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In Memoriam: Games Industry People who have Passed Away

Anyone's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

                                                             -- John Donne, 1624

Never Let Them Be Forgotten

To add games industry people who have died to this list (from any country, discipline or creative/operational/business role) please email suggestions to ddaglow via gmail dot com. If you see any errors here please do the same. (More notes at bottom.)

Please click here to donate to The Strong Museum to preserve games history while we still can

Many thanks to Ethan Johnson, Frédéric Neilz and Alex Smith for their work to preserve these legacies, and for generously sharing information with me.

* * * * *

Those of us who have worked to build the games industry over the last 50 years have many relationships. We are competitors, fellow artists, friendly rivals and co-creators of an entirely new artistic medium.

The loss of any member of our craft and our industry diminishes us. We must honor the past and preserve their work so that their legacy is never lost. And we must honor the future by training and mentoring new practitioners of our art form. The list of those we've lost includes:

 

(People with name changes, maiden/married names etc. are listed under both variants, if known) 

A

Tom Abramson, 2020, Sega Marketing Promotion VP who helped launch Sonic the Hedgehog

Adam Adamowicz,, 2015, Fallout concept artist

Douglas Adams, 2001, author and collaborator on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game

Claudia Adams-Esgrow, 2016, community manager for multiple major franchises

Bogdan Akh, 2018, Swedish pro esports gamer

Nick Alfieri, 2022, founder of indie publishers Digerati and Big Sugar

Mel Allen, 1996, Hall of Fame Baseball announcer who did play by play on Old Time Baseball

Paul Allen, 2018, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist

Aaron Allston, 2014, designer and writer on Ultima and Wing Commander franchises

Martin Alper, 2015, Mastertronic co-founder and former CEO of Virgin Interactive

Ebbe Altberg, 2021, CEO of Linden Lab, creators of Second Life

Robert Altman, 2021, co-founder of ZeniMax, the corporate parent of Bethesda, id et al

Robert Anderson, 2020, Mattel president during era of Intellivision and Mattel Electronics

Nobuaki Andou, 2018, NES emulator developer

Python Anghelo, 2014, designer on Joust and other pinball and coin-op titles

Noah Anglin, 2017, early Atari engineering exec

Kay McNulty Antonelli, 2006, 1 of 6 women system programmers on seminal ENIAC computer

Hidehito Aoki, 2002, creator of music and sound effects for many major Japanese games

Peter Archer, 2021, veteran TSR/WOTC writer, was advisor & liaison on major D&D games

Takanori Arisawa, 2005, composer for Sailor Moon and Digimon shows and games

Dave Arneson, 2009, co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons

Steve Ash, 2019, programmer on modern versions of Doom, Quake and Double Fine games

Andy Astor, 2000, designer and programmer at Shiny Entertainment

Jim Atkiss, 2022, editor & marketing for WotC, Sony, Bandai Namco, 2K, Sierra

Ed Auer, 2010, CBS and Broderbund executive

Chris Ayres, 2021, voiced characters in Dragon Ball games, Smite, The Gunstringer

Alfonso Azpiri, 2017, Spanish game box & comics artist whose work was adapted into games

B

Charles Babbage, 1871, designed the Difference Engine, the first proto-computer

Ralph Baer, 2014, designer of the first video game console for Magnavox

John "TotalBiscuit" Bain, 2018, YouTube games streamer and influencer

Steve Bak, 2019, programmer who pioneered effects on the Atari ST

Richard Baker, 2011, AMD European sales exec who supported the games industry

Don Barnes, 2011, artist who worked on Madden NFL and Call of Duty: Black Ops

Hugh Barnes, 2019, Sr. VP of Mattel Electronics over handheld games and Intellivision console

Lee Barnes, 2019, programmer for Intellivision at Mattel and pioneering disabled game dev

Doug Barnett, 2017, designer and graphic artist at LucasArts, Activision. SSI

Bret Barrett, 1996, programmer at LucasArts and Humongous Entertainment

Jean Jennings Bartik, 2011, 1 of 6 women system programmers on seminal ENIAC computer

Cathie A. Bartz-Todd, 1993, producer at Virgin Interactive

Erik Bauersfeld, 2016, voice of Admiral Ackbar in films and in Star Wars: X-Wing game

Mark Beaumont, 2010, executive at Atari, Activision, Midway and Capcom

Charles Bellfield, 2013, Sega exec who led the launch of the Dreamcast

Scott Bennie, 2022, writer on the original Fallout, Interplay's Star Trek titles and other games

Richard Berg, 2019, legendary paper wargame designer, also worked on Europe in Flames

Mary Kay Bergman, 1999, did VO for 5 characters in Star Wars Ep. I: The Phantom Menace

Byron “Reckful” Bernstein, 2020, WoW player and streamer who led the creation of Everland

Kenn Berry, 2021, artist on Tony La Russa Baseball and Eagle Eye Mysteries series

Dani Bunten (Berry), 1998, pioneering designer of M.U.L.E. and early co-op network games

Tim Best, 2008, Last Ninja Designer for System 3/Studio 3

Patrick Béthune, 2017, voice actor on a long list of games in both English and French

Greg Bick, 2008, graphic artist on Quarantine and Dark Colony

Frances Bilas Spence, 2012, 1 of 6 women system programmers on seminal ENIAC computer

Bob Bishop, 2014, early Apple II game programmer

Jeremy Blake, 2007, artist who also worked on Chop Suey and other CD games for girls

