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

Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
Shigeru Miyamoto
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid
Hideo Kojima
Doom
Doom
John Romero / John Carmack
Devil May Cry
Devil May Cry
Hideki Kamiya
Resident Evil
Resident Evil
Shinji Mikami
EarthBound
EarthBound
Shigesato Itoi
Dark Souls
Dark Souls
Hidetaka Miyazaki
No More Heroes
No More Heroes
Goichi "Suda51" Suda
Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow of the Colossus
Fumito Ueda
Undertale
Undertale
Toby Fox
Papers, Please
Papers, Please
Lucas Pope
Kirby's Dream Land
Kirby's Dream Land
Masahiro Sakurai
The Witness
The Witness
Jonathan Blow
Grim Fandango
Grim Fandango
Tim Schafer
Heavy Rain
Heavy Rain
David Cage
The Binding of Isaac
The Binding of Isaac
Edmund McMillen
Katamari Damacy
Katamari Damacy
Keita Takahashi
NieR: Automata
NieR: Automata
Yoko Taro
The Sims
The Sims
Will Wright
Sid Meier's Civilization
Sid Meier's Civilization
Sid Meier
Journey
Journey
Jenova Chen
Another World
Another World
Éric Chahi
The Last of Us
The Last of Us
Neil Druckmann
Fable
Fable
Peter Molyneux
BioShock
BioShock
Ken Levine
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Shu Takumi
Dragon Quest
Dragon Quest
Yuji Horii
Silent Hill
Silent Hill
Keiichiro Toyama
Deadly Premonition
Deadly Premonition
Hidetaka "SWERY" Suehiro
Rhythm Heaven
Rhythm Heaven
Mitsuo "Tsunku♂" Terada
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Koji Igarashi
Ghosts 'n Goblins
Ghosts 'n Goblins
Tokuro Fujiwara
Mega Man
Mega Man
Keiji Inafune
Street Fighter
Street Fighter
Takashi Nishiyama
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog
Yuji Naka
OutRun
OutRun
Yu Suzuki
Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
Hironobu Sakaguchi
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
Masato Kato
Xenogears
Xenogears
Tetsuya Takahashi
Rez
Rez
Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Hideaki Itsuno
Super Metroid
Super Metroid
Yoshio Sakamoto
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
Tetsuya Nomura
Persona 5
Persona 5
Katsura Hashino
Pokémon Red Version
Pokémon Red Version
Satoshi Tajiri
Planescape: Torment
Planescape: Torment
Chris Avellone
Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout: New Vegas
Josh Sawyer
Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium
Robert Kurvitz
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Todd Howard
Hotline Miami
Hotline Miami
Jonatan "cactus" Söderström
Rain World
Rain World
Joar Jakobsson
The Stanley Parable
The Stanley Parable
Davey Wreden
Fez
Fez
Phil Fish
Five Nights at Freddy's
Five Nights at Freddy's
Scott Cawthon
Rayman
Rayman
Michel Ancel
Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia
Jordan Mechner
Deus Ex
Deus Ex
Warren Spector
Yakuza
Yakuza
Toshihiro Nagoshi
Cave Story
Cave Story
Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya
SpaceChem
SpaceChem
Zach Barth
VideoBall
VideoBall
Tim Rogers
Murder House
Murder House
Benedetto "Puppet Combo" Cocuzza
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
Bennett Foddy
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Josef Fares
Higurashi When They Cry
Higurashi When They Cry
Ryukishi07
Touhou Rei'iden: The Highly Responsive to Prayers
Touhou Rei'iden: The Highly Responsive to Prayers
Jun'ya "ZUN" Ota
Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Kotaro Uchikoshi
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Kazutaka Kodaka
Yume Nikki
Yume Nikki
Kikiyama
Lisa
Lisa
Austin "Dingaling" Jorgensen
Downwell
Downwell
Ojiro Fumoto
Spelunky
Spelunky
Derek Yu
Celeste
Celeste
Maddy Thorson
Baba is You
Baba is You
Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari
Her Story
Her Story
Sam Barlow
Pony Island
Pony Island
Daniel Mullins
Space Funeral
Space Funeral
thecatamites
Hylics
Hylics
Mason Lindroth
Méwilo
Méwilo
Muriel Tramis
Digital: A Love Story
Digital: A Love Story
Christine Love
Anatomy
Anatomy
Kitty Horrorshow
The Secret of Monkey Island
The Secret of Monkey Island
Ron Gilbert
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
Jane Jensen
HellSinker
HellSinker
Tonnor
King's Quest: Quest for the Crown
King's Quest: Quest for the Crown
Roberta Williams
Hyper Light Drifter
Hyper Light Drifter
Alx Preston
Kenji Eno
YIIK: A Postmodern RPG
YIIK: A Postmodern RPG
Brian and Andrew Allanson
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
Shozou Kaga
Ultima
Ultima
Richard "Lord British" Garriot
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
Hideo Yoshizawa
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider
Toby Gard
Gadget: Invention, Travel & Adventure
Gadget: Invention, Travel & Adventure
Haruhiko Shono
Ninja Gaiden Black
Ninja Gaiden Black
Tomonobu Itagaki
Panzer Dragoon
Panzer Dragoon
Yukio Futatsugi
Revelations: Persona
Revelations: Persona
Tadashi Satomi
Alien Soldier
Alien Soldier
Hideyuki Suganami
Metroid
Metroid
Gunpei Yokoi
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Amy Hennig
Portal
Portal
Kim Swift

22 Comments


1 year ago

"There's a tendency among the press to attribute the creation of a game to a single person" - Warren Spector,

1 year ago

@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

1 year ago

Brian and Andrew Allanson (YIIK)

1 year ago

Shozou Kaga (Fire Emblem)

1 year ago

lol. added

1 year ago

(shozou kaga too, thanks for the recs)

1 year ago

Richard "Lord British" Garriot - Ultima series.

1 year ago

added

1 year ago

Yoshiaki Koizumi, most known for Super Mario Galaxy and Odyssey.

1 year ago

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)

1 year ago

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

1 year ago

itagaki and ninja gaiden black have gotta be on here. also i will second toby gard for tomb raider.

1 year ago

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)

1 year ago

so many suggestions! thanks everyone

@dishy i really struggled with whether to add gunpei! but i think i'll add him in after all.

1 year ago

Very interesting list! Maybe add Charles Cecil?

1 year ago

good suggestion, added

11 months ago

Add Leslie Benzies and Dan Houser?

11 months ago

all right, added.

7 months ago

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.

7 months ago

admittedly feel a little uncomfortable including a character designer/artist on here but ah, its become a very broad list anyway.


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