Bob Bates

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For other uses, see Bob Bates (disambiguation).

Bob Bates
Game designer
Employer(s)Challenge, Inc., Infocom (publisher), Legend Entertainment, Zynga
Known forCo-founder of Challenge, Inc. and Legend Entertainment
Notable work
Spouse
Peggy Oriani
​
(m. 1978)​
Children2

Robert Bates (born December 11, 1953) is an American

U.S. Department of Justice. He has twice been the chairperson of the International Game Developers Association, which honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. Bates has written extensively about game design and development in works such as the 2001 book Game Design: The Art and Business of Creating Games, which is commonly used as a game design textbook in college courses. From 2011–2014, Bates was Chief Creative Officer for External Studios at Zynga. He continues to work as an independent consultant with various publishers in the games industry.[1][2]

Career

Bates was born in 1953 in

Robin Hood was never finished because Infocom was dissolved by its parent company Activision in 1989.[5]

A few months after the end of Infocom, Bates and

Infogrames, later renamed as Atari. In 2004, Legend was closed.[5] Bates then went on to do independent consulting until 2011 when he was hired by Mike Verdu, then at Zynga, to be Chief Creative Officer for External Developers, a job Bates held until early 2014, at which point he returned to independent consulting.[3]

In 2017, Bates launched a

Thaumistry: In Charm’s Way,[8] which was successfully funded having raised $35,238 from 1,053 backers.[9]

Recognition

Bates presenting at the 2015 Game Developers Conference

In the course of his career since 1986, Bates has written, designed, produced, or overseen more than 45 games,[6] with over six million units sold. According to Bates' website, the games have collectively won over 70 industry awards, including two Adventure Game of the Year awards.[10]

He has twice been Chairperson of the International Game Developers Association in 2005 and 2009, and has served on the advisory board of GDC Europe.[11]

Awards

  • Lifetime Achievement Award, IGDA, 2010[6][12]
  • Person of the Year Award, IGDA, 2010[6]
  • Adventure Game of the Year, Eric the Unready, October 1993, Computer Gaming World magazine
    • 1996, listed at #103 on list of "150 Best Games of All Time", Computer Gaming World, November 1996

Writing

  • Game Design: The Art and Business of Creating Games. Prima Tech. 2001.
    ISBN 978-0-7615-3165-4
    .
    • 2nd edition published in 2004
  • The Game Developer's Market Guide. Premier Press. 2003.
    ISBN 978-1-59200-104-0
    .
  • Bates, Bob (June 2, 2011). "The Belly of the Whale: Living a creative life in the games industry". Gamasutra. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  • Bates, Bob (June 17, 2005). "Into the woods: A practical guide to the Hero's Journey". Gamasutra. Retrieved September 7, 2014.

Games

References

  1. ^ "IGDA@GDC" (PDF). IGDA Perspectives. April 2010. p. 4.
  2. ^ Caulfield, Joshua (April 2010). "GDC notes and our next wave" (PDF). IGDA Perspectives. p. 22.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Bob Bates". Adventure Gamers. January 3, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  4. ^ Jong, Philip (February 12, 2001). "Interview with Bob Bates at Adventure Classic Gaming". Adventure Classic Gaming. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Infocom Authors - Bob Bates". infocom-if.org. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d Peterson, Steve (April 10, 2012). "Bob Bates: Being at Zynga 'like drinking from a firehose'". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  7. ^ Jong, Philip (February 12, 2001). "Bob Bates". Adventure Classic Gaming. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  8. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    . Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  9. ^ Bates, Bob (February 22, 2017). "We're On Our Way! Campaign Complete!". Kickstarter. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  10. ^ "2009 GDC Europe Announces Advisory Board". Game Developers Conference. April 8, 2009. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  11. ^ "Bob Bates and Tim Langdell depart the IGDA". Edge. September 1, 2009. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  12. ^ "IGDA @ GDC 2010 Wrap Up". International Game Developers Association. 2010. Archived from the original on September 7, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  13. ^ Totillo, Stephen (July 30, 2012). "Second thoughts about gaming's most hated company". Kotaku. Retrieved September 7, 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bob Bates.
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