Maddie Blaustein, 2008, voice actor on cartoons and games

"CCP Blaze", 2017, Eve Online Audio & Graphics team member

Brian Blume, 2020, executive at TSR in the very early days of D&D

Keith Boesky, 2019, former Eidos President, advisor to Riot & other major teams

Richard Bottet, 2013, French programmer at Infogrames

Tony Bourne, 2014, leader of SCEE QA department in the UK

Pete Bouvier, 2017, former owner of Twin Galaxies

David Bowie, 2016, did VO, songs & design input for Omikron: The Nomad Soul

Skye Boyes, 2015, founder of XGen Studios

Andrew Bradfield, 2001, Atari programmer and creator of Laser Hawk

Mark Bradlee, 2017, Atari, Imagic, and Worlds of Wonder executive

Hans-Jürgen Brändle, 2005. co-founder of Attic Entertainment in Germany

Ryan Brant, 2019, founder and first CEO of Take Two

Jesse Bright, 2015, programmer at Ensemble & Hidden Path Entertainment

Cathy Carlston (Brisbois), 1995, Broderbund co-founder

Steve Bristow, 2015, Atari Coin-op pioneer

Peter Bromley, 2016, co-founder of Mayfair Games

Jason Brookes, 2019, long-time games journalist at Edge and Super Play

Alexander Brüggemann, 2013, game designer on The Settlers series and other titles

Rachel Bryk, 2015, Dolphin Emulator developer

Kevin Bulmer, 2011, co-founder of Synthetic Dimensions

David Bunch, 2019, programmer on early EA Sports titles who also worked at Bandai Namco

David Bunnett, 2013, art director for films (Dragonslayer) and games (Neverwinter Nights)

Dani Bunten (Berry), 1998, pioneering designer of M.U.L.E. and early co-op network games

Ken Burd, 2018, co-creator of Master of Orion, engineer on D&D Online, more D&D games

Brigitte Burdine, 2010, voice casting director on God of War II and World of Warcraft

John Burgeson, 2016, IBM engineer who wrote the first punchcard baseball simulation game

Jim Butterfield, 2007, pioneering 1970s and 80s programmer and master of 6502

Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace, 1852, first programmer on the Difference Engine

C

Steven Cain, 2006, British designer and graphic artist at Denton Designs

Allan Calhamer, 2013, designer of the classic board game Diplomacy

Charles Callet, 1995, French computer game composer

Martin "Bucky" Cameron, 2018, LucasArts and Totally Games artist

Tina Delzer Cameron, 2019, Community leader on Everquest franchise 

Keith Campbell, 2006, pioneering UK games journalist and adventure games expert

Cathy Carlston (Brisbois), 1995, Broderbund co-founder

Tomi Pierce (Carlston), 2010, Broderbund game designer and writer on The Last Express

David "Sarge" Carter, 2018, animator on H1Z1

Scott Carter, 2007, EA engineer on Medal of Honor: Airborne 

Bruce Carver, 2005, founder of Access Software

Jackie Cassada, 2021, veteran classic paper RPG designer on D&D and other settings

Erik Cassel, 2013, member of the founding team and engineering VP at Roblox

David Chandler, 2011, Mattel engineering exec and "father of the Intellivision"

Richard Chang, 2010, led handheld games at Mattel Electronics

Jack Charlton, 2020, English footballer who did VO commentary for Sega's 1998 soccer game

Jan Chodak, 2018, Mattel game engineer, designer of first consumer electronic drums, Synsonics

Tom Clancy, 2013, author who collaborated with Ubisoft on many game titles

Alan B. Clark, 1999, designer and programmer at Synergistic Software

J. Brian Clarke, 2006, COO of Coleco during introduction and success of Colecovision

Ron Cobb, 2020, noted artist & film production designer, worked at Rocket Science Games

John Conway, 2020, creator of pioneering cellular automata-based The Game of Life

Leland Cook, 2009, co-founder of coin-op distributor Tradewest

Ralph Coppola, 2018, coin-op games innovator, CEO of ICE (makers of Chexx)

Normand Corbeil, 2013, composer on Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy

Troy Correia, 2022, pioneering iOS and online game designer at Electrified, GREE, Sega, WB

Les Crane, 2008, Mindscape executive (and AM radio talk show pioneer)

Wes Craven, 2015, director, worked on the never-completed game Wes Craven's Principles of Fear

Bill Cravens, 2007, executive at Cinematronics, Universal, Nintendo, Capcom

Maria "Remilia" Creveling, 2019, first woman to play in League of Legends Championship Series

Michael Crichton, 2008, Jurassic Park creator, also wrote the text for the 1984 game Amazon

Nancy Morris Crowe, 2021, Artist and package designer at Broderbund in late 80s - early 90s

Matthew Crump, 2014, designer on Ultima and Spyro franchises, ran the SXSW Gaming Exp

D

Ted Dabney, 2018, co-founder of Atari

Ben Daglish, 2018, composer on titles for C64, Amiga, ZX Spectrum & Amstrad CPC

Manabu Daishima, 2016, veteran artist and designer at Square Enix

Joanne Dal Porto Nerli, 2018, early team member at EA

Dario D’Ambra, 2020, game designer on Don't Make Love at Maggese Games

Jérôme Darnaudet, 2018, French game journalist

Ryan Davis, 2013, Giant Bomb co-founder

Bernie DeKoven, 2018, veteran game designer

Tina Delzer Cameron, 2019, Community leader on Everquest franchise 

David DeMartini, 2016, EA producer and executive

Paul De Meo, 2018, game and film writer & producer, often teamed with Danny Bilson

Barry Dennen, 2017, voice actor on multiple major franchises

Dale DeSharone (Disharoon), 2008, created early C64 titles, worked on Zelda projects

Joe Dever, 2016, Lone Wolf game books author who helped adapt them for mobile

Michael Diamond, 2020, Sr. Director Strategic Partnerships, NVIDIA

Rick Dickinson, 2018, pioneering UK games hardware designer at Sinclair Research

Thomas M. Disch, 2008, award-winning novelist/screenwriter, wrote 1987 game Amnesia

Dale DeSharone (Disharoon), 2008, created early C64 titles, worked on Zelda projects

Priyesh Dixit, 2016, Indian game developer who also worked in the U.S.

