This is a list of notable

video game designers Video game design is the process of designing the rules and content of video games in the pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the production stage. Some common video game design subdiscipli ...

, past and present, in alphabetical order. The people in this list already have Wikipedia entries, and as such did significant design for notable

computer game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, mo ...

console game A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can typically be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connec ...

s, or

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...

s. It does not include people in managerial roles (which often includes titles like "Producer" or "Development Director") or people who developed a concept without doing actual design work on the game itself (sometimes applicable to "co-creator" or "creator" roles). Just because a game is listed next to a designer's name does not imply that person was the sole designer. As with films, the credits for video games can be complicated.

A

Allen Adham Allen Adham (born Ayman Adham) is an Egyptian-American businessman and video game developer best known for co-founding Blizzard Entertainment with Michael Morhaime. Early life Ayman Adham was born on September 6, 1966, in Los Angeles, Califor ...

: ''

World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a 2004 massively multiplayer online role-playing (MMORPG) video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows and Mac OS X. Set in the '' Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of War ...

''. * Michel Ancel: ''

Rayman ''Rayman'' is a franchise of platformer video games, created by video game designer Michel Ancel for Ubisoft. Since the release of the original game in 1995, the series has produced a total of 45 games across multiple platforms. The series ...

'', '' Beyond Good & Evil''. * Ed Annunziata: '' Ecco the Dolphin'', '' Vectorman'', '' Kolibri'', '' Mr. Bones'', '' Mort the Chicken'' *

Chris Avellone Chris Avellone (/ˈævəloʊn/) is an American video game designer and comic book writer. He is known for his significant roles on a large number of video games, primarily role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRP ...

: ''

Fallout 2 ''Fallout 2'' (also known as ''Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game'') is a 1998 role-playing video game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Productions. It is a sequel to ''Fallout (video game), Fallout'' (1997), ...

'', '' Planescape: Torment'', '' Icewind Dale'', '' Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords'', '' Fallout: New Vegas''

B

Ralph Baer Ralph Henry Baer (born Rudolf Heinrich Baer; March 8, 1922 – December 6, 2014) was a German-born American inventor, game developer, and engineer. Baer's Jewish family fled Germany just before World War II and Baer served the American war ...

: "Father of Video Games," created ''Chase'' (1967), the first game played in a television set. *

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English writer, filmmaker, and visual artist. He came to prominence in the 1980s with a series of short stories collectively named the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading horror author ...

: '' Undying'', ''

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

''. *

Richard Bartle Richard Allan Bartle (born 10 January 1960) is a British writer, professor and game researcher in the massively multiplayer online game industry. He co-created ''MUD1'' (the first MUD) in 1978, and is the author of the 2003 book ''Designing Vir ...

: co-author of ''MUD'', the first

multi-user dungeon A multi-user dungeon (MUD, ), also known as a multi-user dimension or multi-user domain, is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-based or storybo ...

. * Arnab Basu: ''Tomb Raider'' series and '' Batman: Arkham Asylum'' * Chris Beatrice: ''

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

'', ''

Lords of the Realm ''Lords of the Realm'' is a turn-based strategy computer game published and developed by Impressions Games. It was first released on June 15, 1994, and is the first game in the ''Lords of the Realm'' series. Summary The game takes place in a ...

''. * Seamus Blackley: '' Flight Unlimited'', '' Ultima Underworld'', ''

System Shock ''System Shock'' is a 1994 first-person action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by LookingGlass Technologies and published by Origin Systems. It was directed by Doug Church with Warren Spector serving as producer. The game ...

'', and ''

Trespasser In the law of tort, property, and criminal law a trespasser is a person who commits the act of trespassing on a property, that is, without the permission of the owner. Being present on land as a trespasser thereto creates liability in the ...

'' * Marc Blank: ''

Zork ''Zork'' is a text adventure game first released in 1977 by developers Tim Anderson (programmer), Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling for the PDP-10 mainframe computer. The original developers and others, as the company ...

'' *

Cliff Bleszinski Cliff Bleszinski (; born February 12, 1975), popularly known as CliffyB, is an American video game designer, known for his work on the '' Unreal'' and ''Gears of War'' series while at Epic Games. After leaving Epic in 2012, he co-founded Boss K ...

: ''

Gears of War ''Gears of War'' (also referred to as ''Gears'') is a media franchise centered on a series of video games created by Epic Games, developed and managed by The Coalition (company), The Coalition, and owned and published by Xbox Game Studios. The ...

'', '' Gears of War 2'', & '' LawBreakers'' *

Jonathan Blow Jonathan Blow (born 1971) is an American video game designer and programmer. He is best known for his work on the independent video games ''Braid'' (2008) and '' The Witness'' (2016). Blow became interested in game programming while at middle ...

: ''

Braid A braid (also referred to as a plait; ) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing three or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strand ...

'', '' The Witness''. *

Ed Boon Edward Boon (born February 22, 1964) is an American video game programmer, voice actor, and director. Boon was employed for over 15 years at Midway Games. Since 2011, he has worked for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for one of its subsi ...

: ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The original ''Mortal Kombat (1992 video game), Mortal Kombat'' arcade game spawned Lis ...

'' * Brenda Brathwaite: ''

Wizardry 8 ''Wizardry 8'' is the last installment in the '' Wizardry'' series of role-playing video games developed by Sir-Tech Canada. Serving as the third game in the "''Dark Savant'' trilogy," it follows '' Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge'' and '' ...

'' * Bill Budge: '' Raster Blaster'', '' Pinball Construction Set'' *

Danielle Bunten Berry Danielle Bunten Berry (February 19, 1949 – July 3, 1998), formerly known as Dan Bunten, was an American game designer and programmer, known for the 1983 game '' M.U.L.E.'', one of the first influential multiplayer video games, and 1984's '' ...

: '' M.U.L.E.'', '' The Seven Cities of Gold'' * Eric Barone: ''

Stardew Valley ''Stardew Valley'' is a 2016 farm life simulation game developed by Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone. Players take the role of a character who inherits their deceased grandfather's dilapidated farm in a place known as "Stardew Valley". ''Stardew Valle ...

C

* Tim Cain: ''

Fallout Nuclear fallout is residual radioactive material that is created by the reactions producing a nuclear explosion. It is initially present in the radioactive cloud created by the explosion, and "falls out" of the cloud as it is moved by the ...

