Matt Mihaly
Encyclopedia
Matt Mihaly / Matthew Mihaly (born June 21, 1972) is an American
CEO and Creative Director
of Sparkplay Media and Chairman, founder, CEO, and formerly Creative Director at Iron Realms Entertainment. He is known for pioneering the sale of virtual assets in online games. His MUD
pseudonym is Sarapis.
in Ithaca, New York
, receiving a Bachelor's degree in political science
, or 'government', as Cornell calls it, in 1994. During college, Matt became involved with MUD
s, especially BatMUD
, where he was a wizard
.
In 1996, Mihaly founded Iron Realms Entertainment and served as lead designer and producer on Achaea.
In 1997, he pioneered the Virtual Asset Sales (VAS) model, holding auctions for virtual weapons and armor in Achaea.
In 2000, he served as Senior Consultant to the Secretary-General of the World Summit of Young Entrepreneurs, in New York, New York, leading development of a system with very low technology requirements to permit entrepreneurs in impoverished 3rd-world countries to participate.
Mihaly has since overseen the release of four successful MUD
s, with another in the pipeline, and is producing and serving as lead designer on Iron Realms' first graphical game, Earth Eternal
. He speaks at conferences like Dragoncon, the Game Developers Conference
and the Social Gaming Summit. He served as technical editor on Richard Bartle
's book, Designing Virtual Worlds
, and contributed an essay to Lee Sheldon's book, "Character Development and Storytelling for Games"
In 2007, Iron Realms announced it was spinning off Sparkplay Media from Iron Realms to produce Earth Eternal
, a 3D anthropomorphic MMO.
In 2008, Mihaly raised $4.25 million from venture capital firms Redpoint Ventures
and Prism Ventureworks in order to expand the development of Sparkplay's platform and games.
In 2010, after never leaving Open Beta, Sparkplay Media ran out of money and sold Earth Eternal to another MMO company (at the time of this wiki update the legal paperwork is not yet completed). In the early morning hours of September 1st, 2010, the Earth Eternal forums and game were taken offline. No official explanation has been provided as to why the game and servers were shut down or when they may be brought back up.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
CEO and Creative Director
Creative Director
A creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well....
of Sparkplay Media and Chairman, founder, CEO, and formerly Creative Director at Iron Realms Entertainment. He is known for pioneering the sale of virtual assets in online games. His MUD
MUD
A 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...
pseudonym is Sarapis.
Biography
Mihaly attended Cornell UniversityCornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
in Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
, receiving a Bachelor's degree in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, or 'government', as Cornell calls it, in 1994. During college, Matt became involved with MUD
MUD
A 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...
s, especially BatMUD
BatMUD
BatMUD is a medieval fantasy MUD, established in 1990. BatMUD is Finland-based and operated and owned by a non-profit organization, ry , officially registered 1994 in Helsinki, Finland....
, where he was a wizard
Wizard (MUD)
Wizard is commonly used in MUDs, particularly LPMuds, AberMUDs and MU*, as a term for the MUD's developers and administrators. The usage originates with Richard Bartle's original MUD1 and MUD2. It is frequently abbreviated "wiz", which is sometimes used as a verb; to wiz is to become a wizard...
.
In 1996, Mihaly founded Iron Realms Entertainment and served as lead designer and producer on Achaea.
In 1997, he pioneered the Virtual Asset Sales (VAS) model, holding auctions for virtual weapons and armor in Achaea.
In 2000, he served as Senior Consultant to the Secretary-General of the World Summit of Young Entrepreneurs, in New York, New York, leading development of a system with very low technology requirements to permit entrepreneurs in impoverished 3rd-world countries to participate.
Mihaly has since overseen the release of four successful MUD
MUD
A 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...
s, with another in the pipeline, and is producing and serving as lead designer on Iron Realms' first graphical game, Earth Eternal
Earth Eternal
Earth Eternal is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game currently in open beta that was created by Sparkplay Media, and soon to be re-published by Sankando. It was first announced on January 10, 2007, and was released for Open Beta on Oct. 7, 2009. It is free to play with...
. He speaks at conferences like Dragoncon, the Game Developers Conference
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
and the Social Gaming Summit. He served as technical editor on Richard Bartle
Richard Bartle
Richard 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...
's book, Designing Virtual Worlds
Designing Virtual Worlds
Designing Virtual Worlds is a definitive work on the practice of virtual world development by Richard Bartle, the father of MUDs. It has been called "the bible of MMORPG design" and spoken of as "excellent", "seminal", "widely read", "the standard text on the subject", "the most comprehensive...
, and contributed an essay to Lee Sheldon's book, "Character Development and Storytelling for Games"
In 2007, Iron Realms announced it was spinning off Sparkplay Media from Iron Realms to produce Earth Eternal
Earth Eternal
Earth Eternal is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game currently in open beta that was created by Sparkplay Media, and soon to be re-published by Sankando. It was first announced on January 10, 2007, and was released for Open Beta on Oct. 7, 2009. It is free to play with...
, a 3D anthropomorphic MMO.
In 2008, Mihaly raised $4.25 million from venture capital firms Redpoint Ventures
Redpoint Ventures
Redpoint Ventures is a prominent venture capital firm focused on investments in early stage technology companies. The firm's partners include Allen Beasley, Jeff Brody, Satish Dharmaraj, Tom Dyal, Tim Haley, Brad Jones, Nety Krishna, Chris Moore, Lars Pedersen, Scott Raney, John Walecka, Geoff...
and Prism Ventureworks in order to expand the development of Sparkplay's platform and games.
In 2010, after never leaving Open Beta, Sparkplay Media ran out of money and sold Earth Eternal to another MMO company (at the time of this wiki update the legal paperwork is not yet completed). In the early morning hours of September 1st, 2010, the Earth Eternal forums and game were taken offline. No official explanation has been provided as to why the game and servers were shut down or when they may be brought back up.
Games
- Achaea, Dreams of Divine LandsAchaea, Dreams of Divine LandsAchaea, Dreams of Divine Lands is a roleplay-focused, text-based multi-user dungeon released in 1997. It was published by Achaea LLC, now known as Iron Realms Entertainment...
(Lead designer, Producer; Iron Realms 1997 - 2005) - Aetolia, the Midnight Age (Creative Director; Iron Realms 2001)
- Imperian (Creative Director; Iron Realms 2003)
- Lusternia (Creative Director; Iron Realms 2004)
- Midkemia Online (Creative Director; Iron Realms)
- Tears of Polaris (Creative Director; Iron Realms 2008)
- Earth EternalEarth EternalEarth Eternal is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game currently in open beta that was created by Sparkplay Media, and soon to be re-published by Sankando. It was first announced on January 10, 2007, and was released for Open Beta on Oct. 7, 2009. It is free to play with...
(Creative Director, Lead Designer; Sparkplay Media 2009)