Doug Dorweiler, 2022, Sr. Director of Global Azure Network (with many games) at Microsoft

Bernie Drummond, 2021, designer on ZX Spectrum games Head Over Heels, Match Day II

Michael Clarke Duncan, 2012, actor who did VO on many games, including God of War II

Rolf Duhnke, 2015, Managing Director of Eidos offices in Germany

Theresa Duncan, 2007, co-creator of Chop Suey and other early CD-based games for girls

Eric Dybsand, 2004, respected AI programmer

Erick Dyke, 2008, co-founder of n-Space, worked on many major games on Nintendo platforms

E

Ronnie “Oni” Edwards, 2018, Game Theorists YouTube video editor

Philippe Egret, 2010, French computer game composer

Harlan Ellison, 2018, sf writer, worked on game I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

Wayne England, 2016, prominent board and card-based game artist

Eric Engstrom, 2020, co-creator of the original DirectX gaming APIs in 1994

Carolyn Enlow, 2018, first (or close to it) female programmer at Sierra Online in early 80s

Kenji Eno, 2013, Japanese musician and game designer

Christopher Erhardt, 2012, game designer and teacher who worked on Pool of Radiance

Scott Erickson, 2021, Worldwide Games Portfolio Manager for XBLA

R. Lee Ermey, 2018, actor, recorded Drill Instructor Voice Pack for Call of Duty: Ghosts

Carlos Escobar, 2011, programmer at Sierra

Claudia Adams-Esgrow, 2016, community manager for multiple major franchises

Jenny Esson, 2020, mental health advisor on Hellblade

Harald Evers, 2006, German interactive fiction writer

F

Mohammad Fahmi, 2022, designer on indie games including Coffee Talk, What Comes After

Neil Falconer, 2012, 1980s and 90s pinball game designer

Hal Finney, 2014, early programmer at APh on Intellivision Armor Battle and Atari 2600 games

Carrie Fisher, 2016, actress, did VO on Dishonored and Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Andrew Fitch, 2018, veteran game journalist at EGM, 1up

Frank Fitzner, 2016, co-founder of Nuclearvision Entertainment in Germany

Kelly Flock, 2021, veteran games exec and President of Sony Online Entertainment

Zach Ford, 2022, Gearbox & PUBG game designer who worked on Borderlands

Michael Forgey, 2016, exec producer on Shadow of War

Jay Forrester, 2016, pioneer of real-time computing

Miika Forsell, 2003. developer on the Max Payne team

Michael Foulger, 2011, Broderbund programmer who worked on Riven (Myst II)

Simon Franco, 2014, developer at Creative Assembly in the UK

Anita Hamil Frazier, 2019, long-time NPD and Vivendi Marketing exec

David Freeman, 2014, sales executive at Activision Blizzard

Jeff Freeman, 2008, game designer who worked on Ultima Online and Star Wards Galaxies

Jim French, 2017, voice actor who played Bill on Left 4 Dead

Barry Friedman, 2016, games agent from 1980s through 2000s

Tsutomu Fujisawa, 1998, prominent Japanese game developer

Keiji Fujiwara, 2020, voice actor in Final Fantasy, many Japanese games and shows

Brad Fuller, 2016, composer for Marble Madness, Tetris and other games

G

Stu Galley, 2018, Infocom systems engineer and writer for The Witness

John Galt, 2022, voice actor on Shadow Warrior and Prey 

Corey Gaspur, 2017, Bioware Lead Game Designer

Daryl Gates, 2010, police chief and author, worked on Police Quest: SWAT

Rémy Gazel, 2019, French video game composer

Holger Gehrmann, 2008, German programmer at reLINE

Laura "Taera" Genender, 2008, Associate Community Manager on Eve Online

Michael Gershman, 2000, historical advisor on Old Time Baseball

Armin Gessert, 2009, programmer and co-founder of Spellbound Entertainment

H. R. Giger, 2014, artist on Alien series and other films that became games

Stewart Gilray, 2022, Psygnosis and Bullfrog programmer who later founded Just Add Water

Brian Goldner, 2021, Hasbro Chairman and CEO, supported Transformers video games

Morey Goldstein, 2008, computer game composer

Craig Goodman, 2019, long-time Insomniac artist on Ratchet and Clank, Spider-Man 

Leo Goshgarian, 2019, sales exec at Spectrum Holobyte and Mattel

Edd Gould, 2012, creator of Eddsworld videos and flash games

Daisuke Gouri, 2010, voice actor on many Japanese games

Curt Gowdy, 2006, Hall of Fame Baseball announcer who did play by play on Old Time Baseball

Brian Green, 2020, Online games veteran who worked on early MUDs, Meridian 59: Evolution

Allen L. Greenberg, 1999, computer game journalist

Sterling Greene, 2020, worked at EA in early 1990s

Hank Greenwald, 2018, baseball announcer on Tony La Russa Baseball

Kim Gregson, 2014, professor at Ithaca College, built their games program

Kevin Kanai Griffith, 2015, long-time Blizzard artist

Jeff Groteboer, 2004, programmer and designer at Origin and SSI

Robert Guillaume, 2017, actor who did VO for scientist Eli Vance in Half Life 2

Gary Gygax, 2008, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons

H

Paul Haddad, 2020, voice actor on Resident Evil 2

Mark Haigh-Hutchinson, 2008, engineer on Metroid Prime and Shadows of the Empire

Joyce Hakansson, 2016, designer of early educational games in the 1980s and 1990s

Ashif Hakik, 2021, composer on Sly Cooper, FantaVision, CTR: Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

Gordon Hall, 2021, founder of Möbius Entertainment (later Rockstar Leeds)

Richard Halliwell, 2021, co-author of the first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle 

Danny Hammett, 2020, founder of Head Games, creators of hit Cabelas Big Game Hunter

Sébastien Hamon, 2005, French computer game journalist

Hugh Hancock, 2017, Machinima founder

Kentarō Haneda, 2007, composer of music for early 1980s NES games

Goro Hasegawa, 2016, creator of Othello board game

Kazuhisa Hashimoto, 2020, Konami programmer who created the "Konami Code"

Jens Hauch, 2020, lead technical artist on Halo Infinite

Dennis Hawelka, 2017, early esports star

Matt Helsom, 2019, senior artist and animator on Destiny 2

Bob Henderson, 2016, Technical Director on Chuck Yeager Flight Sim, Earl Weaver Baseball

Arnold Hendrick, 2020, creator of the Darklands RPG at MicroProse.

