Paul Barnett (video game designer)

Last updated
Paul Barnett
Paul Barnett.jpg
Paul Barnett
Born
Paul Barnett
Nationality British
Occupation Game designer
Notable work Warhammer Online
Website www.myspace.com/thatbarnettbloke

Paul Barnett is an English game designer who is a Global Product Director at Wargaming, working on their game World of Tanks . Before that he worked at Electronic Arts' Office of the Chief Creative Officer and was the General Manager of Mythic Entertainment, a subsidiary of EA. [1] [2] Barnett had a lead role in developing EA's Warhammer Online MMO in Europe. [3]

Contents

Career

In his 20s, Barnett started developing a text-based game, Legends of Terris, which he finished after three years. At the time, it was the largest text-based game in Europe. [1] After this, Barnett worked on other games, including Legends of Cosrin and Kingdom of Heroes. Legends of Terris was launched on AOL in the UK in 1995, and in the US in 1996. AOL described the game as "[their] first real interactive game." [4]

He helped with the design of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning under the direction of CEO Mark Jacobs and producer Jeff Hickman. [5]

Speaking engagements

In February 2008, Barnett gave a talk at the European LIFT 08 conference. This talk was the highest watched video of the show, gaining over 50,000 views within 48 hours. [6] His talks also received coverage in business media. BusinessWeek writer Matt Vella described it as "one of the most non-geek accessible I've ever heard" and praised its accomplishment of "smartly analogiz[ing] the games industry to both films and Las Vegas without being heavy-handed." [7]

Barnett was also invited to record a special BombCast with the crew from GiantBomb, where he lists his Top 10 Games of 2010 [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BioWare</span> Canadian video game developer

BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip. Since 2007, the company has been owned by American publisher Electronic Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funcom</span> Norwegian video game developer and publisher

Funcom Oslo AS is a Norwegian video game developer and publisher that specializes in online games. It is best known for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) titles Conan Exiles, Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, The Secret World – and The Longest Journey series of adventure games. The company has offices in Oslo, Norway; North Carolina, US; Lisbon, Portugal; Bucharest, Romania; and Stockholm, Sweden. It also had offices in Beijing, Dublin, and Montreal previously. It is now owned by the Chinese media conglomerate Tencent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic Arts</span> American video game company

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the designers and programmers responsible for its games as "software artists". EA published numerous games and some productivity software for personal computers, all of which were developed by external individuals or groups until 1987's Skate or Die! The company shifted toward internal game studios, often through acquisitions, such as Distinctive Software becoming EA Canada in 1991.

Jagex Limited is a British video game developer and publisher based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. It is best known for RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, both free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing games. The company's name is derived from the company's original slogan, "Java Gaming Experts".

<i>Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning</i> 2008 video game

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy setting, developed by Mythic Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts in 2008. The game revolved around the continual worldwide conflict that the Warhammer Fantasy setting is known for, and the game is geared toward ongoing, constant war laced with dark humour. Age of Reckoning ended up selling over a million copies and peaking at 800,000 subscribers, but dropped to 300,000 subscribers several months later. The game received generally positive reviews from critics but shut down in 2013. Since at least 2014, an active private server called Return of Reckoning has been run by fans, and it remains active as of January 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Codemasters</span> British video game developer

The Codemasters Software Company Limited is a British video game developer and former publisher based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts and managed under the EA Sports division. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in October 1986, Codemasters is one of the oldest British game studios, and in 2005 was named the best independent video game developer by magazine Develop. It formerly also published third-party games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mythic Entertainment</span> Defunct video game developer

Mythic Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Fairfax, Virginia that was most widely recognized for developing the 2001 massively multiplayer online role-playing game Dark Age of Camelot. Mythic was a prolific creator of multiplayer online games following its establishment in the mid-1990s.