'', '' Arcanum'' * Rich Carlson: '' Strange Adventures in Infinite Space'', '' Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space'' * Charles Cecil: '' Broken Sword'', '' Beyond a Steel Sky'' * Mark Cerny: ''

Marble Madness ''Marble Madness'' is a 1984 platform game designed by Mark Cerny and published by Atari Games for Arcade video game, arcades. Set in an Isometric video game graphics, isometric perspective, the game tasks the player with guiding a marble throug ...

'', '' Knack'' * Eric Chahi: '' Another World'', ''

Heart of Darkness ''Heart of Darkness'' is an 1899 novella by Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad in which the sailor Charles Marlow tells his listeners the story of his assignment as steamer captain for a Belgium, Belgian company in the African interior. Th ...

'' * Trevor Chan: ''

Capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

'', '' Capitalism II'', '' Seven Kingdoms'', '' Seven Kingdoms II: The Fryhtan Wars'', '' Bad Day L.A.'', '' Restaurant Empire'' * Doug Church: '' Ultima Underworld'', '' Ultima Underworld 2'', ''

'' * Lori and Corey Cole: ''Quest for Glory'' series, '' Mixed-Up Fairy Tales'', '' Castle of Dr. Brain'' * Chris Crawford: '' Eastern Front'', '' Balance of Power'' * Scott Cawthon: ''

Five Nights at Freddy's ''Five Nights at Freddy's'' (''FNaF'') is a video game series and media franchise created by Scott Cawthon that includes video games, novels, graphic novels, and films. The story arcs typically follow a night guard or other character trying t ...

D

* Don Daglow: ''

Dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette (fr ...

'',

Intellivision The Intellivision (a portmanteau of intelligent television) is a home video game console released by Mattel Electronics in 1979. It distinguished itself from competitors with more realistic sports and strategic games. By 1981, Mattel Electronic ...

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

'', '' Earl Weaver Baseball'', ''

Neverwinter Nights ''Neverwinter Nights'' is a series of video games developed by BioWare and Obsidian Entertainment, based on the ''Forgotten Realms'' campaign setting of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Aside from also being set around the city Nev ...

'' * Patrice Désilets: ''

Assassin's Creed ''Assassin's Creed'' is a historical fiction, historical action-adventure video game series and media franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil (game engine), Anvil and its m ...

''. * Dino Dini: '' Kick Off'', '' Kick Off 2'', ''

Player Manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make change ...

'', '' GOAL!'', ''

Dino Dini's Soccer ''Dino Dini's Goal'' is a soccer video game released by Virgin Games in 1993. It is considered by many to be the "true" sequel to '' Kick Off 2'' (in preference to '' Kick Off 3''), as ''Kick Off''s creator Dino Dini had moved from Anco Software ...

'' * Neil Druckmann: ''

The Last of Us ''The Last of Us'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States ...

'', '' The Last of Us Part II'', '' Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'', '' Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'' * Jakub Dvorsky: '' Samorost'', '' Machinarium''.

F

* Josef Fares: '' Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons'', '' A Way Out'', '' It Takes Two'' * Brian Fargo: '' Bard's Tale'', '' Wasteland'' * Steve Fawkner: ''

Warlords Warlords are individuals who exercise military, economic, and political control over a region, often one without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over local armed forces. Warlords have existed throug ...

'', '' Puzzle Quest'' * Steve Feak: '' DotA Allstars'', ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...

'' * Kelton Flinn: '' Air Warrior'' * David Fox: '' Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders'' *

Toby Fox Robert F. "Toby" Fox (born October 11, 1991) is an American video game developer and composer. He is best known for developing the role-playing video game ''Undertale'', which garnered acclaim and has received nominations for a British Academy ...

: ''

Undertale ''Undertale'' is a 2015 role-playing video game created by American indie developer Toby Fox. The player controls a child who has fallen into the Underground: a large, secluded region under the surface of the Earth, separated by a magical b ...

'' and ''

Deltarune ''Deltarune'' is an episodic role-playing video game in development by Toby Fox as a follow-up to his 2015 video game ''Undertale''. In the game, the player controls a human teenager, Kris, who is destined to save the world together with Susie ...

'' * Nina Freeman: '' Cibele'', ''

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

'' * Ed Fries: '' Halo 2600'' * František Fuka: '' Tetris 2'' *

Tokuro Fujiwara , sometimes credited as Professor F or Arthur King, is a Japanese video game designer, involved in the development of many classic Capcom video games. He directed early Capcom titles such as the run-and-gun shooter ''Commando'' (1985), the plat ...

: '' Ghosts 'n Goblins'' *

Rob Fulop Rob Fulop is an American game programmer who created two of the Atari 2600's biggest hits: the port of arcade game '' Missile Command'' and 1982's '' Demon Attack'', which won '' Electronic Games Game of the Year award. While at Atari, Fulop ...

: ''

Demon Attack ''Demon Attack'' is a fixed shooter video game created by Rob Fulop for the Atari 2600 and published by Imagic in 1982. The game involves the player controlling a laser cannon from the surface of a planet, shooting winged demons that fly down an ...

'', '' Cosmic Ark'', '' Night Trap''

G

* Toby Gard: ''

Tomb Raider ''Tomb Raider'', known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game series created by British video game developer Core Design. The franchise i ...

'' * Richard Garriott: '' Ultima'' * Andy Gavin: ''

Crash Bandicoot ''Crash Bandicoot'' is a video game franchise originally developed by Naughty Dog as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. It has seen numerous installments created by various developers and published on multiple platforms. The series c ...

'', '' Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back'', '' Crash Bandicoot: Warped'', '' Crash Team Racing'', '' Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy'', ''

Jak II ''Jak II'' is an action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. It is the second game of the ''Jak and Daxter'' series and a sequel to '' Jak and Daxter: The Prec ...

'', ''

Jak 3 ''Jak 3'' is a 2004 action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game is the sequel to '' Jak II'' and serves as the conclusion of the trilogy. The story of the prev ...

'' * Ron Gilbert: '' Maniac Mansion'', ''

Monkey Island ''Monkey Island'' is a series of adventure games. The first four games were produced and published by LucasArts, earlier known as Lucasfilm Games. The fifth was developed by Telltale Games with LucasArts, while the sixth was developed by Terribl ...

'' *

Julian Gollop Julian Gollop is a British video game designer Video game design is the process of designing the rules and content of video games in the Video game development#Pre-production, pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, st ...

: ''

Chaos Chaos or CHAOS may refer to: Science, technology, and astronomy * '' Chaos: Making a New Science'', a 1987 book by James Gleick * Chaos (company), a Bulgarian rendering and simulation software company * ''Chaos'' (genus), a genus of amoebae * ...

