10 Video Game Industry Names You Should Never Forget

Image via Complex Original

Brandon Boyer

Notable Accomplishments: Chairman of the Independent Games Festival

Suitable Nicknames: Indie Man, Dirty Hipster

Twitter Account: @brandonnn 

As chairman of the Independent Games Festival, Boyer's responsible for a lot of the little guys becoming success stories in the mainstream. We often forget that even with all of the talent behind great titles like FEZ, Spelunky, and Dear Esther, they often can't do too much without the funding the IGF awards provide every year.

It's not just the funding either, the exposure the festival provides gives indies a chance to find publishers, catch the public eye, or even find suitable talent for areas of their team that could use a perk up. Thanks to the efforts of Brandon and his team, great creators the world over have an opportunity to have their passion projects seen by the world. 

Fun Fact: In addition to being a proponent of independent games, Boyer is also quite the music aficionado. His Twitter account routinely dispenses song and musician recommendations for those with a refined pallete. 

Jason Rubin

Notable Accomplishments: Co-founding Naughty Dog, Current President of THQ

Suitable Nicknames: Crash 'n Burn, The Prodigy

Twitter Account: @Jason_Rubin 

Naughty Dog has been responsible for many of Sony's most prolific PlayStation titles over the years. Having developed the Uncharted series, as well as the upcoming The Last of Us, they've set the bar for cinematic storytelling in games and none of it would have happened had Rubin not formed the company at the age of 15.

Many people tend to forget that in all the ways Naughty Dog's current release schedule defines the PlayStation 3, their earlier games like Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter defined the PlayStation 2. A great deal of the platform's success is owed to this man and a great deal more will be owed as Naughty Dog continues to lead the charge.

Fun Fact: Despite all of his success at Naughty Dog and his prolific status at THQ, Rubin's beginnings were much humbler than most. Starting a company at age 15 is no easy task, but it was due to the partnership with his friend Andy Gavin that made it all possible. One might wonder where a pair of such industrious youngsters could have bumped into each other. The answer? Hebrew school.

Ron Gilbert

Notable Accomplishments: Developed the SCUMM architecture for LucasArts

Suitable Nicknames: Scurvy Dog, Cave Explorer

Twitter Account: @grumpygamer 

Responsible for the SCUMM engine that defined the early days of LucasArts' success, Gilbert's unique dialog scripting system would go on to be used in such games as Maniac Mansion, Sam & Max Hit The Road, Day of the Tentacle, and many more. Without his innovations, the point-and-click adventure genre, and possibly the narrative-centric state of modern game design may never have come to pass.

Currently he works at Double Fine Entertainment with the likes of Tim Schafer, with his newest title, The Cave, scheduled for release in 2013. Tapping into the fundaments of the genre he helped define, the game looks to mix a little of the old with a little of the new for a unique blend of story-driven adventure.

Fun Fact: Back in 1978, Ron Gilbert and his friend Thomas McFarlane shot and directed a low-budget sci-fi flick called Star Blasters after they fell in love with the original Star Wars movie. With nothing but a Super-8 camera and a few cheasy props, Gilbert did the best his youthful self could to capture the magic he saw the first time he saw Han and Chewie on the silver screen.

Warren Spector

Notable Accomplishments: Made Deus Ex, Thief, System Shock, Epic Mickey, and more

Suitable Nicknames: Mouseman, The Machina

Twitter Account: @wespector (Account is Private)

Warren Spector may look like an unassuming, almost grandfather-like character, especially with his recent track record releasing Disney games, but beneath his quiet demeanor there's a great depth of knowledge regarding mechanics and systems for play. 

Deus Ex, Thief, and System Shock are just a few of the games that defined PC gaming in its heyday. His love of dystopian worlds, science-fiction, and genre-bending gameplay styles set him apart from the pack and helped his games reach massive critical acclaim.

Fun Fact: Between developing Epic Mickey and its sequel, Spector found time to write a few issues of a DuckTales comic book, published by Boom! Studios. The series unfortunately only lasted a couple of months after the publisher's ties were cut with Disney during the Marvel purchase. 

Jason Kapalka

Notable Accomplishments: Co-founded PopCap Games

Suitable Nicknames: Prince of Peggle, Casual King

Twitter Account: @JasonKapalka 

When PopCap launched back in the year 2000, many didn't take it seriously because they weren't interested in releasing blockbuster titles or even games targeted at the traditional gaming market. That foresight however led to almost immediate success with the creation of Bejeweled, Zuma, and a plethora of other casual gaming staples.

Without Kapalka's involvement with the studio, it's more than likely that the rise in casual gaming - which has been the largest growth sector in the industry for many years - never would have happened. Initiatives like his are largely responsible for other companies jumping on the bandwaggon for better or worse. 

Fun Fact: Despite all of the claims that PopCap is partially responsible for the rise in casual gamers that made Facebook development so successful, the irony of his position as a man dedicated to bringing quality entertainment to people is not lost on him. Partnering with indie developer, Ian Bogost, Kapalka helped develop a modified version of Bogost's parody, Cow Clicker called Cow Clicker Blitz. It's good to see even moguls can have a sense of humor about their work.

