Game Developer 50

Industry site Gamasutra is presenting sibling publication Game Developer magazine's latest installment of the "Game Developer 50," which recognizes some of the people who made significant contributions to the industry over the last year.

The selection of game industry figures includes veterans and newcomers alike, who are presented by their respective areas of expertise such as art, design, programming, business and evangelism. The Game Developer 50 first appeared in the November 2010 issue of Game Developer, for which physical and digital subscriptions are now available.

Some of these entries include:

Jeremy Bennett

Valve

Valve's Left 4 Dead 2 has received much-deserved accolades for its carefully tuned and intense game play. But we should also take a moment to recognize what an amazing visual accomplishment the game represents.

Under the art direction of Jeremy Bennett, the team at Valve created a game that rises to phantasmagorical heights while remaining firmly grounded in a lovingly-detailed reality.

Markus "Notch" Persson

Mojang Specifications

Minecraft was a labor of love for Markus Persson, also known as Notch. He created the game from an old project he had been working on some time ago, infusing a mining and building mechanic with a blocky, pixel-like 3D world. The resulting game has taken off dramatically.

Joachim Ante

Unity Technologies

Joachim Ante began writing the core of Unity as a teenager, and nine myears later the engine is now in the hands of more than 200,000 users. mAs Unity's chief technology officer and co-founder, Ante has brought mpro-level game tools to the masses, and is playing a major role in the mrenaissance of independent games.

For the rest of the Game Developer 50, which also includes entries for mFiraxis' Sid Meier, Zynga's Amitt Mahajan and Blizzard's Matthew mVersluys and Rob Pardo, read the full feature, available on Gamasutra now:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6206/the_game_developer_50.php