July 16, 2003...
- Shigeru MiyamotoShigeru Miyamotois a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
: General manager, entertainment analysis and development division for NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
. Influential in the industry for his innovative ideas and techniques, and the creation of Mario, Link, Zelda, Pikmin, among others. - Peter Moore: 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...
. - Peter MolyneuxPeter MolyneuxPeter Douglas Molyneux OBE is an English computer game designer and game programmer. He created the God games Dungeon Keeper, Populous, and Black & White, among others, as well as business simulation games such as Theme Park and more recently, the RPG series Fable.Despite the success of his games,...
: Founder of Lionhead StudiosLionhead StudiosLionhead Studios is a British computer game development company led by industry veteran Peter Molyneux, and acquired by Microsoft Game Studios in April 2006. Lionhead started as a breakaway from the developer Bullfrog, which was also founded by Molyneux. Lionhead's first game was Black & White, a...
, Co-founder of Bullfrog ProductionsBullfrog ProductionsBullfrog Productions was a UK computer game developer that was founded in 1987 by Les Edgar and Peter Molyneux. The company achieved recognition in 1989 for their third release, Populous.... - Philip & Andrew OliverOliver TwinsThe Oliver Twins are two British brothers, Philip and Andrew Oliver, who started to professionally develop computer games while they were still at school. Their first game, Super Robin Hood for the Amstrad CPC, was published in 1985 by Codemasters...
: Identical twins & Co-founders of Blitz GamesBlitz GamesBlitz Games is a division of Blitz Games Studios and is responsible for producing its family titles, which are often licensed games based on well known IP. It is located in Warwickshire, England... - Scott OrrScott OrrScott Orr is an American computer game and video game designer best known as the original lead designer on the first video game console versions of the North American best-selling game, Madden NFL Football...
: Founder of GameStarGameStarGameStar is a monthly released PC computer game magazine, published by the IDG Entertainment Media GmbH in Germany. In 2008 it had an average monthly circulation of 250,000 copies and is therefore the best sold PC computer game magazine in Europe. It is also being published in Hungary, the Czech...
, Glu Mobile - Steven Pederson: Co-founder of Edu-WareEdu-WareEdu-Ware Services, Inc. was an educational and entertainment software publisher established in 1979 by Sherwin Steffin and Steven Pederson It was known for its adventure games, role-playing video games, and flight simulators for the Apple II family of computers.-History:Edu-Ware founders Sherwin...
- Ted PriceTed PriceTed Price is the President and CEO of Insomniac Games, Inc. - an independent game developer which he founded in 1994. Since its inception the company has grown to approximately 210 people...
: President of Insomniac GamesInsomniac GamesInsomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer headquartered in Burbank, California. Founded in 1994, Insomniac has released titles for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3 video game consoles. It created Disruptor, the first three Spyro the Dragon games, and the Ratchet &... - John RomeroJohn RomeroAlfonso John Romero is a game designer, programmer, and developer in the video game industry. He is best known as a co-founder of id Software and was a designer for many of their games, including Wolfenstein 3D, Dangerous Dave, Doom and Quake...
: Co-founded at least seven game companies: Capitol Ideas Software, Inside Out Software, Ideas from the Deep, id SoftwareId SoftwareId Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
, Ion Storm Inc.Ion Storm Inc.Ion Storm Inc. was a Texas based developer of computer games founded by John Romero, Tom Hall , Todd Porter, and Jerry O'Flaherty, under the slogan "Design is Law"...
, Monkeystone GamesMonkeystone GamesMonkeystone Games was a video game developer and publisher founded by John Romero, Tom Hall, Stevie Case, and Brian Moon. The company's focus was on mobile games...
, Gazillion EntertainmentGazillion EntertainmentGazillion Entertainment is a video game company based in San Mateo CA. Gazillion is the parent company for The Amazing Society and Secret Identity Studio.-Video Games:...
