Julian Lefay

Last updated
Julian LeFay
Julianlefay.jpg
Born
Julian Jensen

(1965-10-30) 30 October 1965 (age 59)
Denmark
Occupations
  • Programmer
  • game designer
  • musician
Known for The Elder Scrolls series

Julian LeFay (born 30 October 1965) is a Danish [1] programmer, video game designer, and musician, best known for his work on The Elder Scrolls: Arena , The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall , and An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire .

Contents

Early life

LeFay was born Julian Jensen on 30 October 1965 in Denmark. Before he began programming, he played in the Danish electro-pop band Russia Heat. [2]

Career

Early in his career, LeFay worked on PC, Amiga and NES projects, performing programming tasks and composing music for games such as Where's Waldo? [3] and Sword of Sodan . [4]

Referred to as the "Father of The Elder Scrolls ", LeFay joined Bethesda Softworks shortly after the company's creation in 1987. [5] He held the role of Chief Engineer and lead the company through the creation of some of its seminal games, such as The Terminator 2029 , [6] Arena, Daggerfall and Battlespire. [7] [8] The Elder Scrolls deity Julianos is based on Julian. He worked briefly on The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind as a contractor after quitting Bethesda in 1998. [2] He also briefly worked at Sega, [2] and was involved in the production of Skullgirls . [2]

In 2019, LeFay co-founded the independent game studio OnceLost Games with former Bethesda Softworks developers Ted Peterson and Vijay Lakshman and announced they would be working on a new open world role-playing game called The Wayward Realms , which would serve as a spiritual successor to Daggerfall. [9] Although initially offered $8 million by a major publisher, the team rejected the offer as they believed they could not make the game for less than $12 million. [10] The Wayward Realms was first unveiled in 2021. [11] On 30 May 2024, OnceLost Games launched a Kickstarter campaign with a funding goal of $500,000 to support one year of development on an early access build, intended to be used in securing additional publisher support. [12] The campaign was successfully funded. [13]

In January 2021, LaFey became the chief technology officer of Licorice, where he is responsible for the company's technical infrastructure. [14] He was previously the vice president of research and development at Blockbuster. [2]

As of July 2025, LaFay has been battling cancer which has since become terminal, causing him to step away from the OnceLost Games. [5] [15] [16]

Works

References

  1. ↑ [PC Games] (1996). "Julian LaFey im Gespräch" [Julian LaFey in Conversation](Interview). PC Games (in German). No. 11. Germany: Computec. ISSN   0947-7810 . Retrieved 17 July 2025– via Archive.org.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 [Indigo Gaming] (31 October 2017). A Conversation with the Father of the Elder Scrolls Julian Jensen (aka Julian LaFey) (Video). Indigo Gaming. Retrieved 31 October 2017– via YouTube.
  3. 1 2 [THQ] (1991). "Where's Waldo? (NES)". THQ . Retrieved 17 July 2025– via Archive.org.
  4. 1 2 Katz, Arnie (April 1989). "Sword of Sodan". Amiga User. pp. 39–40. Retrieved 17 July 2025– via Archive.org.
  5. 1 2 Van Allen, Eric (17 July 2025). "Julian LeFay, 'Father of The Elder Scrolls,' Steps Back From Game Development Due To Cancer". IGN . Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  6. ↑ Goble, Gordon (June 1993). "Terminator Emulation Mode". Computer Gaming World . p. 115. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  7. ↑ Saltzman, Mark (29 January 1998). "'Battlespire' not up to the challenge". The Toronto Star . Ontario: Torstar . Retrieved 17 July 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ [Bethesda Softworks] (1997). "Julian LeFay". Bethesda Softworks. Archived from the original on 5 June 1997. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  9. ↑ Kane, Alex James (27 September 2019). "'Daggerfall' Designer Ted Peterson On His New RPG Studio, OnceLost Games". Forbes . Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  10. ↑ [Indigo Gaming]. "How I ALMOST Made the Game of My Dreams". Medium. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  11. ↑ Capel, Chris J. (2 August 2021). "The Wayward Realms is an Elder Scrolls-like from the creators of Elder Scrolls". PCGamesN . Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  12. ↑ [Wayward Realms]. "The Wayward Realms is live on Kickstarter.com". The Wayward Realms. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  13. ↑ Beistad, L. B. (2024-09-17). "Wayward Realms' Approach to Stealth Should be a Trailblazer For Fantasy RPGs". Game Rant . Valnet. Retrieved 2025-06-19.
  14. ↑ Glocker, Samantha (19 January 2021). "Julian LeFay (Jensen) appointed as Licorice CTO". Licorice. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rick (17 July 2025). "'Father of Elder Scrolls' steps back from game development because of cancer: 'We are preparing to say goodbye to a true legend of the industry'". PC Gamer . Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  16. ↑ Warren, Mark (17 July 2025). "Former Elder Scrolls developer Julian Lefay steps away from his Daggerfall-esque The Wayward Realms as cancer worsens". Rock Paper Shotgun . Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  17. ↑ Threadgill, Todd (November 1991). "The Terminator: Robot Rampage in L.A." Computer Gaming World . No. 88. pp. 118–119. Retrieved 18 July 2025– via Archive.org.
  18. ↑ Goble, Gordon (June 1993). "Terminator Emulation Mode". Computer Gaming World . p. 115. Retrieved 18 July 2025– via Archive.org.
  19. ↑ Lewis, Catherine (17 July 2025). ""Father of The Elder Scrolls" doesn't "have very much time left" after cancer battle and has stepped away from games to "live his final moments surrounded by his loved ones"". GamesRadar+ . Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  20. ↑ [Bethesda Softworks] (1996). "Credits". Daggerfall User's Guide. Bethesda Softworks . Retrieved 17 July 2025– via Archive.org.
  21. ↑ [Bethesda Softworks] (1997). "Credits". An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire User's Guide. Bethesda Softworks. p. 5. Retrieved 17 July 2025– via Archive.org.


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