'', '' Laser Squad'', '' X-COM: UFO Defense''. * Brian Green: '' Meridian 59'' *

Stefano Gualeni Stefano Gualeni is an Italian philosopher, professor, and game designer who has created interactive websites and video games such as '' Tony Tough and the Night of Roasted Moths,'' '' Gua-Le-Ni; or, The Horrendous Parade,'' and '' Something Someth ...

: '' Tony Tough''

H

* Dean Hall: '' DayZ'' * Jon Hare: '' Sensible Soccer'', ''

Cannon Fodder Cannon fodder is an informal, derogatory term for combatants who are regarded or treated by government or military command as expendable in the face of enemy fire. The term is generally used in situations where combatants are forced to fight agains ...

'', '' Wizball'' * Stieg Hedlund: '' Diablo'', ''

Diablo II ''Diablo II'' is a 2000 action role-playing game developed by Blizzard North and published by Blizzard Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, Classic Mac OS, and OS X. The game, with its dark fantasy and horror themes, was conceptualized and des ...

'', ''

StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance amon ...

'' * Amy Hennig: '' Uncharted: Drake's Fortune'', '' Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'', '' Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception'', '' Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver'' *

William Higinbotham William Alfred Higinbotham (October 22, 1910 – November 10, 1994) was an American physicist. A member of the team that developed the first nuclear bomb, he later became a leader in the nonproliferation movement. He also has a place in the hi ...

: ''

Tennis for Two ''Tennis for Two'' (also known as ''Computer Tennis'') is a sports video game that simulates a game of tennis, and was one of the first games developed in the early history of video games. American physicist William Higinbotham designed the game ...

'' *

Yuji Horii is a Japanese author, video game designer, writer and director best known as the creator of the ''Dragon Quest'' franchise, supervising and writing the scenario for ''Chrono Trigger'', and '' The Portopia Serial Murder Case'', released in 1983 ...

: ''

Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a series of role-playing video games created by Japanese game designer Yuji Horii (Armor Project), character designer Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio), and composer Koi ...

'', ''

Chrono Trigger is a 1995 role-playing video game by Square. It was originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as the first entry in the ''Chrono'' series. The game's development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dr ...

'' *

Todd Howard Todd Andrew Howard (born 1970) is an American video game designer, Creative director, director, and Video game producer, producer. He serves as director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, where he has led the development of the ...

: ''

Elder Scrolls ''The Elder Scrolls'' is a series of action role-playing games, action role-playing video games primarily developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The series focuses on Nonlinear gameplay, free-form gameplay in an ...

'', ''

Fallout 3 ''Fallout 3'' is a 2008 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The third major installment in the ''Fallout'' series, it is the first game to be developed by Bethesda after acquiring ...

'' * Casey Hudson: ''

Mass Effect ''Mass Effect'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Casey Hudson. The franchise depicts a distant future where humanity and several alien civilizations have colonized the galaxy using technology left behind by Elder race, a ...

'' 1-3, '' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic''

I

* IceFrog: ''

Defense of the Ancients ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA'') is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mod (video gaming), mod for the video game ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' (2002) and its expansion, ''The Frozen Throne'' (2003). The objective of the game is ...

'', ''

Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve Corporation, Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created Mod (video gaming), mod for Blizzard Entertainment's ''War ...

'' * Takashi Iizuka * Tomonobu Itagaki: ''

Dead or Alive A wanted poster (or wanted sign) is a poster distributed to let the public know of a person whom authorities wish to apprehend. They generally include a picture of the person, either a photograph when one is available or of a facial composite ...

'', '' Ninja Gaiden'', '' Devil's Third'' * Shigesato Itoi: ''

Mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

'' * Tōru Iwatani: ''

Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...

'', ''

Pole Position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

J

David Jaffe David Scott Jaffe (born April 13, 1971) is an American video game, video game designer best known for directing the ''Twisted Metal'' and God of War (franchise), ''God of War'' series. In 2009, he was chosen by IGN as one of the top 100 game cr ...

: ''

God of War A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in polytheism, polytheistic religions. Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been portrayed in their ...

'', ''

Twisted Metal ''Twisted Metal'' is a series of Vehicular combat game, vehicular combat video games originally developed by SingleTrac and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series has appeared on the PlayStation (console), PlayStation, PlaySta ...

'' *

Jennell Jaquays Jennell Allyn Jaquays (born Paul Jaquays; October 14, 1956 – January 10, 2024) was an American game designer, Game art design, video game artist, and illustrator of tabletop role-playing games (RPGs). Her notable works include the ''Dungeons & ...

: leader of game design for

Coleco Coleco Industries, Inc. ( ) was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. The name "COLECO" is an abbreviation derived from the company's original name which combines the first two letters of "C ...

in the 1980s, designer and level designer for '' Quake 2'', '' Quake III Arena'' *

Eugene Jarvis Eugene Peyton Jarvis is an American game designer and video game programmer, known for producing pinball machines for Williams Electronics and video games for Atari. Most notable among his works are the seminal arcade video games '' Defender'' ...

: '' Defender'', '' Robotron: 2084'' *

Jane Jensen Jane Jensen (born January 28, 1963) is an American video game designer and author. She is the creator of the ''Gabriel Knight'' series of adventure games, and also co-founded Oberon Media and Pinkerton Road video game development companies. Je ...

: '' Gabriel Knight series'', ''

Gray Matter Grey matter, or gray matter in American English, is a major component of the central nervous system, consisting of neuronal cell bodies, neuropil (dendrites and unmyelinated axons), glial cells (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes), synapses, and ...

'' * Soren Johnson: ''

Civilization III ''Sid Meier's Civilization III'' is the third installment of the ''Civilization (series), Sid Meier's Civilization'' turn-based strategy video game series. It was released in 2001, and followed by ''Civilization IV''. Unlike the original game, ''C ...

'', ''

Civilization IV ''Civilization IV'' (also known as ''Sid Meier's Civilization IV'') is a 2005 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It is the fourth installment of the ''Civilization'' series and was designed by S ...

'' * David Jones: ''

Lemmings A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also incl ...

'', ''

Grand Theft Auto ''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is an action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is prima ...

K

Josef Kates Josef Kates, born ''Josef Katz'', (May 5, 1921 – June 16, 2018) was a Canadian engineer whose achievements include designing the first digital game-playing machine, and the world's first automated traffic signalling system.Engelmann, Frederick ...

