David Braben
David John Braben, OBE, is a British game developer, game designer and game programmer. He is the founder and CEO of Frontier Developments since January 1994.[1]
Braben is best known for creating the Elite series. He co-developed the original Elite with Ian Bell in 1984, Frontier: Elite II, Frontier: First Encounters and Elite: Dangerous. He is also a co-founder of and works as a trustee for the Raspberry Pi Foundation which in 2012 launched a low-cost computer for education.
David Braben is married to Wendy Irvin-Braben and has two sons. He lives in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Awards
| Date | Award | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2005 | Development Legend Award | Braben received the Development Legend Award at the Develop Industry Excellence Awards in Cambridge. |
| 2012 | Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering | Braben was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering |
| 2014 | Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) | Braben was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to the UK computer and video games industry. |
| January 2015 | Pioneer, Game Developers Choice Award (GDCA) | Braben received the 2015 Pioneer, Game Developers Choice Award (GDCA), for his work on the Raspberry Pi and for working more than 30 years as a game developer. |
| 12 March 2015 | BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in video gaming | Braben was awarded the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award in video gaming at the 11th British Academy Games Awards. |
Games
This is a list of David Braben's games.[2]
| Game name | First released | Braben's role(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Elite | 1984 | Designer & programmer |
| Zarch | 1987 | Developer |
| Conqueror | 1990 | Developer |
| Campaign | 1992 | Programmer (original 3D shape display code) |
| Frontier: Elite II | 1993 | Designer, writer & programmer |
| Frontier: First Encounters | 1995 | Director & writer |
| Darxide | 1995 | Designer |
| V2000 | 1998 | Programmer |
| Dog's Life | 2003 | Director & designer |
| Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit | 2005 | Executive producer |
| RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 | 2004 | Executive producer |
| RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Soaked! | 2005 | Executive producer |
| RollerCoaster Tycoon 3: Wild! | 2005 | Executive producer |
| Thrillville | 2006 | Executive producer |
| Thrillville: Off the Rails | 2007 | Executive producer |
| LostWinds | 2008 | Executive producer |
| LostWinds 2: Winter of the Melodias | 2009 | Chairman |
| Kinectimals | 2010 | Executive producer |
| Kinect Star Wars | 2012 | Chairman & Founder |
| Tales From Deep Space | 2014 | CEO & Founder |
| Elite: Dangerous | 2014 | Director |
| Planet Coaster | 2016 | CEO & Founder |