The Creative Assembly Limited is a British video game developer based in Horsham, founded in 1987 by Tim Ansell. In its early years, the company worked on porting games to MS-DOS from Amiga and ZX Spectrum platforms, later working with Electronic Arts to produce a variety of games under the EA Sports brand. In 1999, the company had sufficient resources to attempt a new and original project, proceeding to develop the strategy computer game Shogun: Total War which was a critical and commercial hit, and is regarded as a benchmark strategy game. Subsequent titles in the Total War series was built following the success of Shogun: Total War, increasing the company's critical and commercial success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sumo Digital</span> British video game developer

Sumo Digital Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Sheffield and the principal subsidiary of Sumo Group since 2017. The company was founded in 2003 by four former members of the management team of Infogrames Studios.

Eurogamer is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network.

Mark Jacobs is an American game designer, programmer, author and businessman, and the former GM/VP/CEO of Mythic Entertainment, Inc and after Mythic Entertainment was sold to Electronic Arts in 2006 he served as its GM/VP/CEO at EA. Best known as a lead designer of Dark Age of Camelot (2001) and Camelot Unchained (unreleased), he also created two early MUDs, Aradath and Dragon's Gate, serving as both the designer and programmer in addition to his duties as President/CEO. He founded A.U.S.I. in 1983 and worked on a number of computer games for systems such as the Apple II. Jacobs left EA in 2009 after the company decided to merge BioWare with Mythic Entertainment.

<i>Pirates of the Caribbean Online</i> 2007 multiplayer online video game

Pirates of the Caribbean Online was a 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing video game based on the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. It was developed and published by Disney Online, in conjunction with SilverTree Media, for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, with additional post-release content developed by Schell Games. The game was first announced by The Walt Disney Company in April 2005, and was originally meant to coincide with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest in 2006, but its release was delayed multiple times. The game went through two beta testing phases during 2007, and was officially released in October of that year. Pirates of the Caribbean Online was closed on September 19, 2013.

<i>EA Replay</i> 2006 video game

EA Replay is a retro-themed compilation for the PlayStation Portable comprising a number of classic games. It was released in the United States on November 14, 2006, with Australian and European releases shortly afterwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Hennig</span> American video game writer and director

Amy Hennig is an American video game writer and director, formerly for the video game company Naughty Dog. She began her work in the industry on the Nintendo Entertainment System, with her design debut on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City. She later went to work for Crystal Dynamics, working primarily on the Legacy of Kain series. With Naughty Dog, she worked primarily on the Jak and Daxter and Uncharted series, the latter of which she created.

Respawn Entertainment, LLC is an American video game development studio founded in 2010 by Jason West and Vince Zampella and owned by Electronic Arts since 2017. West and Zampella previously co-founded Infinity Ward and created the Call of Duty franchise, where they were responsible for its development until 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gamer Network</span> British digital media company

Gamer Network Limited is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and other video game businesses. Its flagship website, Eurogamer, was launched alongside the company. It began hosting the video game trade show EGX in 2008. ReedPop acquired Gamer Network in 2018 and sold it to IGN Entertainment in 2024.

References

  1. 1 2 Long, Amanda (27 May 2011). "First Person Singular: Paul Barnett, creative director of a video-game company". Washington Post. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  2. Matt Martin (16 September 2008). "Mythic: EA "know nothing about launching MMOs in Europe"". GamesIndustry.biz. Eurogamer Network Ltd. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  3. Phil Elliott (27 March 2009). "New online platforms are "another golden age"". GamesIndustry.biz. Eurogamer Network Ltd. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  4. Terris Goes Online With AOL
  5. Oli Welsh (16 September 2008). "Warhammer Online's Paul Barnett". EuroGamer.net. Eurogamer Network Ltd. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  6. LIFT star videos
  7. 19 Minutes 45 Seconds Worth Sitting Still For
  8. Paul Barnett's Top 10 Games of 2010.

Additional sources

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Paul Barnett at Wikimedia Commons