Teddy Diefenbach, also known as Teddy Dief is an American

videogame 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, most ...

designer and writer. They worked as a creative director at

Square Enix Montreal Square Enix Montréal was a Canadian video game developer based in Montreal. It created the ''Go'' series of turn-based puzzle games for mobile devices based on former Eidos Interactive intellectual properties. Square Enix Montréal was found ...

, directed the game ''

We Are OFK ''We Are OFK'' is an episodic adventure game developed by Team OFK and directed by Teddy Dief. Its five episodes released between August and September 2022 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. It serves as the ...

'', and was co-designer for the game ''

Hyper Light Drifter ''Hyper Light Drifter'' is an action role-playing game developed and published by Heart Machine. The Microsoft Windows, Linux and OS X versions were released in March 2016, and the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions in July 2016. A ''Special E ...

''. They co-founded the artist collective Glitch City and participate in a yearly charity live-stream called ''Chocobowl''.

Biography

Dief was born in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. They graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where they studied music, computer science, and Japanese. They later took filmmaking at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

's School of Cinematic Arts. Dief worked for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

as a designer on ''

Pirates of the Caribbean Online ''Pirates of the Caribbean Online'' was a 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing video game based on the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' franchise. It was developed and published by Disney Online, in conjunction with SilverTree Media, for Mi ...

'' and for the

's School of Cinematic Arts as a game narrative researcher. One of the first game they developed on their own was ''Kyoto Wild'' for PC. In 2013 they joined Heart Machine to work on the

role playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, eith ...

''Hyper Light Drifter''. Dief left Heart Machine in May 2016 and started work as the creative director of Square Enix Montreal. During this period, they were reportedly working on a game project with '' Fez'' programmer Renaud Bédard for two years. On January 29, 2018, Dief announced their resignation after Square Enix shelved the project, citing the company's shift in business strategy. Dief stated that this development marked their return to "full-time indie development". Dief was the creative director of ''

'', a videogame released in 2022 about the origin story of a virtual band called ''OFK''. According to Dief, it is an actual music project and consists of five episodes. Aside from their design work for several games, Dief also worked as a writer, voice actor, and musician. In ''We are OFK'', Dief provided the voice for the character Luca Le Fae.

Philanthropy

Dief is involved in several gaming initiatives. Together with Alex Preston, Beau Blyth, and Samurai Gunn, they co-created Glitch City, a

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

-based game makers and independent artists collective. In 2015, they co-founded ''Chocobowl'', a 48-hour live stream that involves game developers playing Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs). ''Chocobowl'' has since been used as a platform to raise money for organizations such

AbleGamers The AbleGamers Foundation (also known as The AbleGamers Charity) is an American nonprofit organization dedicated to improving accessibility in the video game space, enabling more people with disabilities to be able to play video games. The charit ...

and

The Bail Project The Bail Project is a 501 (c)(3) non profit organization aiming to pay bail for people who are not financially capable of doing so themselves. The Bail Project also provides pretrial services. The Bail Project was founded in 2017 by Robin Steinb ...

Game credits

*2022 - ''

'' (Director, Co-Writer) *''2016 -

'' (Designer, Coder) *''2016 - Fitz Packerton'' (Game Designer) *''2014 - Kyoto Wild (Game Designer)'' *''2012 - Shove Pro'' (Game Designer) *''2011 - Jumpkick Justice'' (Game Designer) Other Credits * 2024 - Another Crab's Treasure (Special Thanks) * 2024 - Pacific Drive (Narrative Scripting Assistance) * 2021 - Solar Ash (Special Thanks) * 2020 - Bugsnax (Special Thanks) * 2017 - Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator (Special Thanks) * 2017 - Night in the Woods (Special Thanks) * 2016 - Quadrilateral Cowboy (Special Thanks) * 2014 - Nidhogg (Special Thanks)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dief, Teddy Living people American non-binary people American video game designers American video game programmers People from Illinois Year of birth missing (living people) LGBTQ video game developers LGBTQ designers