Steve Henifin, 2019, composer on Metal Gear Solid titles, Too Human and other gams

Ian Hetherington, 2021, founding Managing Director of PlayStation Europe, Psygnosis founder

William Higinbotham, 1994, creator of seminal 1958 computer game Tennis for Two 

John Hiles, 2016, educational sim creator who partnered with Maxis

John Hill, 2015, designer of influential board game Squad Leader

Stewart Hogarth, 2015, Scottish game developer

Betty Holberton, 2001, one of 6 women system programmers on seminal ENIAC computer

Alec Holowka, 2019, co-designer on Night in the Woods

Grace Hopper, 1992, pioneer of compilers and high-level programming languages

Stephen Hornback, 2016, game artist on Duke Nukem and other franchises

Troy Horton, 2021, producer on early versions of Tomb Raider at Eidos in mid-90s

Joseph J.M. Howell, 2007, did QA and research on GTA III, many other Rockstar games

Walter Huang, 2018, long-time Visceral Games engineer at EA

Hervé Hubert, 1994, French programmer at Infomédia

Thomas Huffman, 2022, creator of Up Golf, also worked on Manifold Garden

Simon Humber, 2021, designer and/or producer on many years of FIFA Soccer

Michael Humes, 2016, writer and designer on Harry Potter games, other major franchises

I

Candace Irving 2021, Longtime PR manager at Mattel Toys who also did Intellivision PR

Hiro Isono, 2013, artist on Secret of Mana and other Square Enix games

Sergei Ivanov, 2020, writer on S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

Takashi Iwade, 2019, designer and artist on Panzer Dragoon

Satoru Iwata, 2015, Influential President and CEO of Nintendo

J

Wes Jenkins, 2017, writer and producer on several LEGO games & other projects

Jean Jennings Bartik, 2011, 1 of 6 women system programmers on seminal ENIAC computer

Steve Jobs, 2011, Apple co-founder

Clarence Johnson, 2016, LucasArts artist

Peter Johnson, 1994, Art Director at Sega

Richard Joseph, 2007, Long-time Audio Dir. -- Defender of the Crown, Elder Scrolls IV

Ted Judson, 2022, Marketing and Sales exec with EA on early EA Sports & other titles

Kim Jung-ju, 2022, Nexon founder

K

Hiroshi Kajiyama, 2018, game designer, illustrator and manga artist

Antti Kallioinen, 2016, veteran game artist and studio founder

Billy Kametz, 2022, VO actor on Pokémon, Mario, Wasteland, Final Fantasy franchises

Harry Kane, 2016, former Sega of America President

Yoshinori Kaneda, 2009, anime animator who also worked on Final Fantasy games

Pat Karns, 2010, executive at Atari, Fun Games, and Sega

Saki Kaskas, 2016, composer on Need for Speed titles, Sim City 4, Mass Effect 2

Jasmin Kass, 2018, German game producer and musician

Ray Kassar, 2017, late 1970s CEO of Atari 

Joyce Worley (Katz), 2016, pioneering video game magazine founder and editor

Pete Kauffman, 2015, founder of coin-op company Exidy

Eri Kawai, 2008, recording artist; she also appeared on game soundtracks

Saga Kazami, 2007, games and anime composer

Brett N. Keeton, 2002, 1980s game programmer

Mary Kenneth Keller, 1985, 1st woman to earn PhD in CS in U.S., modern language developer

Norm Kelln, 2018, early Nintendo team member

John Kemeny, 1992, co-creator of BASIC computer language (with Thomas Kurtz)

Graeme Kidd, 2009, British computer game journalist

Lemmy (Ian Fraser Kilmister), 2015, Motorhead leader, did VO on Brütal Legend and Scarface

Jim Kimsey, 2016, founding CEO of AOL

Angela Kimzey, 2021, community manager at WB Games Boston, EA and WildWorks

Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace, 1852, first programmer on the Difference Engine

John Kirby, 2019, attorney for Nintendo and namesake of the Kirby games

Kouki Kita, 2017, former SunSoft game artist

Jim Kitchen, 2015, indie dev who produced accessible games for blind gamers

Osamu Kobayashi, 2021, world designer for Grandia

Robert Alan Koeneke, 2022, wrote The Dungeons of Moria, inspired some Diablo features

Michael Kogan, 1984, founder of Taito Corporation

Steve Kordek, 2012, pinball game designer who popularized bottom flippers

Stewart Kosoy, 2015, veteran game designer and producer

Shiro Kotobuki, 2016, Japanese game artist

Alan Kotok, 2006, member of the dev team on Spacewar

Kevin Kraff, 2022, marketing exec at Square Enix, 505 Games, THQ, Activision, NBC

Reuben Kramer, 2021, created The Game of Life board game, oversaw the PC version

Colin Kroll, 2018, co-founder of HQ Trivia

Kim Okkerstrøm (Kimberly Kubus), 2014, Norwegian artist and game developer

Józef Kucia, 2019, Vkd3d founder and contributor to Wine, Mesa and Debian

Michael Kuehl, 2012, programmer at Insomniac, Infinity Ward and Electronic Arts

Bill Kunkel, 2011, co-founder of Electronic Games Magazine and pioneering journalist

L

Greg LaBrec, 2008, Developer Marketing Exec at NVIDIA, Sony and Atari

Steve Lacey, 2011, British programmer who worked at Oddworld and Microsoft

Len Lakofka, 2020, early editor and author on D&D and part of 1st-ever Gen Con

Hedy Lamarr, 2000, engineer who co-developed foundations of wi-fi and bluetooth

Adam Lancman, 2005, Australian developer, executive and GDAA President

Greg Land, 2019, game designer at LucasArts (Star Wars), Telltale (Wallace & Gromit)

Justin Lassen, 2021, Composer and musician who also did game soundtrack work

Greg Lastowka, 2015, Rutgers law professor focused on legal issues of online games

