game auteurs
video game directors, designers or producers that are often discussed/analyzed through a lens of auterism or otherwise embody auterist ethos. suggestions welcome as this is meant to be a relatively comprehensive list
111 Games
Toru Iwatani
Richard "Lord British" Garriot
Roberta Williams
Tokuro Fujiwara
Shigeru Miyamoto
Gunpei Yokoi
Yu Suzuki
Takashi Nishiyama
Keiji Inafune
Hironobu Sakaguchi
Rieko Kodama
Muriel Tramis
Jordan Mechner
Alexey Pajitnov
Ron Gilbert
Sid Meier
Yuji Naka
Éric Chahi
Masahiro Sakurai
Paul Cuisset
Haruhiko Shono
John Romero / John Carmack
Jane Jensen
Yoshio Sakamoto
Shigesato Itoi
Takashi Tokita
Hideyuki Suganami
Yukio Futatsugi
Masato Kato
Kenji Eno
Michel Ancel
Satoshi Tajiri
Charles Cecil
Toby Gard
Tadashi Satomi
Jun'ya "ZUN" Ota
Koji Igarashi
Hideo Yoshizawa
Tetsuya Takahashi
Hideo Kojima
Tim Schafer
Keiichiro Toyama
Chris Avellone
Will Wright
Warren Spector
Kouji "Cozy" Okada / Kazuma Kaneko
Hideki Kamiya
Leslie Benzies / Dan Houser
Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Shinji Mikami
Tetsuya Nomura
Yuji Horii
Keita Takahashi
Kikiyama
Peter Molyneux
Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya
Hideaki Itsuno
Shu Takumi
Tomonobu Itagaki
Fumito Ueda
Toshihiro Nagoshi
Tonnor
Ken Levine
Kim Swift
Jade Raymond
Amy Hennig
Goichi "Suda51" Suda
Mitsuo "Tsunku♂" Terada
Ryukishi07
Kotaro Uchikoshi
Christine Love
David Cage
Hidetaka "SWERY" Suehiro
thecatamites
Josh Sawyer
Kazutaka Kodaka
Zach Barth
Hidetaka Miyazaki
Edmund McMillen
Todd Howard
Markus "notch" Persson
Jenova Chen
Phil Fish
Derek Yu
Jonatan "cactus" Söderström
Neil Druckmann
Josef Fares
Lucas Pope
Davey Wreden
Scott Cawthon
Austin "Dingaling" Jorgensen
Sam Barlow
Toby Fox
Mason Lindroth
Ojiro Fumoto
Daniel Mullins
Jonathan Blow
Kitty Horrorshow
Alx Preston
22 Comments
@LordDarias lol im not trying to seriously attribute any of these games to solely these individuals. i mean there are a number of cases where that's warranted but i'm just trying to compile a relatively comprehensive list of people who could reasonably be considered the "auteurs" of this medium. my choice of game when it came to representing each person was mostly based around what's the most popular work that they're associated with
@scissors61 thanks for the suggestion, added
@scissors61 thanks for the suggestion, added
Brian and Andrew Allanson (YIIK)
Shozou Kaga (Fire Emblem)
lol. added
(shozou kaga too, thanks for the recs)
Richard "Lord British" Garriot - Ultima series.
added
Yoshiaki Koizumi, most known for Super Mario Galaxy and Odyssey.
is koizumi looked at as an auteur though, generally speaking? i am trying to make a broad list but i also want to resist just adding every prolific name in the industry - for example, i decided against adding eiji aounuma. generally the people i'm looking for are ones with strong and identifiable authorial voices, and im not entirely sure if koizumi qualifies. i'm not completely opposed to adding him though, i'm sure there are some examples of hypocrisy or inconsistency in my picks when it comes to this.
Please add Haruhiko Shono (Gadget: Past as Future) and Michiaki Tsubaki (Kumdor no Ken, which I just added to IGDB since it's a sad oversight).
I suppose Toby Gard could count, he was pretty much the driving force as to how Tomb Raider came to be and that became a prosperous series analyzed for different reasons.
There's also Takashi Tokita (worked with Square since around the NES era, started as a full timer once FFIV got into development, then directed Live A Live and Parasite Eve), Paul Cuisset (more or less the driving force behind Flashback, also co-developed a game with Eric Chahi called Future Wars), and Hideo Yoshizawa (Klonoa, NES Ninja Gaiden)
There's also Takashi Tokita (worked with Square since around the NES era, started as a full timer once FFIV got into development, then directed Live A Live and Parasite Eve), Paul Cuisset (more or less the driving force behind Flashback, also co-developed a game with Eric Chahi called Future Wars), and Hideo Yoshizawa (Klonoa, NES Ninja Gaiden)
Tadashi Satomi, known for the Digital Devil Saga duology and the first 3 Persona games (Persona 1,2 IS and EP)
Yukio Futatsugi, known for the Panzer Dragoon franchise and Phantom Dust for the OG Xbox
Hideyuki Suganami, known for lot of Treasure games, ex. Sin & Punishment, Alien Soldier
Hideo Yoshizawa, known for the Klonoa franchise
Yukio Futatsugi, known for the Panzer Dragoon franchise and Phantom Dust for the OG Xbox
Hideyuki Suganami, known for lot of Treasure games, ex. Sin & Punishment, Alien Soldier
Hideo Yoshizawa, known for the Klonoa franchise
itagaki and ninja gaiden black have gotta be on here. also i will second toby gard for tomb raider.
Gunpei Yokoi!!! Huge omission for a list this big.
Also it'd be good to add more notable women to this list. Amy Hennig (Uncharted, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver), Rieko Kodama (Phantasy Star), Kim Swift (Portal), Jade Raymond (Assassin's Creed), etc.
Some others: Markus Persson (Minecraft), Toru Iwatani (Pac-Man), Alexey Pajitnov (Tetris)
Also it'd be good to add more notable women to this list. Amy Hennig (Uncharted, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver), Rieko Kodama (Phantasy Star), Kim Swift (Portal), Jade Raymond (Assassin's Creed), etc.
Some others: Markus Persson (Minecraft), Toru Iwatani (Pac-Man), Alexey Pajitnov (Tetris)
Very interesting list! Maybe add Charles Cecil?
good suggestion, added
Add Leslie Benzies and Dan Houser?
all right, added.
Shin Megami Tensei - Cozy Okada/Kazuma Kaneko?
Seems kinda fair to have them, since you already have other big jrpg guys like Hori, Sakguchi, Nomura and even Hashino or Satomi.
Overall, interesting list, many guys with interesting careers i had no idea about.
Seems kinda fair to have them, since you already have other big jrpg guys like Hori, Sakguchi, Nomura and even Hashino or Satomi.
Overall, interesting list, many guys with interesting careers i had no idea about.
admittedly feel a little uncomfortable including a character designer/artist on here but ah, its become a very broad list anyway.
LordDarias
1 year ago