. - Sherwin Steffin: Co-founder of Edu-WareEdu-WareEdu-Ware Services, Inc. was an educational and entertainment software publisher established in 1979 by Sherwin Steffin and Steven Pederson It was known for its adventure games, role-playing video games, and flight simulators for the Apple II family of computers.-History:Edu-Ware founders Sherwin...
- Jeremiah SlaczkaJeremiah SlaczkaJeremiah Slaczka, also known by his nickname Miah, is a video game designer/creative director and co-founder of 5TH Cell, a video game developer in Bellevue, Washington...
: Co-founder of 5TH Cell5th Cell5TH Cell is an independently owned video game developer founded in 2003 as 5TH Cell Media, LLC. by Joseph M. Tringali, Jeremiah Slaczka and Brett Caird and currently develops video games for the Nintendo DS and Wii.-Overview:... - Hirokazu 'Hip' Tanaka: President of Pokémon Co.
- Pat VancePatricia VancePatricia Vance was appointed the third president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board in November 2002, replacing interim president, Marc Szafran. Vance is responsible for overseeing and enforcing the computer and video game industry's self-regulatory practices...
: President of ESRB - Jordan WeismanJordan WeismanJordan Weisman is an American game designer, author, and serial entrepreneur who has founded four major game design companies, each in a different game genre and segment of the industry.-Biography:...
: Founder of FASA - David WhatleyDavid WhatleyDavid Whatley is the President and CEO of Simutronics Corporation, a multiplayer game company in St. Charles, Missouri. He was the co-founder of the company in 1987, and has been a key developer on all of the company's products, including the GemStone series, DragonRealms, Modus Operandi,...
: Founder of SimutronicsSimutronicsSimutronics is an American online games company whose products include GemStone IV and DragonRealms. It was founded in 1987 by David Whatley, with husband and wife Tom & Susan Zelinski... - Hiroshi YamauchiHiroshi Yamauchiis a Japanese businessman. He was the third president of Nintendo, joining the company in 1949 until stepping down on May 31, 2002, to be succeeded by Satoru Iwata. Yamauchi is credited with transforming Nintendo from a small hanafuda card-making company in Japan to today's multi-billion dollar...
: Former president of NintendoNintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Game porters
- Sam LantingaSam LantingaSam Oscar Lantinga was the lead software engineer at Blizzard Entertainment, where he is known to the community as Slouken. He may be most famous as the creator of the Simple DirectMedia Layer, a very popular open source multimedia programming library, and also developed the compatibility database...
, game porter for Loki SoftwareLoki SoftwareLoki Software, Inc. was a software firm based in Tustin, California, United States, that ported several video games from Microsoft Windows to Linux...
. - Ryan C. GordonRyan C. GordonRyan C. Gordon is a former Loki Software employee who is now responsible for icculus.org, which hosts many Loki Software projects as well as several new projects created by himself and others...
: former employee of Loki SoftwareLoki SoftwareLoki Software, Inc. was a software firm based in Tustin, California, United States, that ported several video games from Microsoft Windows to Linux...
, contract porter. - Michael SimmsMichael Simms (software developer)Michael Simms is the creator of the Tux Games website and the founder of Linux Game Publishing.- Biography :Simms began using Linux when he was at university in 1992. From 2000 — 2001 he worked at Wcities as Lead product architect....
: founder of Linux Game PublishingLinux Game PublishingLinux Game Publishing is a software company based in Nottingham in England. It ports, publishes and sells video games running on Linux operating systems. As well as porting games, LGP also sponsors the development of Grapple, a free software network library for games...
. - Dave D. TaylorDave D. TaylorDave D. Taylor is an American game programmer, best known as a former id Software employee and noted for his work promoting Linux gaming.In 1993 he graduated from University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering....
: game porter of Doom and Abuse to LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. - Timothee BessetTimothee BessetTimothee Besset is a software programmer currently employed by id Software who is most well known for creating and supporting Linux, as well as some Macintosh, ports of id Software's products. He has been involved with the game ports of various id properties over the past ten years, starting with...
: porter of several id SoftwareId SoftwareId Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
games to LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and Mac OS XMac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
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