Michael Latham, 2021, early game designer and producer at Activision and Sega

Katherine Lawrence, 2004, writer and designer at Microprose and other companies

David Lawson, 2021, co-founder of Imagine SW & Psygnosis, created 80s UK hit Arcadia

Jerry Lawson, 2011, African American games pioneer, invented cartridge-based consoles

Charles Lazarus, 2018, Founder of Toys R Us

Undrea Leach, 2022, streamer and voice actor on Last Line of Retreat & Starcrossed

Peter Ledger, 1994, graphic artist at Sierra and Tsunami

Stan Lee, 2018, Marvel comics creator whose characters appeared in many games

Anthony Lees, 2016, co-composer of the music on the Last Ninja series

Russell Lees, 2022, writer on Assassin's Creed and Far Cry games franchises

Dick Lehrberg, 2015, executive at Activision and Interplay

Lemmy (Ian Fraser Kilmister), 2015, Motorhead leader, did VO on Brütal Legend and Scarface

Stan Lepard, 2021,  composer on Guild Wars 2, Destiny, Halo Reach, Fable 2, PGR et al

Lance Lewis, 2018, veteran of Atari and 3DO

Daniel Licht, 2017, game composer on Dishonored and Silent Hill

Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum, 1986, 1 of 6 women system programmers on ENIAC computer

Russell Lieblich, 2005, programmer and composer for Intellivision, Activision and LucasArts

James Light, 2022, producer on Hell Let Loose at Team17

Michael Lindsay, 2019, voice actor on anime films and games, including Final Fantasy XIII

Rick Loomis, 2019, co-founder of pioneering play-by-mail game company Flying Buffalo

Marian Lorenz, 1992, co-author of Atari Assembly Language Programmer's Guide

Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace, 1852, first programmer on the Difference Engine

Bud Luckey, 2018, legendary Pixar animator who did VO for Disney Infinity

Dariusz Lukaszuk, 1995, programmer at Dynamix

Søren Lund, 2018, veteran Danish developer who worked on Hitman, Watchmen & more

Cherie Lutz, 2021,  Business Development leader at Sierra, Xbox and WOTC

Mickey Lynch, 2017, early team member at Atari 

M

Jim Mackonochie, 2015, co-founder of Mirrorsoft, flight sim pioneer

John Madden, 2021, Madden NFL advisor & namesake, key to initial growth of EA Sports

Jennifer Majalca, 2014, Nintendo and Sega PR veteran

Biz Markie, 2021, rapper who supported dev teams' music for Saints Row and GTA games

Dave Marofske, 2014, president Midway Manufacturing

Greg Martin, 2014, cover designer for the original Sonic and other titles

Marian Martini, 2018, programmer on Cold Comfort at Gamma Minus game studio

Alain Massoumipour, 2019, French computer game journalist

Masato Masuda, 2014, creator of Fire Pro Wrestling

James Mathe, 2019, indie board game & RPG publisher who mentored many indies of all kinds

Andy Mathews, 2008, art director at Hero Games

Miyu Matsuki, 2015,  actress on many games, including the voice of Lailah in Tales of Zestiria

Gene Mauro, 2018, international games exec who worked on a diverse range of titles

Jeanette Maus, 2021, actress who performed in Resident Evil Village

George Mawle, 2021,engineer on iconic God of War weaponry

Rick May, 2020, voice actor in Star Fox, Team Fortress 2 and other titles

Helen McCrory, 2021, Harry Potter actress who did VO on Peaky Blinders: Mastermind

Matt McDonald, 2019, indie team leader. Art Director and Technical Art Director 

Dwayne McDuffie, 2011, pioneering African American comics. TV and video games writer

Charles McEwan, 2006, co-founder of Ramtek

Mick McGinty, 2021, cover artist for Street Fighter II, Streets of Rage 2, many 90s game titles

Fergus McGovern, 2016, early UK games entrepreneur and founder of Probe and Hotgen

Martin McKenna, 2020, illustrator & game artist on Fighting Fantasy & Deathtrap Dungeon games

Paul McLaughlin, 2022, artist on Fable, Black & White, Godus and other titles.

Peter McMurry, 2019, Lead Engineer for the original Rainbow Six

Seumas McNally, 2000, 3D graphics designer

Alan McNeil, 2017, creator of Berzerk

Kay McNulty Antonelli, 2006, 1 of 6 women system programmers on seminal ENIAC computer

Brad McQuaid, 2019, Lead Designer on Everquest and other titles

Ralph McQuarrie, 2012, designed Darth Vader and much of Star Wars, influenced many games

Syd Mead, 2019, designer on Blade Runner movie, worked on multiple video games

Eric Medalle, 2016, design director at The Pokémon Company

Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer, 2008, 1 of 6 women system programmers on seminal ENIAC computer

Ken Melville, 2014, co-founder of Digital Pictures

John Metzler, 1982, game designer at Ramtek

Dietrich "Didi" Meutsch, 2007, EU exec at Rushware, Microprose, Hasbro Interactive & THQ

Joe Miller, 2014, long-time Sega games producer and exec

Jay Miner, 1994, co-creator of Atari VCS, Atari 400/800, Amiga

Dave Mirra, 2016, BMX star who collaborated on Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX

Takeo Miratsu, 2002, composer for both video games and anime

Fukio Mitsuji, 2008, creator of Bubble Bobble and other Taito coin-op games

Jack Mittel, 2016, former Taito of America executive

Ben Mittman, 2018, pioneer of AI vs. AI computer chess championships

Kentaro Miura, 2021, Berserk Manga creator who worked on Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage

Hiroshi Miyagawa, 2006, film and game composer

Takeshi Miyaji, 2011, co-founder of Game Arts and G-Mode

Shoji Mizuno, 2018, character designer for the Bomberman franchise

Landon Montgomery, 2020, co-founder of Gearbox Software

Jay Moon, 2018, co-founder of Iguana Entertainment

Roger Hanna Morash, 2018, game programmer at Harmonix

Steve Morgenstern, 2013, pioneering journalist and founding editor of Atari Age magazine

