30 Amazing Games People in 2012

Each year, IGN tries to highlight a small number of people in gaming who have made a positive contribution over the previous 12 months.

It’s devilish tricky job.

We want to talk about people who have done something special this particular year, not just those who are recognized as perennial giants in gaming (otherwise, every year we’d be looking at the same familiar names). We also want to create a cross-section of gaming that covers different platforms, skills, genres and media, something that represents the year gone-by. It’s no accident then that this year’s list has quite a few ‘indie’ developers.

So here’s what we came up for 2012.

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Each person on this list represents a lot of other people - teammates, partners and families.

How did we go about creating the list? First, we asked you for nominations. The IGN team pitched in with our own ideas. We looked back at the best games of the year and the biggest issues in news. Then, we spent a lot of time getting the resultant really long-list down to 30.

On the whole, we want to honor those people who make games and to highlight the writers, artists, musicians and coders, not just the designers, producers and directors.

It should always be remembered that each person on this list represents a lot of other people - teammates, collaborators, supporters, partners and families. If you believe we've missed anyone, please do add your ideas to the Comments section. Keep in mind that this is, in no way, some sort of definitive 'The Best', more 'A Choice Selection of Really Amazing People'.

Couple of rules - we avoided anyone on last year’s list and IGN people are not allowed, even when we are sorely tempted. The list is presented in alphabetical order.

Nels Anderson, designer for MARK OF THE NINJA.

Nels Anderson once offered a picturesque description of the ninja in video games. "The ninja is the perfect stealth game protagonist. They’re sneaky, and agile, and clever, and fast." Mark of the Ninja was born out of the need to make something different, a game that married the side-scrolling structure of Ninja Gaiden to the stealth and silent killing of Tenchu. Coming from Jamie Cheng and Jeffrey Agala’s shop at Klei Entertainment, it was one of the year’s best, on Xbox Live or anywhere else.

Victor Antonov for artwork in DISHONORED

Viktor Antonov was art director for Half-Life 2 and creator of City 17 so his experience in imagining memorable places is formidable. In 2012 he gave us the city of Dunwall, a Victorian-esque steampunk seaport dripping with faded glory and ornate nouveau-Gothic. Dunwall is both ugly and beautiful, repellant and gorgeous. Working with Harvey Smith, Raphael Colantonio, Sebastien Mitton and team, Arkane gave us Dishonored, one of the best and most lovely action-stealth games ever made.

Brandon Beck. CEO of Riot for LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

“I fundamentally believe that eSports will be an Olympic event in my lifetime.” That’s a bold statement, but if there’s anyone with reason to mean it, it’s Brandon Beck. The Riot Games boss and League of Legends co-creator stood at the forefront of 2012’s massive surge in competitive gaming. More than 8 million people watched the October League of Legends championships online, with 8,000-plus actually showing up in Los Angeles to catch the matches live. Competitive play promises to only get bigger with IGN's own IPL a big part of this burgeoning scene.

Leonard Boyarsky for design in DIABLO III

Some players might wonder why Diablo even needs a story. Isn’t it just about violence and loot? World designer Leonard Boyarsky says, “We want to make sure that you feel like you’re doing something,” not just running around clicking a mouse." With the one-time art director of Fallout in charge – as well as other old hands like Chris Metzen and gaming newcomers like Christian Lichtner – Diablo III’s world and lore did exactly that. Layers of rich detail present a backdrop for hours of exploration and adventure.

Anthony Burch writer for BORDERLANDS 2

“It’s really a comedy game. We’re not the game of slow-motion death-scenes and sweeping vistas. We’re the game where you shoot a midget in the face with a light-gun and he melts and everyone is happy.” So said Anthony Burch. Working with the Gearbox team headed up by Randy Pitchford, this one-time games journo and comedy sketch-writer brought out the goofy for Borderlands 2, managing to connect the team’s own sense of humor with that of the audience and giving a new dimension to the oft-gormless genre of shooting games.

Paddy Burns for technical work on Xbox 360’s MINECRAFT

No list celebrating 2012 would be complete without a mention of the continued success of Minecraft. Although the game first appeared in 2009, it continues to brighten gaming culture through mods and user-created worlds. It is a phenomenon. This year saw the launch of an Xbox 360 version, bringing that version’s sales close to the 5 million mark (the PC and Mac version has sold 8 million). The job of making the PC game fit for a console was expertly done by Scottish development team 4J Games, founded by Frank Arnott, Chris van der Kuyl and technical director Paddy Burns. The cost of development was recouped within one hour of the game’s release on XBL.

Jeff Grubb, designer and writer on GUILD WARS 2

His name once appeared on some of the classics of tabletop role-playing -- Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms. Now, at ArenaNet, Jeff Grubb represents where the old school of dice and graph paper meets the new world of online adventure. Alongside a team of leading writers and designers like Ree Soesbee and Bobby Stein, Grubb’s work on Guild Wars 2 helped shape the look, the lore, and the gameplay of 2012’s most successfully different MMO.

Josh Hackney, executive producer for PLANETSIDE 2

Josh Hackney and company took a surprising tack with the making of PlanetSide 2. Following the lead of indie projects like Minecraft, Sony Online let the world get a surprisingly close look at the making of its MMO shooter. Hackney and many other members of the team – Matt Higby, Tramell Isaac, SOE boss John Smedley – spent plenty of time in the open listening to fans, and that feedback shaped many different components of the game. The result? Right now, it’s the hottest shooter online.

Mark Hadley, creator of SLENDER

You know you have a hit when so many people want it that they blow up your website. That’s what happened in the early days of Slender, a vicious little horror adventure single-handedly crafted by Mark Hadley. It’s easy to lose track of the game itself behind the constantly-riffed-upon Slender Man meme, but in its spare, stripped-down way, it does exactly what a horror game should: it scares us half to death. Now, we just have to work up the nerve for Hadley’s upcoming sequel…

Source : ign[dot]com