, designer of '' Bertie the Brain'' * Iikka Keränen, co-designer of '' Strange Adventures in Infinite Space'', '' Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space'' *

Takeshi Kitano , also known as in Japan, is a Japanese comedian, actor, and filmmaker. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. During hi ...

: ''Takeshi's Challenge'' * Rieko Kodama: ''

Phantasy Star is a series of console role-playing video games and other supplementary media created by Sega. The series debuted in 1987 on the Master System with '' Phantasy Star'', and continues into the present with ''Phantasy Star Online 2'' and other ex ...

'' series, '' Skies of Arcadia'' *

Hideo Kojima is a Japanese video game designer. Regarded as one of the pioneering auteurs of video games, he developed a strong passion for film and literature during his childhood and adolescence, which in turn has had a significant influence on his game ...

: ''

Metal Gear is a Media franchise, franchise of stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear (video game), Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX, MSX home computers. The player often takes con ...

'' series, '' Snatcher'', '' Policenauts'', and '' Death Stranding''. * Jarek Kolář: ''

Vietcong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the Communism, communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vi ...

''. * Kowloon Kurosawa: '' Hong Kong 97''

L

Marc Laidlaw Marc Laidlaw is an American writer. He is a former lead writer for the video game company Valve, where he worked on the ''Half-Life'' series before his departure in 2016. Before joining Valve, Laidlaw was a novelist working in the fantasy and ...

: ''

Half-Life Half-life is a mathematical and scientific description of exponential or gradual decay. Half-life, half life or halflife may also refer to: Film * Half-Life (film), ''Half-Life'' (film), a 2008 independent film by Jennifer Phang * ''Half Life: ...

'', ''

Half-Life 2 ''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It was published for Windows on Valve's digital distribution service, Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half-Life 2'' is played ent ...

'' * Ken Levine: ''

BioShock ''BioShock'' is a 2007 first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Boston (later Irrational Games) and 2K Australia, and published by 2K. The first game in the ''BioShock'' series, it was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 ...

'', '' Thief: The Dark Project'' * Ken Lobb: '' GoldenEye 007'' * Ed Logg: ''

Asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

'', ''

Centipede Centipedes (from Neo-Latin , "hundred", and Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', "lip", and Neo-Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, ...

'', '' Gauntlet'' * Gilman Louie: ''

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...

'', ''Super Tetris'', '' Battle Trek'' * Christine Love: '' Analogue: A Hate Story'', '' Ladykiller in a Bind'', '' Get in the Car, Loser!'' * Al Lowe: '' Leisure Suit Larry''

M

Gregg Mayles Gregg Mayles (born 29 April 1971) is a British video game designer currently working for video game company Rare as creative director. He is one of the longest-serving members of the company, having worked there since 1989. Career Mayles be ...

: '' Banjo-Kazooie series'', '' Viva Piñata'' * American McGee: ''

American McGee's Alice ''American McGee's Alice'' is a 2000 third-person dark fantasy action-adventure video game developed by Rogue Entertainment under the direction of designer American McGee and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Games banner. The game ...

'', ''

Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (1934–2020), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitche ...

'', '' Quake'', ''

American McGee's Grimm ''American McGee's Grimm'' is a 23-part episodic video game series based upon ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'', designed by American McGee, developed by Spicy Horse and distributed online initially by GameTap starting July 31, 2008. ''Grimm'' was origin ...

'' *

Edmund McMillen Edmund Charles McMillen (born March 2, 1980) is an American video game designer and artist. He is known for his Adobe Flash games with unconventional visual styles. His works include 2010's Side-scrolling video game, side-scroller ''Super Meat Bo ...

: ''

Gish ''Gish'' is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on May 28, 1991, by Caroline Records. The album was produced by Butch Vig and frontman Billy Corgan, with the latter describing ''Gish'' as ...

'', '' Aether'', '' Coil'', '' Spewer'', '' The Basement Collection'', '' Super Meat Boy'', '' The Binding of Isaac'', '' The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth'', '' The End Is Nigh'', '' The Legend of Bum-bo'', '' Mewgenics'' * Colin McComb: '' Planescape: Torment'', '' Torment: Tides of Numenera'' *

Brad McQuaid Brad McQuaid (April 25, 1969 – November 18, 2019) was an American video game designer who was the key designer of ''EverQuest'', a highly successful massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 1999. He later co-founded S ...

: ''

EverQuest ''EverQuest'' is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North America, ...

'' *

Jordan Mechner Jordan Mechner (born June 4, 1964) is an American video game designer, author, screenwriter, filmmaker, and former video game programmer. A major figure in the development of cinematic video games and a pioneer in video game animation, he began ...

: '' Karateka'', ''

Prince of Persia ''Prince of Persia'' is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. It is centered around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia. The first two ga ...

'' * Sid Meier: ''

Civilization A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of state (polity), the state, social stratification, urban area, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyon ...

'', '' Railroad Tycoon'' * Steve Meretzky: ''

Planetfall ''Planetfall'' is a science fiction themed interactive fiction video game written by Steve Meretzky, and published in 1983 as the eighth game from Infocom. The original release was for Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, TRS-80, and IBM PC compatib ...

'', ''

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a Science fiction comedy, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), radio sitcom broadcast over two series on BBC ...

'', ''

A Mind Forever Voyaging ''A Mind Forever Voyaging'' (''AMFV'') is an interactive fiction game designed and implemented by Steve Meretzky and published in 1985 by Infocom. The game was intended as a polemical critique of Ronald Reagan's politics. Its title comes from ...

'', ''

Leather Goddesses of Phobos ''Leather Goddesses of Phobos'' is an interactive fiction video game written by Steve Meretzky and published by Infocom in 1986. It was released for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Apple II, Mac (computer), Mac, Atari 8-bit computers, Atari ...

'' *

Shinji Mikami is a Japanese video game designer, director, and video game producer, producer. Starting his career at Capcom in 1990, he has worked on many of the company's most successful games. He directed the Resident Evil (1996 video game), first installme ...

: ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...

'' * Robyn Miller,

Rand Miller Rand Miller (born January 17, 1959) is a C.E.O. and co-founder of Cyan Worlds

: ''

Myst ''Myst'' is a 1993 adventure video game developed by Cyan and published by Broderbund for Mac OS. In the game, the player travels via a special book to a mysterious island called Myst. The player interacts with objects and traverses the ...