Akihiko Mori, 1996, sound designer on many Japanese video games

Paul Moriarty, 2016, former Taito of America executive

Nancy Morris Crowe, 2021, Artist and package designer at Broderbund in late 80s - early 90s

David Morse, 2007, exec at Amiga, Epyx, Crystal Dynamics

Iain Morton, 2020, TD and CG on Oddworld, Transformers, Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Kerri Moynihan, 2017, finance manager at Activision Blizzard

Patrick Munnik, 2019, Horizon Zero Dawn lead producer 

Doug Myres, 2001, programmer on Railroad Tycoon II and other titles

N

Hideyuki Nakajima, 1994, executive at Namco, Atari Games

Masaya Nakamura, 2017, founder of coin-op pioneer Namco

Michael Nash, 2021, lead concept designer on Horizon Zero Dawn

Near, 2021, renowned Japanese SNES emulator dev who created bsnes and higan

François Nédelec, 2009, board & computer game designer on Empire Galactique

Dave Needle, 2016, co-creator of Amiga 1000, Atari Lynx and 3DO system

Nels Nelson, 2017, games and systems designer at Certain Affinity

Roger Nelson, 2022, founder of motion capture studio MotionWerx

Joanne Dal Porto Nerli, 2018, early team member at EA

Mikael Nermark, 2021, former Starbreeze CEO, backed games including Psychonauts 2

Reynalda Lynn Nguyen, 2021, co-creator of the Multi Arcade System joystick

Thao Nguyen, 2021, co-creator of the Multi Arcade System joystick

Shinya Nishigaki, 2004, creator of Dreamcast titles Blue Stinger and Illbleed

Jim Nitchals, 1998, pioneering Apple programmer and game developer

David Nolte, 2014, Producer/designer on Yoshi's Cookie, Tetris Worlds & more Tetris games

Ingo Nugel, 2007, German game music composer

Bill Nutting, 2008, founder of Nutting Assoc., released first arcade video game

O

Markus Oberrauter, 2019, programmer on the Söldner and Settlers series among other games

Chris Oberth, 2012, programmer for Stern Electronics, Epyx, Mindscape, Incredible Technologies

William O’Connor, 2018, White Wolf artist whose work appeared in Vampire: The Masquerade

Dean O'Donnell, 2022, writer on Titan Quest franchise and other titles

Shinobu Ogawa, 2008, video game composer

Norio Ohga, 2011, Founder of Sony Computer Entertainment

Isao Okawa, 2001, founder of CSK Corp., chairman and CEO of Sega Enterprises

Kim Okkerstrøm (Kimberly Kubus), 2014, Norwegian artist and game developer

Bill Olliges, 2018, co-founder of coin-op developer Universal Research Laboratory (URL)

Mike Olsen, 2021, GM at Glu, former Exec Producer at EA on Godfather, Tiger Woods Golf

Ren Olsen, 2012, graphic artist at Westwood Studios

Wesley Warren Olson, 2017, tester at Ember, Bungie and Snowblind

Andy O'Neil, 2019, Metroid Prime tech lead and Bluepoint Games co-founder

John O'Neill, 2021, artist and designer on E.T., Paradice and Dolphin's Rune

Hiroshi Ono, 2021, famed Namco visual designer on Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug and more

John Opel, 2011, president of IBM during the birth of the personal computer

George Opperman, 1985, Atari art director who designed Atari logo and early coin-op cabinets

Henry Orenstein, 2021, creator of the original Transformers toys and franchise

Monty Oum, 2015, game designer and animator for machinima series Red vs. Blue

Norman Ovando, 2017, former Treyarch dev team member

P

Bridgette Patrovsky, 2020, co-author of Developing Online Games: An Insider's Guide

Randy Pausch, 2008, Carnegie Mellon games program professor and author of "The Last Lecture"

Bill Paxton, 2017, prominent actor who did VO on Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Chuck Peddle, 2019, Principal Designer of the 6502 Microprocessor

Paul Pepera, 2017, video game artist and System Era co-founder

George Pérez, 2022, DC & Marvel designer & artist, worked on early Atari fantasy games

Eric Peterson, 2015, lead programmer on MechWarrior 2 and other major games

Scott 'Hjalmer' Peterson, 1989, author of the Amiga shareware game GravAttack

Tom Petit, 2017, sales exec at Sega, Data East and Nintendo

Barrington Pheloung, 2019, video game composer on Broken Sword

Jarrod Phillips, 2021, filmmaker & motion control producer on DDR & many other games

Tomi Pierce (Carlston), 2010, Broderbund game designer and writer on The Last Express

Peter Pirner, 1996, Marketing VP for Mattel Electronics in the early 80s

Vladimir Pokhilko, 1998, co-founder of Animatek

Sam Poole, 2006, marketing exec at Maxis who also supported Tony La Russa Baseball 4

Gene Portwood, 2000, AD and character designer on the Carmen Sandiego series at Broderbund

Terry Pratchett, 2015, author of the hit Discworld novels, which were also adapted as games

Micael Priest, 2018, renowned poster artist who did original art for Ultima Online

Prince, 2016, collaborated on the 1994 PC & Mac adventure game, Prince Interactive

Jory Prum, 2016, Norwegian audio designer

Q

Lin Qi, 2020, Yoozoo Games Founder and CEO

R

Julian Paul Raines, 2018, former GameStop CEO

Tassilo Rau, 2019, long-time artist, founder at Bumblebee Games, directed GhostControl Inc. 