Mark Rein

Notable Accomplishments: Co-founder of Epic Games

Suitable Nicknames: Chocolate Rein, Daddy Warbucks

Twitter Account: @MarkRein 

It might be a little less easy to applaud Rein for his efforts when it's really a bunch of incredibly talented programmers we need to thank for the Unreal Engine that powers a majority of modern games, but without his direction and business sense, it's plausible that the technology would never have made it as far as it has today. It was Rein's willingness to try a new model of licensing that gave the tools out for free, and only charge for published works using them that made it successful.

At the very least, his co-founding of Epic Games enabled amazing franchises like Gears of War and Unreal Tournament to develop. Without him, who knows what the console space would look like if Microsoft didn't have one of its biggest exclusives.

Fun Fact: Mark got his start in the gaming industry thanks to his friend John Romero inviting him to playtest one of id Software's Commander Keen games. He later went on to  become a probationary president of the company until his first game, Spear of Destiny tanked and he was fired. Since then, Epic Games has completely demolished id Software's licensing business; revenge is sweet.

Markus Perrson

Notable Accomplishments: Creating the most profitable indie game of all time

Suitable Nicknames: Notch, The Guy In The Hat

Twitter Account: @notch 

Markus Perrson is a newer face to the industry, but the respect he deserves for what he did with Minecraft is immense. Developed largely by himself over the course of a couple years, the game did the unthinkable; it has sold over 8.2 million copies since it released in 2011.

At about $30 per copy of the game, that makes Mojang's worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Say what you will about the game, but there is no denying that it is a cultural phenomenon and it's all because of this crazy little Swedish man.

Fun Fact: Before Minecraft was a runaway success, Perrson worked on a lot of neat programming projects like Left 4K Dead, a 4 kb Java version of Valve's zombie co-op masterpiece. In addition to that, he also built Mega 4k Man off the Mega Man franchise.

Mike Morhaime

Notable Accomplishments: President and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment

Suitable Nicknames: The Rich King, PokerFace 

Twitter Account: @MikeMorhaime 

Blizzard Entertainment is synonymous with two things; PC games of remarkable quality, and boatloads of cash. It's not easy staying on the top of a hotly contested genre like the MMORPG, but World of Warcraft has yet to relinquish its hold, even after 8 years. It may seem like a no-brainer in hindsight but having released nothing but standalone PC titles for ages, transforming one of their key properties into an experimental online game was a ballsy move that really, really paid off.

It's Morhaime and his team's dedication to unwavering quality that makes Blizzard such a success though; gamers feel comfortable buying anything they put out because they know it'll be good. This stringent adherence to their own guidelines has left many games scrapped before release with some like Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans getting the axe just minutes before showing at E3. Greatness does not come without sacrifice.

Fun Fact: In addition to running one of the most successful computer game companies of all time, Morhaime is also deadly at the game of poker. The 2006 DICE Celebrity Poker Tournament saw him face down professionals like Scott Fischman and Perry Friedman before walking home with a second place prize. The man who got first? Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder of BioWare.

John Carmack

Notable Accomplishments: Co-founded id Software, Being smarter than everyone

Suitable Nicknames: Rocketman, Genius

Twitter Account: @ID_AA_Carmack 

Let's get one thing straight, John Carmack (with the help of some friends) invented the god damned first-person shooter. That's right, without him there'd be no Halo or Call of Duty, no Half-Life or Medal of Honor. His work on Quake and Doom literally set the bar for decades to come and we've all been better for it.

In addition to being a complete visionary, Carmack is also an extremely talented programmer who can talk to machines and convince them to magically make everything render faster and prettier. If that's not enough to impress you, he's also a rocket scientist. No, literally. He works with rockets on the daily and helped fund the Lunar Lander Challenge.

Fun Fact: When John was 14, he and a bunch of other kids broke into a school to steal Apple II computers. When the police arrested him after a silent alarm was tripped he was sent for a psychiatric evaluation. The shrink reported that Carmack had absolutely "no empathy for other human beings."

Gabe Newell

Notable Accomplishments: Co-founded Valve, Saved PC gaming

Suitable Nicknames: Gaben, Baron of Steam Sales, The Heavy

Twitter Account: N/A

By no means is it an overstatement to say that without Gabe Newell, the PC gaming scene would likely be a far grimmer place today. Having fronted a great deal of his personal fortune after quitting Microsoft, he is the reason the developers behind Half-Life had the luxury of time needed to make their masterpiece.

Since then, he's directed the company into the digital distribution market, making Steam the premiere place to download computer games with a membership surpassing even Xbox Live by about 10 million users.

Fun Fact: The snack room at Valve is one of the best stocked in all of the games industry. Its purpose is to provide munchies for programmers and artists who have to work long hours finishing games. Gabe's favorite snack is a big pink cookie.