http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidew...-30-the-brightest-young-stars-in-video-games/
The List:
Click on an individual name to their link to a photo and bio of the person.
Every year, the reporters at Forbes look for up-and-coming stars in the industries we cover. We search for people who are doing groundbreaking work, disrupting traditional business models, and establishing themselves as leaders.
You can see the results today in a package of stories we call 30 Under 30. This feature consists of fifteen lists of people under the age of thirty, each of whom are changing the face of a different business. The industries we look at include music, finance, sports, healthcare and science… and of course, video games.
Our honorees include Palmer Luckey, the 21-year-old founder of Oculus VR. Virtual reality for the masses is no longer just science fiction thanks to this engineering prodigy: Luckey started developing his own head-mounted VR displays when he was still in high school, and was in college when he created the first prototype of a consumer-priced VR headset called the Oculus Rift. “You put it on,” says Luckey, “and you feel like you’re inside of the game, rather than looking at it on a screen.”
Endorsements from game industry icons including Valve’s Gabe Newell and id Software’s John Carmack helped Luckey raise $2.4 million in a 2012 Kickstarter campaign. (Carmack was so impressed, he even left id to work for Luckey as his CTO). The year-old company has raised over $91 million from venture capitalists, employs 50 people, and has released an early version of the device to software developers, who are already showing off some innovative VR games and applications. Consumers should be able to buy their own headsets – which initially will work only with PC and mobile games – for a goal price of $300 sometime later this year.
The List:
Click on an individual name to their link to a photo and bio of the person.
Palmer Luckey, 21 - Founder, Oculus VR
Maria Alegre, 28 - Cofounder, Chartboost (some sort of ad tracker site for videogames)
Alexander Bruce, 27 - Owner, Demruth (Antichamber)
Anthony Burch, 25 - Lead writer, Gearbox Software (Borderlands 2, co-star of Hey Ash, whatcha playing?)
Terry Cavanagh, 29 - Director, Distractionware Limited (VVVVV, At A Distance, Super Hexagon)
Brian Cho, 28 - Partner, Andreessen Horowitz (Venture Capital, former Ubisoft exec)
Jessie Coombs, 28 - Senior producer, Microsoft Game Studios (Publisher side)
Matthew Davis, 28 - Cofounder, Subset Games (FTL)
Zach Gage, 28 - Game Designer (Art featured in Spell Tower, Ridiculous Fishing, Lose/Lose)
Alexander Garfield, 28 - CEO, Evil Geniuses (eSports)
John Graham, 27 - Cofounder, Humble Bundle
Keith Guerrette, 28 - Lead FX artist, Naughty Dog (Uncharted 2, 3, TLOU)
Stephanie Harvey, 27 Game designer, Ubisoft Montreal (Ubisoft, and eSports)
Justin Ignacio, 23 - Broadcast production manager, Twitch
Tom Jubert, 29 - Narrative designer (FTL, The Swapper, Penumbra series, Driver: San Francisco)
Ludwig Kietzmann, 29 - Editor-in-chief, Joystiq
Andrew Kim, 22 - Industrial designer, Microsoft (Xbox hardware design)
Jaedong Lee, 23 - Professional gamer (Starcraft, eSports)
David Louche, 19 - Game designer (Candybox, Candybox II)
Justin Ma, 28 - Cofounder, Subset Games (FTL, worked on Top Spin 4, and Bioshock 2 for 2K)
Matthew Malone, 29 - Designer, Branch (OUYA, Tech startups)
Alexander Martin, 22 - Founder, Droqen (Starseed Pilgrim)
Matt Nava, 27 - Creative Director, Giant Squid (art director at ThatGameCompany for Flower, Journey)
John Nesky, 28 - Feel engineer, thatgamecompany (Journey)
Sean Plott, 27 - CEO, Day[9]TV (eSports)
Amir Rao, 29 - Studio director, Supergiant Games (Co-founder, Bastion)
Matt Thorson, 25 - Game developer, Matt Makes Games (Towerfall)
Greg Wohlwend, 29 - Founder, aeiowu (Solipskier, Puzzlejuice, Fig. 8 and Hundreds, Ridiculous Fishing)
Justin Wong, 28 - Director of partnerships, Twitch
Davey Wreden, 25 - Creative mistress, Galactic Cafe (writer for the Stanley Parable) (Note: Despite the title of "Creative mistress", Davey Wreden is a man.
Judges: Julie Uhrman, Martin Rae, John Romero
Julie Uhrman, Founder, OUYA. Founder and CEO of game console maker OUYA, former executive at GameFly, IGN Entertainment.
Martin Rae, President, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. President of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, former CEO of Sunleaf Studios, Boss Game Studios and The Electric Playground.
John Romero, Co-founder, Loot Drop. Game designer, programmer, and artist whose work spans over 130 games, including the iconic titles Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake.