Will Wright

Interactive Entertainment Designer 

Will Wright has become one of the most successful interactive entertainment designers in the world. Will is the creative force behind the award-winning game franchises SimCity and The Sims and his yet-to-be released game, SPORE. The original SimCity was released in 1989 - the first in a series of games that would soon become one of the most critically-acclaimed franchises in gaming history. The franchise was recognized with dozens of prestigious awards, selling millions of games both domestically and internationally. The incredible success of SimCity was eclipsed by Will Wright's next project The Sims, which launched in 2000. Today, The Sims is one of the most recognized names in gaming and entertainment. Since its release, the franchise has been recognized as one of the top five brands in gaming. With more than 70 million games sold worldwide to date, The Sims is one of the few video game series' to have achieved a following crossing gender lines and spanning generations.

Will has received many editorial accolades, including The Wall Street Journal's "Top 25 Most Influential People in Gaming" (2006), Fast Company "The Fast 50 List" of people who "will change how we work and live over the next ten years" (2006), Lifetime Achievement Award by PC Magazine (2005), Entertainment Weekly's "It List" of "the 100 most creative people in entertainment" 1999, No. 35 on Entertainment Weekly's Power List (2002) and Time Digital's "Digital 50" (1999). Additionally he's been the recipient of many notable industry awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award at MI6 (2006) and the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards (2001). Moreover, Will became the fifth person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2002.

Will is currently devoted to the creation of Spore^TM, a game that took home the Electronic Entertainment Expo's most coveted prize in its first showing in 2005 - the Game Critics "Best of Show" award. During the same debut year, it was also named Best Original Game, Best PC Game, and Best Simulation Game . E32006 was no different as SPORE won numerous Game Critics' Awards, including Most Creative Game, Best PC Game and Best Simulation Game.