'' *

Jeff Minter Jeff Minter (born 22 April 1962) is an English video game designer and programmer who often goes by the name Yak. He is the founder of software house Llamasoft and has created dozens of games during his career, which began in 1981 with games ...

: ''

Tempest 2000 is a 1994 tube shooter video game originally developed by Llamasoft and published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar. Part of Atari Corp.'s ''2000'' series, it is a Video game remake, remake of the 1981 arcade game ''Tempest (video game) ...

'', ''

Gridrunner ''Gridrunner'' is a fixed shooter video game written by Jeff Minter and published by Llamasoft for the VIC-20 in 1982. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Commodore PET and Dragon 32. Many remakes and sequels ...

'' *

Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, video game producer, producer and Creative director#Video games, game director at Nintendo, where he has served as one of its representative directors as an executive since 2002. Widely regarded as one o ...

: ''

Donkey Kong is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. It follows the adventures of Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong, a large, powerful gorilla, and other members of the List of Don ...

'', ''

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

'', '' Legend of Zelda'' *

Hidetaka Miyazaki is a Japanese video game director, designer, writer, and president of the game developer FromSoftware. He joined the company in 2004 and was a designer for the '' Armored Core'' series before receiving wider recognition for creating the ''Dark ...

: ''

Dark Souls is a dark fantasy action role-playing game series developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Created by Hidetaka Miyazaki, the series began with the release of ''Dark Souls (video game), Dark Souls'' (2011) and has ...

'', ''

Bloodborne is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. The game follows a Hunter through the decrepit Gothic, Victorian-era–inspired city of Yharnam, whose inhabita ...

'', '' Sekiro'', ''

Elden Ring is a 2022 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It was directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki with worldbuilding provided by the American fantasy writer George R. R. Martin. It was released o ...

'' * Tetsuya Mizuguchi: ''

Lumines (pronounced as "Loo-min-ess") is a puzzle video game series developed by Q Entertainment. The core objective of the games is to survive by rotating and aligning 2×2 blocks varying between two colors to form 2×2 squares of a single color whi ...

'', '' Rez'', '' Space Channel 5'' *

Peter Molyneux Peter Douglas Molyneux (; born 5 May 1959) is an English video game designer and programmer. He created the god games '' Populous'', ''Dungeon Keeper'', and '' Black & White'', as well as ''Theme Park'', the ''Fable'' series, '' Curiosity: Wh ...

: '' Populous'', ''

Syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndic ...

'', ''

Black and White Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

'', ''

Fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

'' * Brian Moriarty: ''

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

'', ''

Loom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...

'' * David Mullich: ''

The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a British television series created by Patrick McGoohan. McGoohan portrays Number Six (The Prisoner), Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a The Village (The Prisoner), mysteri ...

'', '' I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream''

N

Yuji Naka , credited in some games as YU2, is a Japanese video game designer and programmer. He is the co-creator of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and was the president of Sonic Team at Sega until his departure in 2006. Naka joined Sega in 1984 and w ...

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Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...

'', '' Phantasy Star Online'', ''

Nights into Dreams is a 1996 action game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. The story follows the teenagers Elliot Edwards and Claris Sinclair, who enter Nightopia, a Dream world (plot device), dream world where all dreams take pl ...

'' * Doug Neubauer: ''

Star Raiders ''Star Raiders'' is a space combat simulator video game created by Doug Neubauer and published in 1980 by Atari, Inc. Originally released for the Atari 8-bit computers, Atari 400/800 computers, ''Star Raiders'' was later ported to the Atari 2 ...

'', ''

Solaris Solaris is the Latin word for sun. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Sol ...

'' * Garry Newman: ''

Garry's Mod ''Garry's Mod'', commonly clipped as ''GMod'', is a 2006 sandbox game developed by Facepunch Studios and published by Valve. The base game mode of ''Garry's Mod'' has no set objectives and provides the player with a world in which to fre ...

'', ''

Rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH) ...

'' *

Gabe Newell Gabe Logan Newell (born November 3, 1962), also known by his nickname Gaben, is an American video game developer and businessman. He is the president and co-founder of the video game company Valve Corporation. Newell was born in Colorado and ...

: ''

Half-Life (series) ''Half-Life'' is a series of first-person shooter, first-person shooter games created by Valve Corporation, Valve. The games combine shooting combat, puzzles and storytelling, and are played entirely from the first-person (video games), first-p ...

'' * Toshihiro Nishikado: ''

Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Taito for Arcade video game, arcades. It was released in Japan in April 1978, with the game being released by Midway Manufacturing overseas. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed s ...

'', ''

Speed Race is a 1974 arcade racing video game developed and manufactured by Taito and released under the titles ''Racer'' and ''Wheels'' in North America by distributor Midway Manufacturing in 1975. Designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, the gameplay involves ...

'', ''

Gun Fight ''Gun Fight'', known as in Japan and Europe, is a 1975 multidirectional shooter arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released by Taito in Japan and Europe and by Midway in North America. Based around two Old West cowboys ar ...

'' *

Tetsuya Nomura is a Japanese video game artist, designer, producer, and director working for Square Enix. He was hired by Square initially as a monster designer for ''Final Fantasy V'' (1992), before being shifted towards secondary Character design of Final F ...

: ''

Final Fantasy is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fanta ...

'', ''

Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square) and owned by The Walt Disney Company. A collaboration between the two companies, it was conceptualized by Square employees, Japanese gam ...

O

Yoshiki Okamoto , sometimes credited as Kihaji Okamoto, is a Japanese video game designer. He is credited with producing popular titles for Konami, including '' Gyruss'' and '' Time Pilot'', and for Capcom, including ''1942'', '' Gun.Smoke'', ''Final Fight'' and ...

: ''

Street Fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...

'' * Scott Orr: ''

Madden NFL ''Madden NFL'' (known as ''John Madden Football'' until 1993) is an American football sports video game series developed by EA Orlando for EA Sports. The franchise, named after Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and commentator John Madden, has ...

P

Alexey Pajitnov Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov (born April 16, 1955) is a Russian-American computer engineer and video game designer. He is best known for creating, designing, and developing ''Tetris'' in 1985 while working at the Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre un ...

: ''

Tetris ''Tetris'' () is a puzzle video game created in 1985 by Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet software engineer. In ''Tetris'', falling tetromino shapes must be neatly sorted into a pile; once a horizontal line of the game board is filled in, it disa ...

'' * Rob Pardo: ''

'', ''

Warcraft III ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' is a high fantasy real-time strategy computer video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment released in July 2002. It is the second sequel to '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', after '' Warcraft II: Ti ...