Miłogost Reczek, 2021, Polish voice actor on Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077

Andrew Scott Reisse, 2013, co-founder of Oculus

Peter Rezon, 2018, UK games exec for Leisuresoft, Sierra and Vivendi

Lee Reherman, 2016, appeared on games network G4 TV

Ian Richardson, 2021, Business Dev. at Sumo Digital & fundraiser for SpecialEffect

Dennis Ritchie, 2011, creator of C programming language (among others)

Joe Robbins, 2006, executive at Bally, Atari, Kitcorp, and Sunsoft America

Christian Robert, 2010, graphic artist at Delphine Software and Amazing Studio

Ed Roberts, 2010, creator of the first home computer, the Altair 8800

Keith Robinson, 2017, Intellivision game developer and co-founder of Intellivision Lives

Paul Robinson, 2017, game designer and writer

Jeff Rochlis, 2016, Mattel electronics exec in the early 1980s

Jörg Rohrer, 2018, EA exec in Germany, led team on Total Club Manager 2003

Tony Rosato, 2017, the voice of Mario on Super Mario Bros. 3

David Rosenbaum, 2017, Video Game Bar Assoc. co-founder, attorney for developers

Sarah Ross, 2021, VP of global communications at Zynga and at Jam City

John Roy, 2014, Sony Online Entertainment art director

Mikael Rudberg, 2021, led teams on versions of Battlefield, Mass Effect, Need for Speed

Christopher Rush, 2016, Magic: The Gathering artist who also worked at Nintendo

S

Dominique Sablons, 2015, designer and artist on Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet 

Chloe Sagal, 2018, Portland indie game developer

Akira Saitō, 2016, games programmer at M2 Co. in Japan

Manabu Saito, 1992, game composer who passed away shortly after starting his career

Tomoharu Saito, 2006, Japanese game character designer

Tohru Sakurai, 2017, Arcana Heart writer and developer

Jean Sammet. 2017, first female president of ACM, pioneer of high-level programming languages

Norman Sas, 2012, inventor of Electric Football motorized tabletop game in the late 1940s

Stan Schembri, 2009, Late 80s C64 programmer on Barbarian, Rad Warrior, Cauldron II

Joy Schneer, 2010, pioneering 3rd Party exec at Activision, Sega and Atari, starting in 1983

Brett Schnepf, 2020, worked on Flight Simulator and other titles at Microsoft

Andrew Scholnick, 2020, AOL systems engineer during development of early 90s online games

Bill 'Phosphorous' Sears, 2012, engineer at Realtime Associates, KnowWonder and GameHouse

SeeD, 2009, art director for the Pangya golf game series

Mario Segale, 2018, landlord for Nintendo's old warehouse, after whom Mario was named

Doris Self, 2006, coin-op game score record holder and pioneering female gamer

Mike Sellers, 2022, lead designer on Meridian 59, The Sims 2, Ultima Online 7; teacher and author

Peter Shelus, 2015, programmer on Wing Commander, Deus X, Thief and Epic Mickey

Mike Sherlock, 2018, Square Enix COO for Europe and America

Hidenori Shibao, 2018 artist/writer/director for Paladin’s Quest & Legend of Legaia

Wayne Shirk, 2010, early employee at Nintendo of America

Ken Siders, 2017, programmer on several Atari games

Lon Simmons, 2015, Hall of Fame Baseball announcer who did play by play on Old Time Baseball

Sir Clive Sinclair, 2021, inventor of ZX80 & ZX Spectrum, launched the UK PC & games industry

Mike Singleton, 2012, prominent UK game designer 

Tim Skelly, 2020, Coin-op designer of Armor Attack, Reactor, Star Castle and more

Joe Skivolocke, 2012, veteran Austin game artist

Brian G. Smith, 2007, graphic artist at Origin

Claire Smith, 2015, programmer at Bioware Austin

Doug Smith, 2014, creator of Lode Runner

Gene Smith, 2002, game programmer at Intellivision, Atari and Accolade

Jonathan "Joffa" Smith, 2010, prolific game programmer at Ocean Software

Stephen Wrenn Smith, 2019, designer and programmer of Atari 2600 Road Duel 

Benoit Sokal, 2021, Microids Art Director & creator of Syberia

Randy Solem, 2012, machinima animator and creator of Video Game Director's Cuts

Art Spear, 1996, chairman of Mattel during the invention of handheld games and Intellivision

Frances Bilas Spence, 2012, 1 of 6 women system programmers on seminal ENIAC computer

Greg Stafford, 2018, founder of Chaosium, co-designer of King of Dragon Pass

Paul Steed, 2012, veteran game artist, author and teacher (Wing Commander, Doom 2 and more)

Jay Stevens, 2022, early 80s programmer and producer on FaceMaker & four Accolade titles

Tony Stockton, 2013, lead programmer on Call of Duty 2

Bernie Stolar, 2022, former exec for Atari, Sega, Sony & Mattel in North America

Alan Stone, 2017, co-founder of Nintendo of America

James Storey, 2015, artist on Duke Nukem and other titles

Tim Stryker, 1996, pioneering 1970s game developer

Matt Stubbington, 2011, art director at Iguana Entertainment

Koichi Sugiyama, 2021, composer on Dragon Quest series for Square Enix

Jonathan Sullivan, 2017, game developer on Madden NFL and other titles

Andrey Supryaga, 2022, artist & exec on franchises Last of Us, Call Of Duty, Metal Gear

Brian Sutton-Smith, 2015, scholar on games and play; library at Strong Museum named for him

Dave Szulborski, 2009, alternate reality game designer, author of book This is Not a Game

T

Hiroki Takagi, 2018, anime and game animator

Kazuki Takahashi, 2022, creator of Yu-Gi-Oh Manga franchise, spawned hit card & video games

Jukka Tapanimaki, 2000, 1980s programmer on Moonfall, Zamzara and other games

Chris Taylor, 2016, young UK designer at Traveller's Tales who worked on Lego titles

Mark Taylor, 2021, creator of the Masters of the Universe toys and franchise at Mattel

Robert Taylor, 2017, creator of ARPANET, base for growth of the Internet

Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum, 1986, 1 of 6 women system programmers on ENIAC computer

John Tessin, 2017, long-time programmer on Everquest II and other titles

Andrew Thomas, 2022, indie game dev who worked on Roll Control and Shillelagh

Heather Thompson, 2011, veteran game producer and product manager

John Tiller, 2021, veteran wargame designer & founder of John Tiller Software

Cathie A. Bartz-Todd, 1993, producer at Virgin Interactive

Stephen Toulouse, 2017, Xbox Live community exec

Will Townsend, 2011, producer on DJ Hero

Jack Tramiel, 2012, Founder of Commodore, Chairman of Atari

William R. Trotter, 2018, historian, game journalist and wargames expert

Ian Trout, 2011, Australian computer wargame designer and programmer

Douglas Trumbull, 2022, film VFX pioneer (2001, Blade Runner) who inspired game SFX

