I, too, was rather startled at Richard's position on the list (but at least he made it!) I loved Tabula Rasa and was sad to see it go. I cannot wait to see what he comes up with, next.
Up and out, Richard! Light that candle!
Per Ardua Ad Astra
Beckett Names Top 20 Influential People in MMOs
The staff over at Beckett Massive Online Gamer has released its list of the top 20 most influential people in MMOs in 2008, and Rob Pardo, the executive vice president of Blizzard, nabbed the top spot. EVE Online's Hilmar Petursson, Sony Online Entertainment's John Smedley and Cryptic's Jack Emmert earned the second, third and fourth spots, respectively.
According to Doug Kale, the magazine's editorial director, 10 of the 20 influential people are new to the annual list. "The newest star is Todd Coleman of KingsIsle Entertainment. Todd helped launch one of the hottest new MMOs in 2008, Wizard101, which now has over 2 million registered users," Kale said.
You can read the announcement, as well as the full list of influential people, after the jump.
DALLAS, TX (May 28, 2009) --- Beckett Massive Online Gamer magazine has released its annual list of the most influential people in massively multiplayer online games for 2008 in the July-August #19 Issue.
For the second year in a row World of Warcraft's Rob Pardo, EVE Online's Hilmar Petursson, Sony Online Entertainment's John Smedley and Cryptic's Jack Emmert have all made it again onto The Top 20 Most Influential People in the MMO Industry list.
Each year Beckett Massive Online Gamer highlights the most talented people in massively multiplayer video games and gives details on how they've influenced the future of the industry. "This year there are 10 new faces to our annual Top 20 list," said Doug Kale, Editorial Director for Beckett Massive Online Gamer. "The newest star is Todd Coleman of KingsIsle Entertainment. Todd helped launch one of the hottest new MMOs in 2008, Wizard101, which now has over 2 million registered users."
Background information of the people on this year's Top 20 list can be found in this latest issue of Beckett Massive Online Gamer that hits newsstands this week.
The complete list of the Top 20 Most Influential People in the MMO Industry:
- 1. Rob Pardo
- 2. Hilmar Pétursson
- 3. John Smedley
- 4. Jack Emmert
- 5. Mark Jacobs
- 6. Todd Coleman
- 7. Jim Crowley
- 8. Andrew Gower
- 9. Chris Cheung
- 10. Michael Capps
- 11. Raph Koster
- 12. Rob Seaver
- 13. Jeffrey Steefel
- 14. Russell Williams
- 15. Gaute Godager
- 16. Richard Garriott
- 17. Min Kim
- 18. Gordon Walton
- 19. David Perry
- 20. Jeff Hickman & Paul Barnett
Plus, three new Honorable Mentions have also been included this year.