'' * David Perry: '' MDK'', ''

Earthworm Jim ''Earthworm Jim'' is a series of platform games featuring an earthworm named Jim who wears a robotic suit and battles the forces of evil. The series is noted for its platforming and shooting gameplay, surreal humor, and edgy art style. Four game ...

'', '' Wild 9'', ''

Enter the Matrix ''Enter the Matrix'' is a 2003 action-adventure video game developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Infogrames under the Atari brand name. The first game based on ''The Matrix'' film series, its story is concurrent with that of the ...

'' *

Markus Persson Markus Alexej Persson ( , ; born 1 June 1979), known by the pseudonym Notch, is a Swedish video game programmer and Video game designer, designer. He is the creator of ''Minecraft'', which is the List of best-selling video games, best-selling ...

: ''

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a 2011 sandbox game developed and published by the Swedish video game developer Mojang Studios. Originally created by Markus Persson, Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java (programming language), Java programming language, the ...

'' *

Sandy Petersen Carl Sanford Joslyn "Sandy" Petersen (born September 16, 1955) is an American game designer. He worked at Chaosium, contributing to the development of ''RuneQuest'' and creating the acclaimed and influential horror role-playing game Call of Cthul ...

: '' Lightspeed'', ''

'', ''

Rise of Rome The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of classical Roman civilisation beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire following the War ...

'' * Simon Phipps: '' Rick Dangerous'', '' ShadowMan'', ''

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series and was Rowling's debut novel. It follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who disco ...

'' *

Randy Pitchford Randall Steward Pitchford II (born April 21, 1971) is an American businessman. He co-founded the video game development studio Gearbox Software in 1999 and was president and CEO of the company until 2021, upon which he became CEO and president ...

: '' Borderlands'', '' Brothers in Arms'', ''

'' * William Pugh: '' The Stanley Parable''

R

* Robert Topala :'' Geometry Dash'' * Rick Raymer: ''

Clue Clue may refer to: * Clue (information) – a piece of information bringing someone closer to a conclusion. People with the name * DJ Clue (born 1975), mixtape DJ * Fredy Clue (born 1994 or 1995), Swedish artist and musician * Oliver Clue * ...

'', '' Scooby Doo: Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom'' * Frédérick Raynal: ''

Alone in the Dark ''Alone in the Dark'' is a survival horror video game series originally developed by Infogrames. In most of the games, the player controls private investigator Edward Carnby, who goes to investigate a haunted house or town that is full of undea ...

'', '' Little Big Adventure'', '' Toy Commander'' * Paul Reiche III: '' World Tour Golf'', '' Strange Adventures in Infinite Space'', '' Mail Order Monsters'', the '' Star Control'' series, the ''

Archon ''Archon'' (, plural: , ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem , meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same ...

'' series, the '' Starflight'' series, and the '' Skylanders'' series * Tommy Refenes: '' Super Meat Boy'' * Brian Reynolds: '' Civilization II'', ''

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri ''Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri'' is a 4X video game, considered a spiritual sequel to the ''Civilization'' series. Set in a science fiction depiction of the 22nd century, the game begins as seven competing ideological factions land on the plane ...

'', ''

Rise of Nations ''Rise of Nations'' is a real-time strategy video game developed by Big Huge Games and published by Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft Game Studios in May 2003. Designed as a fusion of concepts from turn-based strategy games with the real-time strat ...

'' and '' FrontierVille'' * Chris Roberts: ''

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

'', ''

Star Citizen ''Star Citizen'' is a multiplayer, space trading and combat simulation video game currently under development by Cloud Imperium Games for Windows. An extended retry of unrealized plans for ''Freelancer'' (2003), ''Star Citizen'' is led by dire ...

'' *

Warren Robinett Joseph Warren Robinett Jr. (born December 25, 1951) In the A. Merrill interview, Robinett says he was 26 in November 1977. is an American video game designer. He is most notable as the developer of the Atari 2600's ''Adventure'' and as a founder ...

: ''

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

'', '' Rocky's Boots'', & '' Robot Odyssey'' * Scott Rogers: '' Maximo: Ghosts to Glory'', '' Maximo vs. Army of Zin'', ''

'' *

Ken Rolston Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. Tabletop role-playing games Ken Rolston began working as a professional g ...

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The Elder Scrolls ''The Elder Scrolls'' is a series of action role-playing games, action role-playing video games primarily developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The series focuses on Nonlinear gameplay, free-form gameplay in an ...

'' (Morrowind and Oblivion) *

John Romero Alfonso John Romero (born October 28, 1967) is an American video game developer. He co-founded id Software and designed their early games, including ''Wolfenstein 3D'' (1992), ''Doom (1993 video game), Doom'' (1993), ''Doom II'' (1994), ''Hexen ...

: ''

'', '' Quake'', '' Daikatana'' * Jason Rubin: ''

'', '' Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back'', '' Crash Bandicoot: Warped'', '' Crash Team Racing'', '' Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy'', ''

'', ''

S

* Yoot Saito: ''

Seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

'', '' Odama'', '' The Tower SP'' *

Hironobu Sakaguchi is a Japanese game designer, director, producer, and writer. Originally working for Square (later Square Enix) from 1983 to 2003, he departed the company and founded independent studio Mistwalker in 2004. He is known as the creator of the ''Fi ...

: '' Mistwalker'', ''

'' series, ''

'' *

Masahiro Sakurai is a Japanese video game director and game designer best known as the creator of the ''Kirby (series), Kirby'' and ''Super Smash Bros.'' series. Apart from his work on those series, he also led the design of ''Meteos'' in 2005 and directed '' ...

: ''

Kirby Kirby may refer to: Buildings * Kirby Building, a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas, United States * Kirby Lofts, a building in Houston, Texas, United States * Kirby Hall, an Elizabethan country house near Corby, Northamptonshire, England * Kirby Ho ...

'', '' Super Smash Bros.'' * Kevin Saunders: '' Torment: Tides of Numenera'', '' Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer'' *

Chris Sawyer Christopher Sawyer is a Scottish video game designer and programmer. He is best known for creating ''Transport Tycoon'', which has been considered "one of the most important simulation games ever made", and the best-selling ''RollerCoaster Tyco ...

: '' Transport Tycoon'', '' RollerCoaster Tycoon''. * Josh Sawyer: ''

Neverwinter Nights 2 ''Neverwinter Nights 2'' is a role-playing video game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Atari Interactive. It is the second installment in the ''Neverwinter Nights'' series and is the sequel to BioWare's ''Neverwinter Nights ...

'', '' Icewind Dale'', '' Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance'' * Tim Schafer: '' Grim Fandango'', ''

Psychonauts ''Psychonauts'' is a 2005 platformer, platform game developed by Double Fine Productions and published by Majesco Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, Xbox (console), Xbox and PlayStation 2. Set in a Retrofuturism, retro-futuristic version of t ...

'' * Jesse Schell: '' Toontown Online'', ''

Pixie Hollow Pixie Hollow is a character meet and greet attraction at Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland () (abbreviated HKDL; also known as HK Disneyland or Disneyland Hong Kong) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's ...

'' *

Glen Schofield Glen Schofield is an American video game artist, designer, director, and producer. He was formerly the vice president and general manager at Visceral Games, co-founder of Sledgehammer Games, founder and former CEO of Striking Distance Studios, and ...

: ''

Dead Space ''Dead Space'' is a science fiction horror franchise created and directed by Glen Schofield. ''Dead Space'' was developed by Visceral Games and published and owned by Electronic Arts. The franchise's chronology is not presented in a linear format ...

'' *

Laura Shigihara Laura Shigihara (, born April 16 in the United States) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, video game developer, and Twitch streamer of French and Japanese descent. She is best known as the lead composer and sound designer for the towe ...

: '' Rakuen'' * Ryan Shwayder: ''

EverQuest II ''EverQuest II'' is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed and published by Sony Online Entertainment for Microsoft Windows PCs and released in November 2004. It is the sequel to the original ...

'' *

Jeremiah Slaczka Jeremiah D Slaczka, also known by his nickname Miah, is an American video game designer/creative director and co-founder of 5th Cell, a video game developer in Bellevue, Washington. He is best known for being the concept creator and Director of ...

: ''

Scribblenauts ''Scribblenauts'' is a series of Action game, action Puzzle video game, puzzle video games primarily developed by independent studio 5th Cell. The series is owned and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The first game in the seri ...

'', ''

Drawn to Life ''Drawn to Life'' is an Action-adventure game, action-adventure platform game, platform video game for the Nintendo DS developed by 5th Cell and published by THQ in 2007. It was later published by Agatsuma Entertainment in Japan in 2008 under th ...

'' * Doug Smith: ''

Lode Runner ''Lode Runner'' is a 2D puzzle-platform game, developed by Doug Smith and published by Broderbund in 1983. Its gameplay mechanics are similar to ''Space Panic'' from 1980. The player controls a character who must collect all the gold pieces in ...

'' * Harvey Smith: '' Deux Ex'', more *

Warren Spector Warren Evan Spector (born October 2, 1955) is an American role-playing and video game designer, director, writer, producer and production designer. He is known for creating immersive sim games, which give players a wide variety of choices in how ...

: ''

'', ''

Thief Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal short ...

'', ''

Deus Ex ''Deus Ex'' is a series of cyberpunk role-playing video games, set during the mid 21st century. Focusing on the conflict between secretive factions who wish to control the world by proxy, and the effects of transhumanistic attitudes and technol ...

'' * Tim & Chris Stamper: '' Wizards & Warriors'', '' Battletoads'', ''

Donkey Kong Country ''Donkey Kong Country'', known in Japan as is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare (company), Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a Reboot (fiction), reboot of Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'' ...

'', '' Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest'' & '' Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!'' * Bruce Straley: '' Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'', '' Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'', ''

'' * Goichi Suda: ''

Killer7 is a 2005 action-adventure game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and Capcom and published by Capcom for the GameCube and PlayStation 2. The game was written and directed by Goichi Suda and produced by Hiroyuki Kobayashi (producer), Hiroyuki ...

'', '' No More Heroes'' *

Yu Suzuki is a Japanese game designer, producer, programmer, and engineer, who headed Sega's AM2 team for 18 years. Considered one of the first auteurs of video games, he has been responsible for a number of Sega's arcade hits, including three-dimensi ...

: ''

Afterburner An afterburner (or reheat in British English) is an additional combustion component used on some jet engines, mostly those on military supersonic aircraft. Its purpose is to increase thrust, usually for supersonic flight, takeoff, and combat ...

'', ''

Hang-On is an arcade racing game released by Sega in 1985 and later ported to the Master System. In the game, the player controls a motorcycle against time and other computer-controlled bikes. It was one of the first arcade games to use 16-bit computi ...

'', ''

Virtua Racing ''Virtua Racing'' or ''V.R.'' for short, is a Formula One racing video game developed by Sega AM2 and released for arcade game, arcades in 1992. ''Virtua Racing'' was initially a proof-of-concept application for exercising a new 3D graphics plat ...

'', ''

Virtua Fighter is a series of fighting games created by Sega AM2 and designer Yu Suzuki. The original ''Virtua Fighter (video game), Virtua Fighter'' was released in December 1993 and has received four main sequels and several spin-offs. The highly influential ...

'', '' Ferrari F355 Challenge'', ''

Shenmue is an action-adventure game series created, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. '' Shenmue'' (1999) and ''Shenmue II'' (2001) were developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. ''Shenmue II'' was released in 2002 in Western m ...

'', ''

Out Run (also stylized as ''OutRun'') is an arcade driving video game released by Sega in September 1986. It is known for its pioneering hardware and graphics, nonlinear gameplay, a selectable soundtrack with music composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi, and ...

'' * Kim Swift: '' Portal'' * David Sirlin: '' Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix''

T

Satoshi Tajiri is a Japanese video game designer and Creative director, director who is the creator of the ''Pokémon'' franchise and the co-founder and president of video game developer Game Freak. A fan of arcade games in his youth, Tajiri wrote for and ed ...

: ''

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

'' *

Yoko Taro is a Japanese video game director and scenario writer. Starting his career at the now defunct game developer Cavia, his best-known work is on the action role-playing video game series '' Drakengard'', and its spin-offs, '' Nier'' and '' Nie ...

: ''

Drakengard ''Drakengard'', known in Japan as is a series of action role-playing video games originally developed by Cavia (company), Cavia and published by Square Enix. The Drakengard (video game), eponymous first game in the series was released in 2003 ...

'', ''

Nier ''Nier'' is an action role-playing video game developed by Cavia and published in 2010 by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. In Japan, the game was released as for the PlayStation 3 with a younger main character, while an alterna ...

'', '' Nier: Automata'' * Toshiro Tsuchida: ''

Front Mission is a collection of video games and related media produced by Square (video game company), Square, now Square Enix. The series was created by Toshiro Tsuchida and developed by G-Craft, a studio that was later absorbed by Square and existed withi ...

'', '' Arc The Lad'' * Chris Taylor, ''

Total Annihilation ''Total Annihilation'' is a science fiction real-time strategy video game released in September 1997 for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS by Cavedog Entertainment and distributed internationally by GT Interactive. Two expansion packs were released ...

'' * Maddy Thorson: '' Towerfall'', '' Celeste'' *

John Tobias John Tobias is an American Comic book creator, comic book artist, graphic designer, video game designer and writer. Tobias is best known for co-creating the ''Mortal Kombat'' series along with Ed Boon, to whom he pitched the game concept. Tobia ...

: ''

'' * Keiichiro Toyama: ''

Silent Hill is a horror media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four main games—'' Silent Hill'', '' Silent Hill 2'', '' Silent Hill 3'', and '' Silent Hill 4: The ...

'', '' Siren'', '' Gravity Rush'', '' Gravity Rush 2'' * Andy Tudor: '' Shift 2: Unleashed''

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* Fumito Ueda: '' Ico'', '' Shadow of the Colossus'', ''

The Last Guardian ''The Last Guardian'' is a 2016 action-adventure game developed by Japan Studio and GenDesign and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Players control a boy who befriends a giant legendary creature named Trico. ...

V

* Jon Van Caneghem: ''

Might and Magic ''Might and Magic'' is a series of role-playing video games in the science fantasy genre developed by New World Computing, which in 1996 became a subsidiary of The 3DO Company. The original ''Might and Magic'' series ended with the closure of t ...

'', ''

Heroes of Might and Magic ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' (commonly abbreviated ''HoMM''), known as ''Might & Magic Heroes'' in 2011–2024, is a series of video games created and developed by Jon Van Caneghem through New World Computing. As part of the ''Might and Magic ...

'' * Daniel Vávra: '' Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven'', '' Kingdom Come: Deliverance'' * Swen Vincke: ''

Divinity Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a single ...

'', ''

Baldur's Gate 3 ''Baldur's Gate 3'' is a 2023 role-playing video game developed and published by Larian Studios. It is the third main installment of the ''Baldur's Gate'' series, based on the tabletop fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. A partial ...

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* Robin Walker: '' Team Fortress'', ''

Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' (''TF2'') is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation in 2007. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video g ...

'', '' Half-Life: Alyx'' * Tony Warriner: ''

Beneath A Steel Sky ''Beneath a Steel Sky'' is a 1994 point-and-click adventure game developed by British developer Revolution Software and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment for MS-DOS and Amiga home computers. It was made available as freewareand wit ...

'', '' Obsidian (1986 video game)'', '' Broken Sword''1 * Christopher Weaver: ''Gridiron!'' *

Jordan Weisman Jordan Weisman is an American game designer, author, and serial entrepreneur who has founded five game design companies, each in a different game genre and segment of the industry. Biography Weisman graduated from Francis W. Parker High School, ...

: ''

BattleTech ''BattleTech'' is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003; and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs. The trademark ...

'', ''

MechWarrior ''MechWarrior'' is a series of video games set in the fictional universe of ''BattleTech''. Games Within the ''MechWarrior'' games, players take control of a single BattleTech technology#BattleMechs, BattleMech and combat other BattleMechs, ...

'' * Richard Vander Wende: ''

Riven ''Riven: The Sequel to Myst'' is a 1997 adventure game developed by Cyan Productions and published by Red Orb Entertainment. The second installment of the ''Myst'' series, ''Riven'' was released for Mac and Windows personal computers on Oc ...

'' * Evan Wells: '' Gex: Enter the Gecko'', '' Crash Bandicoot: Warped'', '' Crash Team Racing'', '' Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy'', ''

'', ''

'' * Bill Williams: ''

Necromancer Necromancy () is the practice of magic involving communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future events and discover hidden knowledge. ...

'', '' Alley Cat'', '' Mind Walker'' * Roberta Williams: ''

King's Quest ''King's Quest'' is a graphic adventure game series, released between 1980 and 2016 and created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following ...

'' * Tim Willits: '' Quake'', ''

Quake II ''Quake II'' is a 1997 first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by Activision. It is the second installment of the Quake (series), ''Quake'' series, following ''Quake (video game), Quake''. Develope ...

'', '' Quake III Arena'', '' Quake III: Team Arena'', ''

Doom 3 ''Doom 3'' is a 2004 first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by Activision. ''Doom 3'' was originally released for Microsoft Windows on August 3, 2004, adapted for Linux later that year, and Vide ...

'' *

Gary Winnick Gary Winnick (October 13, 1947 – November 4, 2023) was an American billionaire businessman, industrialist, and investment banker. He served as the chairman and CEO of Winnick & Company, a private equity firm that he originally established a ...

: '' Maniac Mansion'', '' Thimbleweed Park'' * Will Wright: ''

SimCity ''SimCity'' is an open-ended city-building video game franchise originally designed by Will Wright. The first game in the series, '' SimCity'', was published by Maxis in 1989 and was followed by several sequels and many other spin-off ''S ...

'', ''

The Sims ''The Sims'' is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and Video game publisher, published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and is one of the List of best-selling video game fran ...

'', ''

Spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

Y

Kazunori Yamauchi , nicknamed "Kaz", is a Japanese game designer and racing driver. He is the CEO of Polyphony Digital and producer of the ''Gran Turismo (series), Gran Turismo'' video game series. Polyphony Digital He became the president of Polyphony Digital a ...

: '' Gran Turismo'' *

Gunpei Yokoi , sometimes transliterated as Gumpei Yokoi, was a Japanese toy maker and video game designer. As a long-time Nintendo employee, he was best known as creator of the Game & Watch handheld system, inventor of the cross-shaped Control Pad, the ...

: ''

Metroid is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the power of the parasitic M ...

'', '' Kid Icarus'' * Derek Yu: ''

Spelunky ''Spelunky'' is a 2008 platform video game created by independent developer Derek Yu and released as source-available freeware for Microsoft Windows. It was remade for the Xbox 360 in 2012, with ports of the new version following for various ...

'', '' UFO 50''.

External links

The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers
which concentrates on 8-bit era game programmers who were usually also the game's designer {{portalbar, Biography, Lists, Video games *

Video game designers Video game design is the process of designing the rules and content of video games in the pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the production stage. Some common video game design subdiscipli ...

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