Robert Trump, 2020, board member at Zenimax Media

Francis Tsai, 2015, artist on the Myst and Tomb Raider franchises

David Tse, 2017, VR game developer in San Antonio

Rich Tsukiji, 2021, organizer of the World of Atari retro games events

Hiromi Tsuru, 2017, voice actress in Metal Gear Solid

Richard Tucholka, 2017, RPG designer whose titles were adapted for PC

Alan Turing, 1954, mathematician & innovator, helped lay foundation for Computer Science and AI

Kelly Turner, 2005, long-time game producer

U

Masayuki Uemura, 2021, led dev team for Nintendo Entertainment System & SNES

Mick Uhl, 2019, Avalon Hill board game designer who also worked on multiple versions of Civ II

V

Don Valentine, 2019, VC who guided the launch of Atari, Electronic Arts, Apple & Google 

Mark 'Chip' VanDeVelde, 2006, sales exec at Crave Entertainment

Sami Vanhatalo, 2020, co-founder of Remedy Entertainment and Finnish games pioneer

Jan Paul van Waveren, 2017, engineer on many id titles

Fernando Velez, 2016, VD-Dev Games co-founder

Brad Venable, 2021, voice actor on Devil May Cry 5, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

Curt Vendell, 2020, Atari engineer, historian and preservationist

Mark Vitello, 2019, long-time Sony PlayStation manager and 3rd party liaison

Max von Sydow, 2020, veteran actor who voiced Esbern in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

W

Carl Wade, 2011, veteran engineer at Acclaim and CD Projekt Red

Ray Wagner, 1985, president of Mattel Toys at the time of the birth of handheld games there

John Wakefield, 2009, early president pf Atari

Bob Wakelin, 2018, British video game cover artist

Arnold Waldstein, 2020, original General Counsel at Maxis during time when Sim City launched

Mark Wallace, 2021, exec producer, 30+ years at Accolade, Crystal Dynamics, EA, HopeLab, Hearo

Maegan Walling, 2018, Sr. Character Artist on EA LOTR games, FEAR 2, Matrix Online

David Ward, 2022, cofounder in 1983 of pioneering UK publisher Ocean Software

David Warner, 2022, did VO on Descent, Fallout, Star Trek & Baldur's Gate game franchises

Silas Warner, 2004, PLATO programmer, creator of Castle Wolfenstein and Robot Wars

Ronald Wartow, 2001, strategy guides writer

Joe Waters, 2015, veteran programmer at Monolith, Hidden Path and other studios

John Watson, 2007, graphic artist, programmer and scenarist at Origin

Mike Watson, 2021, Community Developer on Saints Row at Volition

Earl Weaver, 2013, baseball manager who collaborated on Earl Weaver Baseball

Adam West, 2017, 1960s Batman actor who did VO on Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

Joel West, 2018, early-1980s coin-op champion featured in Life magazine in 1981

Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer, 2008, 1 of 6 women system programmers on seminal ENIAC computer

James White, 2020, data analyst at Rare

Stewart Wieck, 2017, co-founder of White Wolf Games

Lizzie Wilding, 2022, VP of operations at Dovetail Games. also worked at Jagex, EA, Codemasters

Seth Willenson, 2022, exec in film & games, advisor on The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Bill Williams, 1998, early 1980s game designer

John Wilson, 2021, founder of early UK text adventure publisher Zenobi Software

Dan Winters, 2018, long-time producer and exec with EA, Disney, Activision & Amazon

Loren Wiseman, 2017, co-founder of Game Designers Workshop

Paul Woakes, 2017, late 1980s programmer on Mercenary series and other titles

Marcine "Iggy" Wolverton, 1997, co-founder of Midway Manufacturing

Brian Wood, 2010, Company of Heroes Lead Game Designer

Joyce Worley (Katz), 2016, pioneering video game magazine founder and editor

Y

Hiroshi Yamauchi, 2013, former President of Nintendo and architect of its video game success

Chuck Yeager, 2020, Test pilot who advised on Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer

Gregory Yob, 2005, pioneering mainframe game designer, creator of Hunt the Wumpus

Gunpei Yokoi, 1997, creator of Game Boy

Andrew Yoon, 2015, Joystiq and Shacknews editor

Hidekazu Yukawa, 2021, managing director at Sega during Dreamcast era

Z

Jose Zambrano, 2019, co-founder of VR game maker Stuido Studios

Roger Zelazny, 1995, fantasy and SF author who worked on Chronomaster

Rita Zimmerer, 2020, former EVP at Sunsoft and AIAS founding Board Member

Tod Zipnick, 1991, founder of Icom Simulations (Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective)

Larry Zwick, <2015, early programmer at APh on Intellivision Auto Racing and Atari 2600 games

 

* * * * *

Although this list is intended to include video game industry team members I have included some highly influential board game designers and entrepreneurs (e.g. Dave Arneson, Peter Bromley, Gary Gygax, John Hill, Rick Loomis and Loren Wiseman) and computer scientists (e.g. Charles Babbage, Ada Byron, the "ENIAC 6" system programmers of the first commercial mainframe, Grace Hopper, Dennis Ritchie, Jean Sammet, Alan Turing) in recognition of their influence on our field.

Anyone who worked professionally at a game publisher or developer or as a games journalist is included if I know of their passing, regardless of their job title or department. Rather than define lines of "who's a game developer and who isn't," I have also included all licensor-creators who worked with a game dev team in any role, including voice actors, writers of adapted works who worked directly on the game with the team (e.g. Michael Crichton, Thomas M. Disch, Harlan Ellison) etc.

If you use this research please link to and credit this page so we can help everyone be remembered, not just the more famous people who have worked in games.

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